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| Miss Priscillia Jumoke Awe |
Miss Priscillia Jumoke Awe is the founder and project
coordinator of Feminine Care Development Foundation (FCDF), a
non-governmental organisation set up to provide care and education
services to the womenfolk. She is a creative thinker, writer, lawyer
and one of the 100 Nigerian youths listed by Brandit Nigeria. Jumoke was
also selected for the 2009 youth work exhibition in Abuja, a programme
of the Ministry of Youths and Sports. In 2011, she
was recognised as one of the 12 dynamic youths in Nigeria, at a programme organised by the Ministry of Youths in Abuja. At present, she is a principal consultant at Octo Consult, a commnication and marketing firm.
FEMININE Care Development Foundation (FCDF) was established in 2003 as a vehicle for the provision of care and education services to the womenfolk. The central focus is to see to the all-round development of the girl-child as a responsible, reliable and contributing adult to society.
According to Priscillia Jumoke Awe, founder and project cordinator of FCDF, the street-to-school scholarship scheme advocates the education of the girl child who should be in school but is on the street wasting time and potentials. The beneficiaries are not street girls but students who have their school results and have no one to sponsor them. The work has opened her up to many experiences.
“Being on the field to get these girls to school opens up to me a picture of the enormous gap between the facts and paper fiction of what poverty is. On the field, I see a ground level of realities on why we have unschooled girls on our streets. Poverty is a major impediment. It becomes more frightening at the number of applicants we have for the street-to-school scholarship scheme. The scholarship is not limited to girls seeking admission to higher institution, it is open for all ages.”
She adds, “We work closely with various governmental, non-governmental, individuals and schools. Schools are the major partners we look out for because that is the place the potentials of the girl child can be positively realized and harnessed. To FCDF, school is not limited to the four walls of the classroom; it means taking girls from the street to a place they can learn. We have innovative schools partnering with us, Schools of photography, Fashion and Beauty School.”
“Getting schools to give the girls scholarship is not easy, but for the passion. The school as an administrative setting has a lot of bureaucracy ... I have to defend the proposal at every level, making the management see it as a form of corporate social responsibility, and above all, service to humanity.”
To Jumoke, empowerment of women must begin with the empowerment of girls through education, and financing gender equity in education is a critical starting point in discontinuing the traditional inequalities that make it impossible for girls and women to contribute to the fundamental changes in sustainable development in the society. It is a proactive strategy to reducing the number of the girl child on the street, The Street to School project is her own way of projecting into the future to avert the environmental catastrophe she foresees for the girl child. The reality, she reasons, is that a girl child who stops school abruptly and ends up on the street becomes very vulnerable to sexual exploitation, forced marriage, criminality and drug abuse.
“We have a formulated a model of how we get girls out of the street to school. First, not all the girls live on the street, and so when I say street girls, I mean the unschooled girl child who is full of potentials, willing to go to school, but has no one to give her education and hope. The FCDF stands in the gap for this voiceless girl-child, giving her academic hope, taking her away from the street to school where her potentials can be fully realised. We believe in early intervention to take these girls out of the street and send them back to school. In the endeavor to reach out to girls in need, we visit orphanages and remote areas to campaign for the education of the girl child because the epidemic of illiteracy among female is more prevalent in some areas.”
This cause she is pursuing was nurtured while she was in school. Then pledged that if she was able to get to where she was because someone cared, she should also give back by addressing the plight of the girl child, who has nobody to give her education. The foundation started in 2003 with the aim of empowering the female gender in different areas and stopping violence against women, and restoration of her dignity.
“I find it shocking that at this age, I have to persuade some guardians to release their wards to go to school. It is obvious that such a ward is making money for the family. I met a girl at the garage, and she confided in me that she makes minimum of N500 on a daily basis begging. She remits N400 to her guardian and spends N100 on feeding. I scheduled a meeting with her guardian and was shocked when they told me she could not be allowed to go to school. I was shocked to see how greed and selfishness can jeopardise the future of a budding child,” she laments.
