Orejesu Ajayi – In Our Hands Development Initiative

OUR EXPERIENCE WITH DOREGOS PRIVATE ACADEMY.

Hi People! its that time of the week where we bring you interesting topics from the development space. Today will be different as we would be giving you a report on what we have been up to regarding our school tour. First up is Doregos Private Academy. Enjoy!

On the 23rd of January 2019, we kicked off our school tour for the year with a partnership with General Electric Early Career Graduate Program CSR Team in Nigeria. This time our location was Doregos Private Academy, Ipaja and we had 180 students in attendance. The day started with our volunteers brainstorming on the best and suitable ways to teach their students. This method helped our facilitator’s device methods for different age groups to leave the desired impact, which is a mindset shift.

We got the students ready for the first session with our Worksheet, which revealed the preformed knowledge of the students on the subject matter. During the second session, our facilitators explained what gender-based violence is, how to identify them and how to prevent it from happening in their environment.

The facilitators came up with practical exercises from our curriculum; A stage act, videos, and illustrations in the third session. These activities further helped to drive the message into the minds of the students. From the examples given, we could see that compared to 18% of students who did not have a clue on what gender-based violence is, 82% of them now fully understood the forms and preventive measures of it.

In the fourth session, the students had the opportunity to ask questions, give us feedback through our feedback forms and this greatly helped us to measure our impact as an organization and the need to get better as well.

We never go empty-handed to our schools, and this time, we had our flex ready for delivery. This flex summarized all that we had taught the students, so as to serve as a daily reminder of why they should not be a part of an abusive world.

We at IOHI are grateful for the gift of partnership and sponsorship because we believe that the right partnerships drive and ultimately helps achieve the SDG’s and also double our strength for lasting impact.

We are also grateful to our wonderful volunteers and facilitators, who go out of their way to make things happen for the organization.

We hope you enjoyed our report? see you next week, for another exciting time here on the blog!

Orejesu Ajayi March 28, 2019

school tour

FEMALE EDUCATION

Hello everyone! Its that time of the week again, where we get to learn about happenings in the development space. Today we are super excited to be having an article on female education for the first time on the blog. Have a great read!

Female Education is a catch-all term of a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It includes areas of gender equality and access to education, and its connection to the alleviation of poverty.

Education systems and schools play a central role in determining girls’ interest in various subjects, including Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, which can contribute to women’s empowerment by providing equal opportunities to access and benefit from quality STEM education.

A report shows that women in Nigeria are more involved than men in virtually all areas of agricultural activities ranging from farm clearing to processing. In spite of this, the women are still victims of a social order that treats them largely as second position role players. Thus, gender bias against women ranges from labor market discrimination to exclusion from policymaking.

This discrimination exacerbates poverty by preventing the majority of women from obtaining the credit, education, training, health services, child care and legal status needed to improve their prospects. One clear noted area of imbalance against women has been in the area of education. It is therefore not surprising that women’s inadequate access to education has been the source of the various discrimination and violence that they suffer.

Therefore, education is stressed to be the solution and a necessity in eliminating the barriers to female discrimination. Improving girls’ educational levels has been demonstrated to have clear impacts on the health and economic future of young women, which in turn improves the prospects of their entire community.

An educated woman has the skills, information, and self-confidence that she needs to be a better parent, worker, and citizen. When women are educated, the world becomes more prosperous. Therefore, it is essential to educate women in order to significantly alleviate poverty in the society; such that they become a voice and an instrument of improving global development.

Written by: Bukola Samuel, B.Sc

Economics graduate and volunteer at In Our Hands Initiative.

Orejesu Ajayi March 23, 2019

"echoes from around the world" Echoes around the world

Empathy

Hello everyone! I trust we have had a wonderful first quarter of the year? if no, not to worry the year only just got better for you!

On today’s episode of the Echoes series, we have an interesting topic “Empathy”. Wondering why we are talking empathy on a gender and development forum? You should find out soon enough. Keep reading.

