My Dream Job – Giving back in the month of May at Enyiduru Project Nsukka Nigeria.

Where do I start from, I can only say that yesterday and the day leading up to it have been so rewarding and enriching but let me start at the driving factor behind it.

Growing up in Nigeria I always wished we had more extensive school programs or specialist institution’s accommodating things like swimming, all kinds of dance, writing classes etc. This desire came from watching the movie FAME, now this indeed was a luxury problem because I couldn’t complain about the standards of the schools I was privileged enough to attend. I used the word Privileged because education in Nigeria is not FREE – in fact it is very expensive.

So if your parents had to choose between putting food on the table, clothes on your back, keeping you healthy and paying for your school fees, they would obviously choose the option that meant you had a few more years to live, perhaps long enough for things to change. So in most cases in families with a lot of children, one or two of perhaps the smarter children may be selected to attend school. With the hope that when they finish, they would have the opportunity to alleviate the poverty level of their families. 

This is why my heart jumps for joy when I see organizations that work to change the fate of these children and the fate of Nigeria’s future. So on May Giving back #INDay I was so thankful for the opportunity to work with Enyiduru Projekt Nigeria e.V. Planning my trip back home I knew I wanted to get involved in something I believed in, a project that I could identify myself with, a project that stands for Growth, Development and Empowerment. I did what almost everybody does in this day and age I googled for NGO’s that had such goals in mind situated in Nigeria that you could actually work with.

As I landed on the first page of the Enyiduru Projekt Nigeria e.V. website, just the first quote and header on the page (see picture below) said it all for me. I believe that education is Key and it should be affordable if not free for every child, enabling them develop their minds and gain a solid foundation for the future. Enyiduru was brought to life 20 years ago for this sole propose by the vision of a Nigerian Catholic Priest Dr. Boniface Amu who did his Post graduate studies in Bonn. His dream was to setup an educational Institution that helps alleviate poverty and empower the people in his community through education. Initially friends supported this vision but with time and progress it developed under the concept “Education is liberation (Bildung ist Befreiung)” in 1996 to Enyiduru Projekt Nigeria e.V.

What started as one man’s vision is now a registered NGO, managed out of Bonn that is making the dream of Nursery Education, Primary Education and of a warm meal a day of 400 children come true. As I read all of these online, I knew I had to see this for myself and I hoped I could be a part of it. Already in Nigeria I wrote Birgitta Schneider asking If I could visit the school, spend some time with the children support the project with a workshop for the older Kids as well as support the concept of a warm meal a day. You can’t imagine my excitement when I got a mail and call from Birgitta Schneider and Priest Dr. Boniface Amu confirming that I could indeed work with Enyiduru Projekt Nigeria e.V.

So off I was planning and trying to build a concept of what the workshop would involve – the decision fell on a workshop focusing on the topic My Dream Job. I guess part of the reason why I choose the topic my dream job is that as a child I always aspired to be much more than the regular profession that was available in the society I grew up in. I hoped that by doing this I could inspire the children to envision themselves being much more than society permits them and believe they could become. At this point I would like to thank a few people who helped develop and execute the concept, my sister Joy Ogbonna, my cousin Juliet Mbajohnson who also went with me onsite to teach the children to make tie-and-dye, one of oldest friends Ijeoma Ene who took time from her wedding and honeymoon to lend her expertise in the areas of teaching during the concept phase as well as on site, my mum for getting the materials needed and of course my colleague Celine Perriot the LinkedIn Munich Office representative of #LinkedInForGood.

What awaited us on the 29th and 30th of May was more than I could have ever imagined. On arrival  Dr. Father Boniface Amu picked us up. They offered us shelter and lodging at the school facilities used normally by their German representatives when on site. We went over the details of the workshop and what the program tomorrow would be like. We visited the school grounds, I have to pause at this moment to thank Enyiduru Projekt Nigeria e.V. and all the sponsors for putting up such a structure, not many schools in the Nigerian rural areas are privileged to have such learning environments. I noticed decorations on the gate and in the classrooms I thought perhaps it was because of Children’s day or democracy day. I asked Father Boniface why the decorations were up and he said they had set it up to welcome us. I was overwhelmed and I thought to myself but I am nobody.

Come may 30th around 6.30 in the morning I could already hear the kindergarten children as the rooms we stayed in were close to the Kindergarten classes. I stepped out and had my first encounter with the children; it reminded me a lot of being in school. They showed me their classrooms; we did a little exercise of trying to recognize the colors and animals on the poster on their classroom wall, shortly after the assembly started. At 8.30 we headed off with Father Boniface to the Primary School grounds where all the children and their teachers came out to welcome us. I couldn’t believe my eyes, they sang for us and gave us flowers and then we entered the big hall. We addressed them and gave them the opportunity to ask questions. They had very intelligent questions some I unfortunately couldn’t answer and at this point with no network coverage google couldn’t help me look smartJ. So I have promised to mail the answers.

After the general session we progressed to our workshop with the oldest children in Primary 5 and 6. In the Nigerian educational system, pupils in primary 6 mostly take the secondary school entrance exam for the school leaving certificate. This determines which school accepts your application, provided you can afford to pay your school fees. Even though Enyiduru Projekt Nigeria e.V. just covers nursery and primary education at the moment they go an extra mile to provide scholarships for their exceptional school leavers who otherwise cannot afford to continue with their education. We met some of these scholarship students yesterday and invited them to be part of the workshop.

The dream Job workshop involved the children getting an understanding of what a dream job is, being introduced the different profession via a group work where they identified professionals on the cut cards given to them and being introduced Nigerian role models already doing some of these jobs. The end result was to produce My Dream Job cards for each of the workshop participants where they would introduce themselves, stating their desired profession, their motivation for these professions and their hobbies. The aim being to allow the Children understand that work could be something they like to do and it could even be more enjoyable if it had purpose attached to it.

 After 7 hours – covering the general session, Tie-and-Dye, various groups works on my dream job – we had a very rewarding experience and produced 74 my dream Job Cards. My prayer and my hope is that it will be able to serve a great purpose someday in guiding these children on their Life’s journey.

I want to thank Enyiduru Projekt Nigeria e.V., Father Boniface, all the reverend Sisters and the Pupils for having us. I have indeed found a Project I wish to support – there is still a lot to be done, I hope to find more people to join on this journey of making the dream of free and sound education for one little boy or girl in Nsukka Nigeria come true. If you would like to support this project here is a link.

Thanks for taking time to read the article, for your support and for your feedback. Keep an eye open for the Christmas Project :-)

Yours Truly - Liz Nwafor

#makewhatsnext #givingback #buildingthefuture #transformation #LinkedinLife #MayInDay #LinkedInForGood#Charityafrica#NgoAfrica