Jumoke is a creative thinker and writer.
She says of her private business, “Going into private business is an obvious career choice. It avails me the opportunity to utilise my skill, knowledge and creativity. It allows me to chart my direction and goals. The very notion that I’m creating something out of nothing, starting up a business of my own, gives me a sense of fulfillment. In a private business, an idea strikes you, you sound it out with your members of staff and work it out, then it becomes a reality. My business is a reflection and expression of my values and creativity. I find doing a particular job predictable; the alternative for me is to go into private business, where the job description is varied. ...”
Jumoke hails from Ilawe-Ekiti in Ekiti State. She had her primary education at Science Foundation Nursery and Primary School, and secondary school was at Government College, Ikorodu. She then proceeded to Ibadan Polytechnic for Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in Accounting. She then studied Law at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye.
Of her foray into communication and marketing she says: “Finding myself in the communication and marketing world is not a mistake; it is an innate quality I possess. Public relation fits my space and personal lifestyle. I have been writing for newspapers since I was a kid. While I was in secondary school, I was the editor of Seclife, a school magazine. While in the university, I published INSIDEOOU Magazine and a lot of PR job alongside. Growing up was fun, I have always said it that I did not miss anything out of my childhood because I enjoyed every bit of it.”
She says of her projections, “In a few years time, I want to see myself running a high-impact consulting firm truly dedicated to the service of its clients. And for my NGO, I see the foundation helping to cut down the number of uneducated girls to the lowest minimum.”
She says of her sources of inspiration: “Segun Oyebolu, the founder of Feed the Elderly Foundation has been my mentor for years and I learn a whole lot from him. Also Mr. Tunji Olugbodi of Verdant Zeal; I love the passion and drive he puts to work. Each time I go to his office, I feel invigorated to move on and more convinced that the communication and marketing world is where I will make my mark.”
She is also looking forward to marriage. “My kind of man must be strong enough to let me be what I want to be. I should be able to listen to him without losing my voice. In the marriage institution, I believe two good heads are better than one. I should be better in marriage than I am being single.”
She advises young ladies to “look inward, look for that unique thing that stands them out, something they can do better than anyone else.”
Source- Guardian
Share your thoughts...thanks!
was recognised as one of the 12 dynamic youths in Nigeria, at a programme organised by the Ministry of Youths in Abuja. At present, she is a principal consultant at Octo Consult, a commnication and marketing firm.
FEMININE Care Development Foundation (FCDF) was established in 2003 as a vehicle for the provision of care and education services to the womenfolk. The central focus is to see to the all-round development of the girl-child as a responsible, reliable and contributing adult to society.
According to Priscillia Jumoke Awe, founder and project cordinator of FCDF, the street-to-school scholarship scheme advocates the education of the girl child who should be in school but is on the street wasting time and potentials. The beneficiaries are not street girls but students who have their school results and have no one to sponsor them. The work has opened her up to many experiences.
“Being on the field to get these girls to school opens up to me a picture of the enormous gap between the facts and paper fiction of what poverty is. On the field, I see a ground level of realities on why we have unschooled girls on our streets. Poverty is a major impediment. It becomes more frightening at the number of applicants we have for the street-to-school scholarship scheme. The scholarship is not limited to girls seeking admission to higher institution, it is open for all ages.”
She adds, “We work closely with various governmental, non-governmental, individuals and schools. Schools are the major partners we look out for because that is the place the potentials of the girl child can be positively realized and harnessed. To FCDF, school is not limited to the four walls of the classroom; it means taking girls from the street to a place they can learn. We have innovative schools partnering with us, Schools of photography, Fashion and Beauty School.”
“Getting schools to give the girls scholarship is not easy, but for the passion. The school as an administrative setting has a lot of bureaucracy ... I have to defend the proposal at every level, making the management see it as a form of corporate social responsibility, and above all, service to humanity.”