Empathy is, at its simplest, awareness of the feelings and emotions of other people. It is a key element of Emotional Intelligence, the link between self and others because it is how we as individuals understand what others are experiencing as if we were feeling it ourselves.

Empathy goes far beyond sympathy, which might be considered ‘feeling for’ someone. Empathy, instead, is ‘feeling with’ that person, through the use of imagination. it is about defining, understanding, and reacting to the concerns and needs that underlie others’ emotional responses and reactions. Empathy is a skill that can be developed and, as with most interpersonal skills, empathizing (at some level) comes naturally to most people.

There are several elements of empathy but for the sake of this write up, we would discuss one.

Understanding others: This is perhaps what most people understand by ‘empathy’: “sensing others’ feelings and perspectives, and taking an active interest in their concerns”. Those who do this:
- Tune into emotional cues. They listen well, and also pay attention to non-verbal communication, picking up subtle cues almost subconsciously Show sensitivity, and understand others’ perspectives.
- Are able to help other people based on their understanding of those people’s needs and feelings.

You will agree with me that more empathy is displayed, the more peaceful our community gets. The more we all respect each other’s feelings and accept each other’s flaws. When we have empathy, we through our imaginations understand what people go through and then we know better than laughing at them, or mocking them or being violent. This way we, in turn, create an environment free from violence and gender inequality, here by creating a peaceful and just world!

Written by : Demilade Lawal

Orejesu Ajayi March 13, 2019

"echoes from around the world" Echoes around the world

Thither… Hither

Hello everyone! We are super excited to share a write up by Adeyemi-Bisileko O.A Esq that expresses his thought on violence and the need to rise up and make peace.

The year is 2300 and it’s almost Utopia. Nations have fought wars in the distant past, worn themselves weary and stretched to the brink of ruin, and thus have learnt to love themselves back to life.

Borders yet exist and the laws too, but they exist primarily for the welfare of each nation as it connects to a global vision that almost everyone agrees on and actively works on. There seemed to be no limits to what the world could achieve as one, but this path had been defined by blood, loss, sweat and death and everyone knew that this was no honeymoon or fairy tale with a guaranteed happy ending.

As a result there was ever a need to remind each person how far humanity could fall if there were no checks in place. It was agreed that a people known as the memory keepers be selected and their duty was to erect memorials in strategic parts of the world, stories told in remembrance of the fallen heroes and to educate the younger generation.

The lessons today were in form of what earthlings of that time called a throwback and it happened to be on a Thursday, one of the few phrases which had survived from a world that was only a couple of centuries away, yet in character could as well have been the Dark Ages.

Most meticulous were the memory keepers in ensuring that nothing akin to hate or apt to incite or provoke was shown to these impressionable minds, but yet the clips shown and history as it was taught sufficed to tell the children of where we had been as a globe.

Chief amongst the subjects taught and shown were the millennium goals of the last age and the obstacles that had been faced. The adults would have needed no classes, but seeing how far we had gone, everyone needed to be reminded of our collective destination. Viola’s violence against her younger brother all in the bid to correct his naughtiness, Tobi’s disregard for his wife’s feelings which venom was passed down to the children giving them a skewered view of family , the child often bullied because he was perceived as different with nerdy glasses and an uncanny ability to understand deeper concepts that only further pushed the child into isolation and valuing his company above all else, the grandmother who saw it fit to mutilate the genitals of her female grandchild in the bid to uphold tradition and keep her sexual drive in check, of the male child being the only male amongst female siblings who never had to learn the art of domestic chores and went through life thinking such beneath him and that the entire female gender existed for his pleasure and to do his bidding. Of the male child exposed to sexual discovery by an “aunt’’ and could never keep his raging hormones in check, and of a girl abused by her teacher and closed up, never seeing the light in herself less others again, of a society that hails the male for such discoveries achieved early and slut-shames the girl into silence, of the child ripped away from family and all that’s familiar to serve as a servant to the urban family. Books would fail to tell of the horrors seen by the child, of early wakings, tottering between near-starvation and barely eating, driven by a will and dreams bigger than himself/herself and late sleeping…

The list would be endless and the screen would fade into oblivion and the children would leave with a firmer resolve to brighten their world to a never-setting sun of equality.

