Training for women: An unfolding discovery

The year is 2020, I look back at how far I have come as an individual, and feel proud of the little I have accomplished.  The baby steps towards self-improvement, the voluntary services and striving to make an impact that had been ridiculed by many, have all amounted to a lot; it brought me where I am today. Sadly I cannot say the same for my society as a whole.

The year is 2020, yet things are pretty much the same especially in respect to women, the Girl Child, their lives and rights. Generally, opportunities are limited for women from developing countries like Nigeria, being married makes it twice as hard. Most often, women are left to create their won opportunities by themselves, which at most times ends up without the requisite support and recognition.

That was the story behind the women centre, an initiative of industrious women who decided to do something about the lack of social space for women in the north, especially amongst the Hausa community. The centre provides a range of services from a fitness gym for women to event spaces for weddings and capacity building programs. 

Two training sessions were organised by the centre in 2015, all of which I was a part of organising.  One, a business development meeting and the other a sex education class. Both classes were full to capacity, indicating a huge need for education and empowerment and the willingness of women to develop themselves irrespective of their challenges. It is in these women that I see the possibilities of the progress and development of our society. In these women, I see the hope alive, not just for themselves, but for the emancipation of our collective communities, through their zeal and willingness to learn, unlearn to grow and develop.  And from that point onwards, I knew I could not afford to give up, because my growth is not mine alone, but for all of us.

The Women Centre is a place I look forward to facilitating more workshops and outreach programs in the even of my return to my motherland. 

For now, I am learning to reinvent, rediscover and redirect myself and life, and then I shall return to step down the knowledge.