In a bid to ensure quality life and sustainable education for all, the Foundation for Rural Education and Empowerment (FREE-NGO) is leading a community-collaboration for girls and women in Southwest, Nigeria.
The average girl-child embodies possibilities that may not have been identified or developed. The Foundation for Rural Education and Empowerment (FREE-NGO) launched the RUSH4Girls (Rural Urban Skill Honing for Girls) project, which is a capacity-building program that uses the RUSH Tripod model to enhance life and soft skills for young and adult females with access to little or no education in underrepresented communities.
The project, which has been in operation since 2020 in collaboration with the Centre for Inclusive Agriculture and Gender Development (CIA-GED), uses this tripod approach to achieve its goals;
1. Identify the strengths and capabilities of the girl child.
2. Gender-centred component is equitable and suitable across genders.
3. Digitalized RUSH hour residency program with the use of technology to enable sustainability/follow-up as well as open up every girl child to independent possibilities and exploration through guided learning.
FREE-NGO is leveraging urban competencies to drive skill acquisition for women and girls in rural communities.
Since the launch of the Rush4Girls project on the 8th of October 2022, the project has enrolled 50 girls from Oda Community in Ondo State in different tracks of their interest.
These include:
1. Textile art (tie and dye), which Jemimah Solomon-Sanu facilitates.
2. Bridals and Facinators facilitated by Elizabeth Ekhasomi and
3. Snacks production and packaging are facilitated by Phebian Oguntoye.
To adequately provide the participants with the 21st-century competencies required to thrive in a digital economy, participants are also sensitized on digital literacy for marketing and pitching their products in a virtual space.
This is being facilitated by Jemimah Solomom-Sanu, who is also a Social media expert and graphics designer. So far, participants in the Rush4Girls project are currently creating digital pathways to project products from their various tracks to the global space.
A remarkable achievement following the execution of the project is the willingness of most of the girls to learn. In ensuring sustainability and promoting girl-child efficiency, the residency component of the project model being overseen by Phebian Oguntoye, the Ondo State Coordinator, has continually been critical in maintaining close follow-up with the beneficiaries to supervise their engagement in the training and with their trainers.
Iyanuoluwa Olalowo, the Executive Director of the foundation, noted that by amplifying the strengths and capabilities of women and girls in underserved communities, there is a relieving pathway that ensures that their unique talents are not only recognized and nurtured but also channelled to be profiting to self-development and economic gain.
Iyanuoluwa noted that the digitalized residency program not only provides sustainability and support but will open up opportunities for the girls to explore independent possibilities through guided learning anytime and conveniently.
He noted further that by equipping girls with digital literacy skills for economic sufficiency and social good, the project will ensure that the girls are well-prepared to thrive in the evolving economy where technology plays a crucial role.
Currently, an overview of this project forms part of the study component in a U.S. institution, which is focused on critical approaches towards reconceptualizing the education of underrepresented groups.
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