With heavy breathing and pounding hearts would the humans all wake as ones tugged awake by a corpulent puppeteer, having dreamt the same thing.

This is the year 2018 and the United Nations 16 days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence is on, but ripples are already endless behind the scenes of organized marches. The space/time continuum has been broken and humanity shown a glimpse into the future if they continued life without making deliberate alterations to the known order of things.

Each is halted in his/her tracks, broken by catharsis and rising with a stronger resolve to amend their ways and make the world so much brighter and hand that baton to each generation….

With this, the future that holds peace and equity only as an aftermath to brutal war and upheavals begins to be extinguished now as men(generic) refuse to be bound to a future over which they have no say or control…

And even now rises the chant throughout the globe like a paean…We want peace now!!! We want equity now!!! We end violence now!!!!

Orejesu Ajayi December 12, 2018

"echoes from around the world" Social Impact

16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM CAMPAIGN

HEAR ME TOO

For the past two weeks, we have had people talking about the #HearMeToo movement and we decided to join in and we got a couple of interesting line up of activities on our social media platform.

Today, we have Daniel share a story to add his voice to the HearMeToo movement as the campaign comes to an end.

In July 2018, I was on my way to the airport to get on a flight to Brazil. The weather was fine, the birds singing happily and everyone driving on the road seemed to be sane and happy. My dad turned the radio knob trying to find a radio station airing a nice program. This is where the sensitization began.

The chosen station had the OAP interviewing a lady (sadly I didn’t take note of her name because I didn’t expect what happened next). The topic was Female Genital Mutilation. I had had few discussions about this issue but the guest did justice to the topic. She started by introducing herself and speaking about the work she does and why it was important. She then vividly described what exactly FGM was.

Here’s the picture she painted, “So imagine a girl between the ages of 5-14 years being laid down on a table, very scared of the pain she’s about to go through. She is surrounded by aged and other community women who really don’t care about this because they probably went through the same system also. They urge her harshly to comport herself and ensures she’s doing the right thing for herself, family and future husband.

There are no painkillers to be found. Nothing to make her drift off while this inhumane act goes on. She is wide awake. Watching under restrains. Her heart is racing faster than a horse. The supposed native surgeon who is a self-acclaimed midwife brings out the blades she just used for the previous victim. That is even a nice option for her because some go as far as using broken bottles or glass and knives to operate on their victims”.

After some minutes the process is completed after lots of struggle, pain and shouting. She has been stripped of what makes her a woman. Her major source of pleasure has been forcefully taken away in a bid to cut down on promiscuity. She suffers swellings and some complications for a few months and it heals up. Along the line, many other issues such as difficulty urinating and passing menstrual flow, chronic pain, the development of cysts, an inability to get pregnant, complications during childbirth, and fatal bleeding come up. There are no known health benefits.

Hearing this story made my body itch so badly, I almost jumped out of the car. I had clear pictures of the whole process in my head and it scarred me for weeks. This is the story of over 200 million women and girls in 27 African countries; Indonesia; Iraqi Kurdistan; and Yemen (as of 2016). No one should be put through such evil. Something has to be done.

Now that you are aware, the next thing is to join the movement to put an end to it. This can happen only through powerful activism and proper sensitization of affected communities. Change can only happen when we come together for a single cause. The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign is a time to galvanize action to end violence against women and girls around the world. FGM is one of such violence and with your help: shares, actions and positive comments we can save the happiness of many more.

My name is Daniel Odediran and I urge you to Make a difference today.

#Orange the World

#HearMeToo

Orejesu Ajayi December 10, 2018

Social Impact

CAMPAIGN ON THE ROOT CAUSE OF GENDER BASED VIOLENCE.

CAMPAIGN ON THE ROOT CAUSE OF GENDER BASED VIOLENCE.

Hello everyone, trust your October was just as awesome as ours!

We promised, and we delivered!

