Her full Story (Read and be Inspired)
As a survivor of Domestic Violence, Jennifer Umeh believes that girls and young women access to education and health service is fundamental for sustainable development in Nigeria. Jennifer grew up in a broken home with rough experiences of abuse and neglect. Her parent divorced Nine months after her birth in Eastern Nigeria. Her Father showed no interest towards her education.
She was raised by her single mum, grand mother, uncles, aunties, and people. As a girl filled with many ambitions despite her experiences. she was determined to further her education. With her decision making ability, She believed that if she could go to school, she would gain knowledge and skills access limitless opportunities and reach her potentials in life.
Today, Jennifer Umeh is 21-year-old and She is the pioneer of Hope for African Girls Initiative (HAGi) an
organisation founded to Educate Girls to be empowered enough to stand up for themselves and to discover their self-identity
through quality education and
empowerment. Her skills include Public speaking, Teaching, Writing, Counselling and Leadership.
She likes attending workshops and seminars organised by both local and international organisations that provides platform for her to maximise her youth impact and be a strong voice for others. Jennifer Umeh is a Campus Correspondent with The Nation Newspaper and she is also Mentor a Girl Child Fellow. She is currently a member of African Liberty Organisation for development (ALOD) and a Youth Ambassador for Earthplus.
Jennifer's inspiration started after she had attended the Educate a Girl Nigeria workshop in Lagos. The workshop was an eye-opener to her as she became aware of too many illicit behaviours bedevilling the girl child around the world. She saw the need to help young people, she desired to speak out so that her voice could be heard. She said to herself, if only her voice could change the status quo in Africa, why should she hold back. she approached some Local Organisations indicating her interest to serve as a volunteer. She joined Her Voice Africa, YALI Network, One African Child, Earthplus, AREAi, She is a Model International etc.
In order to be exuberant and to ensure that her voice is loud enough, then she founded Hope for African Girls Initiative (HAGi) in January 2016.
On how she started her journey
As a teenager, Jennifer started by Visiting the motherless babies homes in her community and taking out time to play and educate the children giving special attention to the girls without money or financial assistance.
She shared with them the knowledge of what she was thought at the workshop that inspired her. "it felt so beautiful to see them smiling not letting me go home .It was wonderful to teach what they would not learn even at school.” She said
Jennifer inspired many of her friends with most of her facebook post and her passion for girls and was able to attract other youth to support her project. It then shifted from ‘me’ (Jennifer Umeh Initiative) to ‘we’ (Hope for African Girls Initiative) Together with her passionate Volunteers,
They are supporting community-based schools in Africa and their literacy effort is playing an instrumental role in ensuring that young girls in Africa have access to education. It is an investment that will give dividends to generations unborn. In less than a year they have mentored and empowered over 1000 young girls in Nigeria.
The programme was held in schools, including Kwara, Enugu, Anambra, Lagos, Rivers, Abuja,
Ogun, Abia, Ebonyi and Imo states
Jennifer has been able to develop her leadership competence by seizing other training and volunteer opportunities that
allow for young people to be co-learners and well as active contributors to the development of their community.
Jennifer's advice to young people who want to make a difference but aren’t sure of how?
You must not wait until you become affluent before you impact people. Successful people always focus on the positive side even when they know challenges are inevitable. Start with small steps. I did not magically start mentoring young girls all at once. I started with trainings, and conferences. But that is not even strictly a requirement to get engaged. Helping a less fortunate individual by sharing your food or your time is a good start. Also volunteering in outreach programs and participating or joining in school and community-based organisations could help.
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” —Pablo Picasso
No comments:
Post a Comment