HELPERS OF MY DESTINY, IT IS ALREADY A DECADE

IT IS ALREADY A DECADE! How time flies. The journey started 10 years ago when World Pulse announced me in 2009 as the winner of the award of the Voice of our Future Correspondence (VOF) to attend Empowerment Institute, New York, USA.

Little did I know what was in stock for me as I embarked on the journey to USA with excitement and joy on one side because I was travelling out of Nigeria for the first time and with fear on the other side because I was going to the unknown.

As I disembarked from the aircraft at John F. Kennedy airport in New York, I signed and said in my heart USA here I am. It was still not real to me until I got out of the arrival and saw my angel (Amy Lombardo) my first mentor in World Pulse afar off holding my name in her hand. I then said yes Busayo you are actually in US and they are already waiting for you.

World Pulse took me out my hole that I have been for the 45 years of my life to lime light, my voice came out to the open. Amy mentored me throughout the Voice of our Future correspondence program and did all she could to get me visa to US.

Gail and David took me up at the Empowerment Institute and turn me to another person entirely. I became an empowered person in the real sense of it. A person that is sure of herself, a person that can raise her head up and speak out anywhere and a person that could lead others to find their voices and live their dreams. Through the help of Gail and her friends “Women Inspiration Development Center” (WIDC) an NGO working with disenfranchised women and girls in Nigeria was born before I left US in January, 2010.

Through World Pulse founded by Jensine and Imagine Initiatives founded by Gail and David, I have come across several other destiny helpers like Amy, Ellen, Josie, Theresa, Tamarack, Nancy, Colleen and the host of others that are too numerous for me to mention

In these last 10 years you have all joined hands together to be the helper of my destiny, the ones that I owed the successes of these last 10 years. You are the ones that have been lifting the hand of my Moses up, the ones that God has appointed to be the helper of my dream.

Receive My Deep Appreciations! Words Are Not Enough To Appreciate You!!

THE VISION OF WIDC

A safe place to develop the agency of the disenfranchised women in the developing countries so that they can create their lives the way they want it and then they will have these: Improvement on their lives, Improvement on their health, Improvement on their Finances, Improvement on their self-responsibility, Improved self-esteem and Better view of life

This was what we set out to achieve and this was what informed many of the population we have been working with all these years. In the last 10 years Women Inspiration Development Center have been mobile working with our targeted population (Disenfranchised women and girls, homeless, Orphans and Women and Girls facing one forms of violence or the other). Women Inspiration Development Center (WIDC) have been moving from state to state, town to town, villages to villages and ghetto to ghetto to organize Agency-Based Empowerment Workshops for women, girls, men and boys.

We have also been organizing in the rented place that has been our office in the last 10 years, vocational trainings, home lessons and cares for the homeless, orphans, widows and women and girls facing one forms of violence or the other. All our homeless and orphans have always been distributed to homes of friends of WIDC near us for the period of their trainings and schoolings in the last 10 years.

OUR ACHIEVEMENTS SO FAR

We have trained through our Agency-based Empowerment Workshop over 4,300 people translating to direct impact of improving 95,000 people’s lives and close to million people indirectly affected.

WIDC have directly developed the capacity of about 600 women and girls in vocations like Tailoring, Local fabric adire tie and Dye and Bead making. This has translated to direct impact of about 9,000 people’s lives and close to 90,000 indirectly affected

About 30 homeless and orphans have passed through our home lessons and they have been admitted to universities and Polytechnics. Some of them are already graduates and are doing well in their careers.

WHERE WE ARE NOW

WIDC team have developed to 5 Empowerment Institute certified Empowerment Workshop trainers and 7 apprentices from 4 recruited women NGOs who will soon be certified. We are all working so hard to fulfil our dream of scaling IMAGINE Empowerment Workshop in Nigeria.

We are having 14 trainees of tailoring at the rented office we are using presently.

We are having 2 orphans and one homeless presently in our care. Hannah is part 4 Civil Engineering, Funke is entering University in February to study Nursing and Abigail is presently in Junior Secondary School (JSS One)

WHERE WE WANT TO BE (OUR VISION FOR SCALING THE WORK)

We want WIDC to become a Physical Center like Empowerment Institute for Imagine Training Certification Program (IMTCP) so that NGO leaders can come from any city or state in Nigeria for training. We are targeting 20 NGOs every year that are able to sign an agreement to train at least 1000 people in five years after their training at WIDC. These NGOs would be picked strategically and with our targeted population in mind.

We want to have Local fabric adire tie and dye and Fashion Design factory in WIDC through which about 500 homeless children, orphans and disenfranchised women and girls that will be accommodated in the center would have access to capacity building in the next five year.

Expected Impact in the next five years:

Trained: 100,000

Direct Impact: 1,500,000

Indirect Impact: 15,000,000

Funding needed in the next five years for the building of WIDC and our programs

$200,000 ($40,000 yearly)

Expected Outcome in Nigeria in the next five years

Social systems:

Increased literacy, Reduced crime, Reduced Thuggery, Peaceful co-existence, Gender equality and equity, Enhanced leadership, Green living and environmental stewardship, Improved standard of living and well being

Development:

Improved infrastructure, Accountability and transparency among decision makers, Patriotism

Safety and security, Freedom of expression, Religious tolerance

Citizens and government relationships:

Open dialogue, Trust, Mutual love and respect, Peaceful Co-existence

Opportunity to be our recurring donor on the Global Giving!

Click on this link:- https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/empower-nigerian-young-women/ 

If you are willing to know more about our work, I am available to set up Skype or Zoom with you so we can talk more and I can share some of the transformation stories of the women and men who we serve. I am available on Mondays- Fridays, 4pm Nigeria time and Saturday and Sunday as from 2pm Nigeria time.

I will also be in US physically in April, Please let me know if you are willing for us to meet. I will be so glad to do this!

Wishing you a thriving 2020!