Flash Back 2012

I was in a bus heading home yesterday when I had a flash back about the things that happened in the past that I had forgotten about but made a huge impact in my life. One of which happened in 2012. 

In 2012, I entered for the Dell Innovation  Challenge. My project got to the semi finalist stage. It was my first time applying for this kind of competition and I put my best in it. As a semi finalist, I had to create a video and upload on YouTube. This was critical for the next stage of the competition.  To cut the long story short, I made a good video but my project plan had some loop holes and I didn't get to the final stage.

I was sad. Yes! I was.
Something strange started happening. A lot people watched that video. I got lots of emails, people asking if it was true that we had poor girls who couldn't afford sanitary pads in Nigeria.

It sounded really hard to believe that  some girls in Nigeria actually use Tissue, Cloth, Mattress Foam, or News paper for their menstruation.I had to explain to some that even I too was shocked when I found out. 

A lot of people started asking how they could be of help. Soon people had the video on their laptops and mobile phones. Some people volunteered, some donated money for sanitary pad and some donated free sanitary pads to support our work.I was overwhelmed
I didn't know what powerful tool the media is. The short video on YouTube, the post on Facebook and Twitter clearly showed me what the media is capable of.

 Sitting back and looking at the projects in front of me. The only thing on my mind is: How to create the next video for our YouTube Channel.

Social media has shown me that it can either make or mar you. I have decided to make very good use of it.