IWD 2019: Our Girls Are Becoming Leading Ladies!

-

Our girls are becoming leading ladies. I'm truly proud of them. To showcase their uncommon strength and ability, we decided to celebrate the IWD 2019 in grand style. Our theme was apt and catchy; Time is Now: Girls As Change Agents. Our campaign slogan was also smart and sweet:#SheCanLead

 The first phase was with a Girls Summit featuring over 200 girls from 8 secondary schools in Ijegun, Ikotun, Lagos State. As it is in most underdeveloped communities ravaged by poverty and lack, many girls are vulnerable. There is hunger in the land; yes, there is acute hunger and lack of basic amenities. Here many are uninformed about their rights and the beautiful opportunities available to them. Here many girls battle with low self-esteem and easily fall prey to the chimes and caprices of devourers and opportunists

 You can therefore imagine how excited they were when we invited girls in Ijegun community to a special girls’ summit. Yes, we had a swell time, with insightful and inspiring talks from my ever resourceful and diligent sister, Mrs. Foluso Adedeji, a top management staff at Access Bank, Nigeria who challenged the girls to be focused and committed to pursuing a brilliant career and achieving greatness like Malala Al-Yousef. Miss Asubiaro Olayinka also captured the attention of the girls with her very practical and down-to-earth  lecture on adolescence and sex; touching on their sexual reproductive developmental changes and needs.
On my part, I gave an insightful talk on the need for our girls to stand tall and form a formidable team. I also challenged them to be the change ambassador that would lead their families out of poverty and backwardness as they maintain a life of integrity, study hard and acquire necessary life skills in order to lead successful life.
We also attended to numerous questions from the girls, bothering on issues relating to menstruation, sex, rape, protection from all forms of abuse and how to deal with peer pressure. The questions came in torrents and the answers were so practical and thrilling that the girls didn't want to go home again. Of course, they also entertained us with songs, choreography and drama.

The second phase of the Girls Summit held a week after in a public school- Ijeododo Senior Grammar School, with about 276 girls in attendance. They were equally thrilled with the life story of our guest speaker- Mrs. Seyi Ayesa, a Marketing Manager with Friesland Capina, one of the multinational beverage companies in Lagos, Nigeria.
It was an even more exciting session, especially with the support of the management and staff of the school. 

Shout out to my dear Friend, Bim Adegbite, who I met on the World Pulse platform in 2016 and decided to partner with us by providing a mentorship program for the girls in our club. Bim Adegbite and her team of mentors on the Apinke Girls Initiative have since been very supportive in nurturing and encouraging the girls to be the best. Their immense contribution and donations towards the success of the program in highly appreciated.
Profound gratitude also goes to some local corporate organizations like- Rite Foods, Beloxxi Foods, Cadbury PLC for surprising us with surplus supply of snacks and beverages for the girls.

I also celebrate all our Staff and Volunteers that worked tirelessly to ensure that all went well. How about our sweet and bubbling young ladies at the Girls Arise Club who stood firm to coordinate and ensure the smooth running of the program. I appreciate you loads.
How exciting? There were assorted gifts to take away- Food, drink, water, gala, buscuits and of course sanitary pad for every girl.
Much more, our girls left with a renewed mindset; positive self-esteem, powerful self confidence and determination to be overcome all hurdles and to be game-changers!

One of our girls, Chiamaka Ezeigbo later captured her feeling of excitement and strength and wrote thus, "We are Priceless, We are Unique, We are Beautiful, We are Creative, We are Brave, We are Strong, We are Bold, We've got Passion, We are Girls, We Lead, We Arise to Stand, We are Unstoppable, We are Agents of Change".

Obviously, Chiamaka and other girls in the club are transformed and ready to transform their communities for the better.
I celebrate you girls! I’m so proud of the leading ladies you all are becoming You've got greatness! You've got what it takes to lead your world. You are stars in the making. You are the Amazons for the generation next.
Yes, you can! Yes, you will!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Global Girl Project: The Making of Change makers

-
Image
For six weeks, some girls in Ijegun Community had been given a life-long opportunity to learn from home and abroad, being part of the Global Girl Project, a partnership with Bestspring Foundation. The girls took part in the Blended Learning Leadership Initiative having gone through different stages of training on topics such as: Who Is A Leader Roles of Leaders Women who have made an impact and changes within their community. Mastering the Art of Listening, Speaking & Writing.   Online Research on a Movements in Nigeria e.g. Occupy Nigeria. Knowing your Environment and all that it entails, asking parents, leaders all around and brainstorming on the Project of Change they intend to work on. After months of lockdown due to the pandemic, the last session and graduation party of the girls finally took place on 18th July 2020 with strict adherence with the laid down social distancing guidelines. With many months of planning towards their ...
Read more

More Beautiful Products From Our Young Entrepreneurs

-
Image
There is perhaps no better way to spend the holidays than to invest it in getting empowered with life skills that guarantees economic independence. No doubt, the last summer break now marks an indelible milestone in the journey, not only for members of Girls Arise Initiative but also for some of their friends in Ijegun community and its environs.  It was indeed encouraging to see some of these girls seize the opportunity of the free summer skill acquisition program to learn from our Volunteer trainers.   Rather than roam the streets aimlessly or sit at home idle and vulnerable, they chose to get empowered. It is so incredible how innovative and creative they have been. It is exciting to see them learn so fast and so passionately. Now, I see new products like auto-gele, colourful fascinators, wall-flowers etc.   The truth of the matter is that some of them are now selling and making money to support themselves and take some burden off their parents/guardian...
Read more

May: Power of a Call

-
Image
This meeting held on the 2nd Friday of the month.  The meeting started by 2:00pm with opening prayer. Praise and worship was taken by Chukwu Peace. It was basically to kick start the mentoring program; hence there was a call-in session by the Project chair, Mrs. Bimbo Adegbite. Bimbo asked a question, who is a mentor? Olowogaba Tobi, one of the girls answered that a mentor is someone you care about you or you look unto for guidance to achieve your goal. Bimbo said when you are in a mentoring class; you have to express yourself very well to your mentor i.e. feel free to say anything bothering you to your mentor. She also talked about the benefit of the mentoring program. She said that the mentors are going to develop the girls in their skills, talent, vocations etc. she added that the mentors are there to encourage them as well as care for them.  She assured the girls of her support and readiness to help. She talked about the phone and this is a moment the girls were wai...
Read more