On the 26^th of October, we had our first school tour to officially launch our campaign on the root cause of Gender based violence. Our first delivery location was Mighty Oaks School Ipaja,Lagos and we had 70 students in attendance.We exposed the students to various forms of gender based violence and how to identify them.

We started the first round of training with the students by giving them our worksheet to enable us know their preformed knowledge on gender based violence and how the students viewed the subject matter. The collated responses from this initial interaction showed that only 20% of the students knew something about gender based violence.

After this, we prepared the minds of the students through our experiential learning kit on the subject matter.

As an organization, we have a team of vibrant, vast and intelligent facilitators who took each class through our course work giving each child proper attention to enable them understand better. We made use of experiential learning kits because we know and believe that by using these methods the things we teach the children stick faster and better.

For the second session, we divided the students into groups and gave them activities to identify forms and root causes of gender based violence, to ensure a gender balanced atmosphere we asked the boys to read the forms of violence that affects girls and the girls did the same. This was to ensure that both parties understood what it means to be involved in the issues that concern both genders.

During the third session, we gave the students a feedback form and we found out based on our analysis and evaluation, that 80% of the students compared to 20% at the beginning now fully understood what the subject matter was all about and how to identify it and what to do when faced with such situation. Here are some of the feed backs we got from the students ;

When I encounter Gender based violence, I will call for help.

I will report to an elderly person.

Thank you very much IOHI, I can now identify the various forms of violence

IOHI did not come to play as we presented the school with a chart and books that summarized all that we taught the students on gender based violence.

Thanks to all our sponsors! 2019 will be bigger and better! We are proud to see the next generation of young people taking a decision to make the world a better place.

Orejesu Ajayi November 22, 2018

"echoes from around the world" Social Impact

MEET GBADEGESIN OYEWOLE ALAWODE

Gbadegesin is the Founder/CEO of HYTEM LTD, a development social enterprise focused on generating and implementing bold ideas towards improving the health systems-through sustainable policies, research and technological innovation. At the heart of his work is the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 that provides a framework to accelerate impact in the lives of poor and vulnerable most especially in developing countries. He pairs extensive knowledge in public health, technology and entrepreneurship expertise to impact the world for good. He has special interest in politics, policy making and research as they intersect to promote good governance and enhance the socioeconomic status of the poor.

Gbadegesin was born in Ibadan and raised by a single mother. He could have ended up on the street if not for the positive influence of his mother who made sure he saw the four walls of the University. This humble background fueled his passion for community service- wanting to help and liberate children and communities prone to hardship and poor health. This led him to start his community/volunteering experience at the age of 18 when he joined the “Youth Rescue Club” of Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH), Ibadan, Nigeria. During this period, he built confidence, discovered himself and learnt how he could identify and solve social problems within his community. He was trained as a Youth peer educator on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, HIV//AIDS, contraceptive use coupled with diverse life building skills. He worked with young people from various poor communities to improve access to correct information on Sexual Reproductive Health and Right as well as build their capacity/skills to make informed and healthy choices.

As a 2016 Women Deliver Youth Scholar, he organized a step down advocacy training on Sustainable Development Goals and Deliver4Good investment case centered around Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights for over 500 secondary school students. He believes young people need to own and be part of the implementation and evaluation of the SDGs if we are to make any significant progress by 2030.

Recently, he was a finalist for the 2018 British Council Future Leaders Connect, Nigeria where he championed global policy solutions to achieve the Universal Health Coverage by 2030 and expand access to quality and affordable healthcare for the millions of poor and vulnerable people.

Gbadegesin, envisions a world where everyone regardless of their socioeconomic background, tribe or colour will be able to live a healthier, productive and prosperous life.

Well done Gbadegesin!We celebrate you and the great work you are doing.

Orejesu Ajayi November 12, 2018

Social Impact Uncategorized

MEET ABENA BENEWAA

Abena is a graduate of the University of Cape Coast and currently a graduate student at the Ghana Institute of Journalism. She is a young people’s development activist and also has a social enterprise called Benewaa, it’s a clothing line that does advocacy through customized caps, t-shirts, sweaters and cardigans.

