Mentors girls in goal setting, career, others
By Ebunoluwa Sessou
Mentoring the young girls especially in Senior Secondary public schools, was the centre of WIMBIZ’s Big Sisters Program, BSP, organized in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the organization.
The programme, which held simultaneously across various parts of the country including Lagos, Bonny, Abuja, Ibadan, Port Harcourt and Uyo to mentor young girls in various classes beginning with Goal Setting and Planning, Interpersonal Relationships, Building Confidence, Creating Budgets, Identifying Careers and Entrepreneurial Paths, as well as Financial Literacy, Personal Hygiene and Handling Peer Pressure among others.
Charged with the matrix, ” Ï am bold, I am strong, I am beautiful, I am a gift to the world, I am awesome and I am born to be great”. “If you think it, you can be it”; the girls were instructed on how to set goals for themselves and plan to be great citizens who would influence their generation positively.
READ ALSO: Okonjo-Iweala, Peterside, Awosika, Adeola others for WIMBIZ’s 20th anniversary
Speaking on the event, Executive Director, WIMBIZ, Hansatu Adegbite, explained that the BSP was launched in celebration of WIMBIZ’s 15th anniversary to equip and empower young girls between the ages of 14 and 18 years with the life skills required to boost their confidence and leadership capacity in preparation for post-secondary education.
According to her, “Beneficiaries of the BSP are mentored for a day by accomplished female professionals in various fields of endeavour who are committed to the development of the girl child.
“Mentoring is not one off. It is a continuous process. We are looking for people who would adopt these girls as sponsors and mentors.
“The organization was established to create a platform for women to interact and address gender inequalities in the workplace and businesses and to provide support as they manage these challenges.
“It offers a variety of programs which are focused on developing the leadership capacity of women and building value added business relationships.
“We want to see the next generation of young girls believing in themselves because it is our intention that most of these girls would be built up to be women that are strong in business, management and public service.
Challenges
On challenges in Nigerian education, she said, “There are challenges around funding, quality education, and technology. Most of these girls are faced with abject poverty and that is why some of them are forced into early marriage and trading among others.
“This BSP is designed to create more awareness to attract more Nigerians who would sponsor the education of these young girls.
“Everything in life requires monitoring and evaluation and having an effective communication system to be able to consistently reach out to the girls. We want Nigerians who would absorb the young girls after their graduation into their organizations as interns.
In his reaction, the Vice Principal, New Era Girls Secondary School, Akinola Omotayo, applauded the initiatives, saying that they would add value to the lives of the children.
He lamented that the major challenges facing young girls in Nigeria are insecurity and rape, early marriage among others. “Young girls have been battling these issues for a long time. I will advise the government at all levels to ensure the safety of the girl child so that their future will be protected.
The post WIMBIZ takes BSP to public schools appeared first on Vanguard News.
0 Commentaires