International Youth Day 2020

 

Youth Engagement for Global Action 2020

What does it mean to be a youth?

Youths are people (age 15-35) who actively grow themselves to become responsible people of society.

Every youth has the power to change the narrative of where they are for the better.

On the 12th of August 2020, @kirfoundation commemorated the International Youth Day 2020 with 22 youth in attendance. The theme of the event was "Youth Engagement: How youth can play a critical role in societal issues" and the guest speakers for the day were Enoh Ogbevire, a media consultant and voice actor, and Gino Osahon, the hub manager at Ken-Saro Wiwa Innovation Hub.

The event streamed on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Gino Osahon, who spoke on the topic "Youth Civic Engagement in a Digital Age", addressed the youth about the high demand for skillsets needed to proffer solutions to the problems society faces.

His call to action to them was for them to use technology to rewrite the negative narrative about themselves globally and that they need to hone their skill in the global market.

The second speaker, Enoh Ogbevire, spoke on "Youth Engagement in Grassroot Issues" and urged them to use their voice as a medium to cause a positive change in their society.

Some of the youth in attendance, like Kindness, shared their experience in the program and how they had benefited from it.

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CATCHING UP WITH THE TGIIF YOUTH HUB MEMBERS ON INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE AFRICAN CHILD

Since 2014 February, the KIR Foundation Community Centre has been a safe space for youth to meet up with their friends during The Thank God It's Inspiration Friday(TGIIF) Youth Hub meetings, acquire market-relevant skills, study and read books, get connected to mentors and coaches and become inspired to be the change they want to see in their communities. 

Therefore, it was heart-breaking for the KIR Foundation team and our beneficiaries, when the Centre had to close at the end of March due to COVID-19 and the youth in the neighbouring communities and beyond could not access our services because of physical distancing protocol.

According to Favour, a member of the TGIIF Youth Hub, "Not having access to the Centre has made the COVID-19 experience more difficult to deal with it". However, on the 16th of June, we marked the annual "Day of the African Child", with a one-day Covid-19 awareness workshop with 20 members of the TGIIF Youth Hub. There was so much excitement and love in the atmosphere and it was really difficult restraining ourselves from hugging one another as we reunited after three long months!

The event started by 12 pm with an opening speech by the Volunteer ED of KIR Foundation, Bitebo Gogo, who reminded the young people that despite the closure of schools and compulsory stay at home, this season must be maximized to reflect, learn, grow, change and take advantage of opportunities. Thereafter, the KIR Foundation team was truly inspired listening to stories of how the young people had been spending their time.  The following are some of the stories from our catch up;

Churchbell Omuboye - "I've been learning 2D animation and Digital art. During the lockdown, I was able to create my personal YouTube channel where I post short clips of animations I create and a Facebook page where I share my digital art." 

Favour Abraham -  "Since school isn't resuming anytime soon, I decided to use my phone to apply for website design courses. I'm currently learning Basic HTML and CSS".

Esther Felix    – "I have been making facemasks for sale".

Thereafter, there was a stakeholder session during which the KIR Foundation team gave the youth an update on the migration of some of KIR Foundation's activities to online platforms like WhatsApp (TGIIF Youth Hub, Career Guidance and Counselling) and the KIR Foundation Blog(E-Library). However, the Digital Club members, pleaded with the team to resume physical meetings in the Centre and it was agreed that the Digital Club would restart on the 3rd of July at the Centre.

The day ended with an interactive workshop aimed at increasing awareness about COVID-19. The KIR Foundation team distributed face masks and a brochure with relevant information about COVID-19 to the youth. The brochure had a section on COVID-19 and the challenges of persons with disabilities. The youth were advised to support people in their neighbourhood, especially persons with disabilities.

Cliffbell Omuboye

A lot of Nigerians took advantage of the opportunity provided by COVID-19 to make facemasks as a means of earning extra income. However, 12-year-old Cliffbell decided to produce liquid soap with the help of his older sister. He supplies his homemade liquid soaps to shops, restaurants and neighbours. According to our emerging young entrepreneur; "I noticed that soap was quite expensive and I decided to produce liquid soap that is of good quality and affordable so that people will be able to wash their hands. I'm happy that I'm making money and atthe same time helping to stop the spread of COVID-19."

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IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH EDUCATION

Three years ago, after the aftermath of the Boko Haram insurgency, we embarked on a journey together that took us to the remote village of Gilmari in the Hills of Mubi in Adamawa State to visit CDM Nursery and Primary School. We met Glory, Nathaniel, Miracle and their little friends who were toddlers in Nursery School. Their school was a makeshift structure made of bamboo poles and a zinc roof without walls to protect them from the weather and the floor was bare sand, exposing the little ones to health hazards. 

The 22 children we met on that day in May 2017, were eager to learn, some said they wanted to be teachers, nurses and doctors, professionals that this remote village really needs to pull them out of poverty. However, they had no learning materials, they were sitting on the bare floor and their teachers had no instructional materials too. The state of the school made the children fall ill easily and frequently with common cold, skin allergies and mild respiratory ailments. All these factors led to low enrolment, attendance and retention rate.

 We realised that the education of these children could not wait because each child in school and learning means direct success for communities like Gilmari and the world. Over the past three years, we are glad to announce that with support from donors in Nigeria and you; our GlobalGiving donors, the children and their teachers have been receiving educational materials like (textbooks, storybooks, exercise books, lesson plans for the teachers, erasers, pencils, pens, sharpeners and rulers), a proper school building with two classroom blocks have been built with permanent blackboards and the classrooms were equipped with 15 desks and a bookshelf, early this year. We are happy to announce that the number of children has increased from 22 to 62. Glory, Nathaniel, Miracle and their little friends are happy to go to school in a safe and hygienic environment.

We especially thank our recurring donor and GlobalGiving Partners whose continuous investment has assisted us to provide the 15 desks and bookshelf for the little ones in Gilmari. However, we still need $33,809 to ensure that the project continues and is completed. CDM Primary School Lainde still needs flooring, windows and desks. Kindly consider becoming a recurring donor and donate to our project; https://www.GlobalGiving.org/projects/educate-270-children-in-northern-nigeria/ and please encourage your friends, family, and colleagues so that we can invest in more children like Glory, Nathaniel, Miracle and their little friends, especially in this Covid-19 season, to enable us to introduce the children to digital literacy and e-learning despite their remote location. 

 All donations are tax-deductible for U.S. taxpayers to the full extent permitted by the law. Your donations will help us break the cycle of poverty by providing quality education for our rural beneficiaries.

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