She believes that prioritizing the social, economic and political development of women and girls is fundamental to the development of any society. She thrives on fighting entrenched toxic societal norms and practices that hinder the full development and participation of women especially in matters that directly affect them.

Abena has a special interest in women and girls in rural communities. To her, rural women and girls face double the challenges their counterparts in the urban communities face. Challenges such as rape, domestic violence, harmful cultural practices like female genital mutilation, early and child marriages among others. Most parts of her childhood were spent between a rural community and a fishing community where girls had little or no aspirations and had no role models except the older women in their communities who themselves were usually domestic farmers, petty traders and fishmongers.

This is what gave birth to her project called “YEBETUMI“.

Yebetumi, means ‘We Can’. It was founded in 2015 and it is targeted at mentoring and providing skills training in rural communities for girls, they provide mentoring, sexual reproductive health and rights education, consent and body autonomy workshops and grooming. Their goal is to inspire in girls the motivation to aim high, pursue higher education and careers, to see themselves as capable of more and also be conscious of the control they have over their own bodies. For the women, the goal is to give them financial literacy and independence. She usually does these training in partnership with other organizations, they join PTA meetings to educate parents on the need to prioritize the education of their daughters.

Abena’s dream is to create a society where systems and structures provide avenues for women and girls to fully develop their potentials and are given equal opportunities to explore and meaningfully engage in their society.

Keep up the good work Abena!. You are celebrated now and always.

Orejesu Ajayi September 26, 2018

Social Impact

MEET THE FOUNDERS OF HEMA FOUNDATION

MEET THE FOUNDERS OF HEMA FOUNDATION, NAIROBI KENYA.

The concept of Hema Foundation started in 2015 but the foundation was officially registered as a not for profit organization in Kenya on March 2018.

Hema was founded by four doctors who were classmates in Medical school at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. They are all currently involved in different spheres of medicine; Dr. Borna Nyaoke-Anoke is a public health specialist who is currently involved in clinical research, Dr. Roselyne Okello is a Radiologist resident at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania, Dr. Nida Okumu is an infectious disease resident and working at one of the largest pediatric hospitals in Kenya and Dr. Achieng Aling is an Obstetrician and Gynecologist.

In the different spheres of their work they were faced with the same recurring health issue, lack of access to equitable, quality healthcare to the most vulnerable of populations. In this, they identified women and children, and within that targeted girls who are 17 years old and younger who mostly under very desolate circumstances, including rape and incest become pregnant and have no access to quality ante-natal and post-natal care or socio-economic support post-delivery.

They have been able to conduct educational talks for young girls focusing on empowerment, reproductive health, and choices they have including rights for their bodies, how to respond to physical and sexual abuse and increasing their awareness and accessibility to careers in STEM. Additionally, they have conducted health screening activities and are planning medical camps in the lower socio-economic urban areas of Nairobi. Long-term they intend to collaborate with partners who have the same objectives as Hema in bridging health gaps, especially in marginalized communities. They also intend to promote maternal and child health through health talks, nutrition camps, water and sanitation programs.

Hema Foundation is convinced all these can be achieved by working with a dedicated team of individuals and partners who are keen to see a positively progressing economy through a healthy nation and tenacious, empowered women thus securing our future for generations to come.

We celebrate the great work you are doing in Nairobi, Kenya.

Well done HEMA Foundation!

Orejesu Ajayi September 19, 2018

Social Impact Uncategorized

ISSUES OF GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE 21ST CENTURY

ISSUES OF GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE 21st CENTURY.

As we move on in the 21^st century, there are issues around Gender and Development that need more attention and deeper interrogation. It is obvious that there is inadequate involvement of youths and because of these there is sustainability risk in the struggle and emancipation of women and this makes the intergenerational linkage very weak.

It is interesting to note that all gender-related problems are not about women but there is a general misconception that it is about women. As a result of this, men are being left out consciously and unconsciously in programs, activities and activism relating to gender equality and how to deal with problems associated with it.

