Girls Arise Initiative

Year 2020 started on a very bright and promising note. One of the splendid news that came was the nomination of our Lead Volunteer and Executive Director at Bestspring Foundation, Mrs. Aramide Oikelome as one of the 10 Most Inspiring Women In Nigeria. Wow! This is a huge package from JTAH Foundation. How come? What did we do to deserve such recognition and honour? According to Comrade Favour Benson, Founder and Executive Director of JTAH Foundation, the award is in recognition of the amazing work of Bestspring Foundation to educate and empower the girl-child. What a surprise? We didn’t know people outside Ijegun community have been watching and following our programs and projects at impacting the lives of girls in under-resourced communities and empowering them through education and necessary life skills. And so, on March 20 th 2020, the award ceremony held in commemoration of the International Women’s Day at Planet One, Maryland, Lagos. In attendance were eminent wo...

It was a great hanging out with girls from   five secondary schools last month as we discussed the good and not too good effect of social media on today’s youths. The event was to commemorate the 2020 International Women’s day (IWD). As a member of the Association of Orphans & Vulnerable Children NGOs In Nigeria (AONN), we had a robust interactive session with young girls as they shared their issues, their challenges and aspirations even in this digital age.

So much has been going on with the Blended Learning Program of the Global Girl Project which started on 1st February 2020. We have had seven sessions so far as our girls have met every Saturday from 8am to 10am to learn and articulate their thoughts on what action they can take as Change-Makers in their community. At each session, the girls watch recorded videos lectures from Julia Lynch, Founder- Global Girl Project; they work in groups to discuss the topics and then do their assignments. They also share their thoughts on happenings around them, especially as it relates to Nigeria.  The lectures from the blended learning academy have been quite robust and engaging. They have also been highly instructive and impactful, thus changing the mindset of the girls. Between February 1 st to March 21 st,,   we have had eight fully loaded and exciting sessions where we treated topics such as:  1. Who Is A Leader 2. Roles of Leaders 3. Women who have made impact...

Here is one of our beautiful dreams come true! Since 2016, Apinke Girls Initiative, under the able leadership of my amiable friend and Amazon; Bimbo Adegbite has partnered with Bestspring Foundation through its Girls Arise Initiative platform to mentor and support our girls. The mentoring program brought a new and positive twist to our work at Ijegun as relationship with them became more intimate, friendly, purpose-driven and result-oriented. With the support and encouragement of Mentors from Apinke Girls Initiative, our girls began to access and harness better opportunities for all-round growth and success. And so, sometime in August 2019, Bimbo introduced me to the Global Girl Project founded by another Amazon based in United Kingdom- Julia Lynch. The project is wrapped around raising teenage girls within the age bracket of 13-18 years as worthy leaders and change-makers. Apparently Bimbo had recommended Bestspring Foundation to Julia as a worthy NGO that should benefit from the...

It just happened again. This time 17 of our girls got scholarship funds for the 2020 Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) Examination. All thanks to our generous donor and mentor. May God bless you more abundantly!

Yes! Our girls got scholarship funds for tertiary institution. We have never had it so wonderful! Last year 14 of them were supported with funds through generous donations from Bimbo Adegbite-led Apinke Girls Initiative to register for JAMB examinations. Out of these, 8 gained admission to various universities and polytechnics to study one course or the other. But there was no money to pursue their dream.   It so happened that Bimbo was marking her Golden Jubilee birthday and she resolved to use the occasion of her 50th on 29th November 2019 to raise funds for girls going to college. Through to her words, she did and sent the money to us to disburse to the girls according to their needs. Individual mentors also sent money to their mentees towards their registration in the university.  It feels so fulfilling to see these girls now as undergraduates in Nigeria's universities. These were girls who once had no clue, no vision, no sense of direction about their fu...

The November edition of our monthly mentoring program was graced by Mrs. Morenike Omaiboje, one of the members of the Board of Trustees of Bestspring Foundation and Director of Programs at Women Consortium of Nigeria. She spoke on Choices/Peer Pressure. Sharing her personal story, Mrs. Omaiboje spoke exclusively on the need to make right choices in life, career, relationship etc. She also gave opportunity to the youths to ask questions and there were numerous mind blowing questions, especially on issues of relationship and career. The meeting also featured the presentation of ipads to some of our girls who recently gained admission to higher institutions. Thereafter participants divided into smaller groups of Children, Boys, Girls, Ex-students/Undergraduates as well as Adolescent Mothers. OBSERVATION Mrs Morenike Omaiboje, the speaker for the day gave her life story as a caution for the youth to guard against youthful exuberance, which can lead to wrong choices in life. She s...