To Jumoke, empowerment of women must begin with the empowerment of girls through education, and financing gender equity in education is a critical starting point in discontinuing the traditional inequalities that make it impossible for girls and women to contribute to the fundamental changes in sustainable development in the society. It is a proactive strategy to reducing the number of the girl child on the street, The Street to School project is her own way of projecting into the future to avert the environmental catastrophe she foresees for the girl child. The reality, she reasons, is that a girl child who stops school abruptly and ends up on the street becomes very vulnerable to sexual exploitation, forced marriage, criminality and drug abuse.
“We have a formulated a model of how we get girls out of the street to school. First, not all the girls live on the street, and so when I say street girls, I mean the unschooled girl child who is full of potentials, willing to go to school, but has no one to give her education and hope. The FCDF stands in the gap for this voiceless girl-child, giving her academic hope, taking her away from the street to school where her potentials can be fully realised. We believe in early intervention to take these girls out of the street and send them back to school. In the endeavor to reach out to girls in need, we visit orphanages and remote areas to campaign for the education of the girl child because the epidemic of illiteracy among female is more prevalent in some areas.”
This cause she is pursuing was nurtured while she was in school. Then pledged that if she was able to get to where she was because someone cared, she should also give back by addressing the plight of the girl child, who has nobody to give her education. The foundation started in 2003 with the aim of empowering the female gender in different areas and stopping violence against women, and restoration of her dignity.
“I find it shocking that at this age, I have to persuade some guardians to release their wards to go to school. It is obvious that such a ward is making money for the family. I met a girl at the garage, and she confided in me that she makes minimum of N500 on a daily basis begging. She remits N400 to her guardian and spends N100 on feeding. I scheduled a meeting with her guardian and was shocked when they told me she could not be allowed to go to school. I was shocked to see how greed and selfishness can jeopardise the future of a budding child,” she laments.
Jumoke is a creative thinker and writer.
She says of her private business, “Going into private business is an obvious career choice. It avails me the opportunity to utilise my skill, knowledge and creativity. It allows me to chart my direction and goals. The very notion that I’m creating something out of nothing, starting up a business of my own, gives me a sense of fulfillment. In a private business, an idea strikes you, you sound it out with your members of staff and work it out, then it becomes a reality. My business is a reflection and expression of my values and creativity. I find doing a particular job predictable; the alternative for me is to go into private business, where the job description is varied. ...”
Jumoke hails from Ilawe-Ekiti in Ekiti State. She had her primary education at Science Foundation Nursery and Primary School, and secondary school was at Government College, Ikorodu. She then proceeded to Ibadan Polytechnic for Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in Accounting. She then studied Law at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye.
Of her foray into communication and marketing she says: “Finding myself in the communication and marketing world is not a mistake; it is an innate quality I possess. Public relation fits my space and personal lifestyle. I have been writing for newspapers since I was a kid. While I was in secondary school, I was the editor of Seclife, a school magazine. While in the university, I published INSIDEOOU Magazine and a lot of PR job alongside. Growing up was fun, I have always said it that I did not miss anything out of my childhood because I enjoyed every bit of it.”
She says of her projections, “In a few years time, I want to see myself running a high-impact consulting firm truly dedicated to the service of its clients. And for my NGO, I see the foundation helping to cut down the number of uneducated girls to the lowest minimum.”
She says of her sources of inspiration: “Segun Oyebolu, the founder of Feed the Elderly Foundation has been my mentor for years and I learn a whole lot from him. Also Mr. Tunji Olugbodi of Verdant Zeal; I love the passion and drive he puts to work. Each time I go to his office, I feel invigorated to move on and more convinced that the communication and marketing world is where I will make my mark.”
She is also looking forward to marriage. “My kind of man must be strong enough to let me be what I want to be. I should be able to listen to him without losing my voice. In the marriage institution, I believe two good heads are better than one. I should be better in marriage than I am being single.”
She advises young ladies to “look inward, look for that unique thing that stands them out, something they can do better than anyone else.”
Source- Guardian
Share your thoughts...thanks!
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