Given that, society privileges men and conversations around gender equality has been framed around increasing access to women rather than being about equal access. Furthermore, gender equality has had the tendency to be understood as activism rather being a gap in literature, development work and policy. Consequently, these conversations have seen men become defensive or would rather not want to be part of the conversation.

It is thus obvious that the gap gender analysts and activists need to bridge is the involvement or integration of both genders into program designs, policy designs and initiatives that are championed by international organizations and national governments.

It is these gaps that InOurHands Initiative intends to use as the focus of our interventions and activities with special emphasis on reconstruction of the mindset on issues relating to gender and development beginning with our immediate community and then to national and international level.

Written by: Ms. Orejesu Ajayi (Founder, In our hands initiative)

Orejesu Ajayi September 15, 2018

"echoes from around the world" Uncategorized

MEET OLUWATOBI EMMANUEL AIGBOGUN

Oluwatobi Emmanuel Aigbogun popularly known as “The Guy Behind the Scene” is a New Media Specialist, Business Development Specialist, Girl Child Education Advocate, Visionary Member of the Global Citizen Foundation and a Certified Diplomat. He is the Co-founder of a United Nations backed Social Enterprise (Social Good Lagos) using New Media and Technology to address the Sustainable Development Goals.

He was recently appointed as a Global Youth Ambassador for Education by “A world at School” headed by Mrs Sarah Brown ( wife of former UK Prime Minister). A graduate of History and International Studies from the Lagos State University with certificates in Investigative Journalism in the New Media age from the University of Austin, Texas as well as Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economy from Harvard University. He is currently studying Religion, Peace and Conflict at Harvard University.

He has spent over 8 years in the New Media space and has worked for Brands and Organization like the Commonwealth Africa Initiatives, United Nations, Master card Foundation, Oscars and Grammy Awards. He’s currently the Executive Head of Business Development at an Oil Servicing Company in Lagos Nigeria.

A pioneering member of the Plus Social Good Community with great passion for using New Media in addressing the World problems. He is so passionate about Bringing Change and Development to His Community and has organized UN-backed events in Lagos, Nigeria addressing Vital issues like Women Empowerment, Sustainable development Goals and drive Online conversations to address issues relating to Climate change and Youth Participation in Governance.

Well done! Oluwatobi keep up the good work.

Orejesu Ajayi September 3, 2018

Social Impact

Gender Equality and Economic Growth in South Africa.

This week on our echoes from around the world we are looking at South Africa.

Even though South Africa is one of the most developed countries in Africa, they still face gender equality issues.

When women live below the poverty line and are unable to work or contribute socially it prevents the economy from reaching its highest potential.

Gender Equality reflects in every sector of the economy. For example, a World Bank research shows that 37% of women in the Sub-Saharan region of Africa have a bank account compared to 48% of men. In the absence of genuine intervention, this gender gap will continue to widen in many African countries.

In South Africa in the area of technology, the number of females that graduate from Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) related degrees is still very low. The reason for this is due to the fact that there is a huge wage gap and discrimination against female STEM graduates. We also know that they are not well recognized for their jobs, as well as their contributions to the growth of their companies and the economy.

We also see women in the agricultural sector in South Africa suffer a great deal of inequality when it comes to access to finance as well as agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, water and transportation to and from the markets and farms. This has resulted in majority of the women engaging in subsistence farming due to limited access to resources and technical assistance.

In general, inadequate female representation in the workplace as well as in leadership positions continues to be a barrier to Gender Equality in South Africa. Economists have observed that a 10% reduction in gender gap in both representation and payroll will alleviate poverty for low income earners, which in return helps to boost the economic growth of South Africa. This is also in line with the observation of the chief Economist of PWC Africa, Lullu Krugel who said: “Enormous economic opportunity lies in promoting gender workforce equality”. This should be the new focus of African Governments and the Africa Union Commission (AUC) as we move towards the end of the second decade of the 21st century.

Written by Orejesu Ajayi

Orejesu Ajayi September 1, 2018

"echoes from around the world"

Author: Orejesu Ajayi

There are several elements of empathy but for the sake of this write up, we would discuss one.