What seemed like an ordinary Tuesday morning on the 11th of October 2022 at the NECA House building in Ikeja was not, there was a miracle happening inside the main hall on the lower wing. Thanks to The Purple Girl Foundation, 25 school girls across primary and secondary levels gathered together, alongside their parents, guardians, and community, in anticipation of the outcome of an essay competition which they had been a part of.
All of the essay participants are some of the usual beneficiaries of The Purple Girl Foundation Education scholarship from primary to university level. The stakes were high, it seemed so, going by the curious/anxious faces of parents and guardians alike, and the girls, at least it seemed so. At about 11 am the event kicked off with an opening remark by the co-founder of the Foundation, in the person of Mrs. Mary Akpobome.
She thanked all participants of the essay competition for applying themselves to the process and also gave credit to Heritage Bank and Dufil Prima Foods PLC (makers of indomie noodles) for sponsoring this edition of The Purple Girl Foundation girl child activation.
She also reminded all of the people present that Tuesday the 11th of October 2022 is the International day of the girl child globally, a day set aside to commemorate and celebrate the girl child for how far she has come and to cheer her on for the journey ahead. Speaking directly to parents, Mrs Akpobome said ”S.T.E.M is the future, I urge you to never exclude your daughters from becoming leaders in that space, encourage them along the line of their passion in S.T.E.M, it has the power to transform all their lives. Present at the event was Mrs. Justina Oha, Founder and consultant at Kindle Communications.
She gave a 30 min talk directed to the girls and their parents on reasons why they should open up their minds to the world of S.T.E.M. In her session, she mentioned that “In order to scale anything to the global level, there must be digitization and reliance on technology”. She also cited examples of leading women in the S.T.E.M world and inspired the girls to open up their minds to possibilities, seek out role models in that space and peer with like minds as they go through life.
The moment of truth had come, the prize winners were to be announced but shortly before, Mrs Mary Akpobome announced that all essay participants would be going home with a cash prize of N10,000.00, irrespective of their performances because everyone is a winner.
At the primary level where competitors wrote on the topic How can I become a good leader in this digital generation, third place went to Adebiyi Qowiya Semilore winning the sum of N25,000.00. Second place went to Chidera Godfrey winning the sum of N50,000.00 while first place went to Akingbeyin Trinity, winning the sum of N75,000.00. To say that these youngsters were delighted would be an understatement. Coming to the secondary level of the competition, where participants wrote on the topic How can gender stereotypegap.in S.T.E.M be bridged in the society, third place was Saddiq Falinat Umeh winning the sum of N50,000.00, in second place Nwafor Perpetual, winning the sum of N75,000.00 and in First place, Ibrahim Fatimat Bisola won the sum of N100,000.
The presentation and photo session was filled with a lot of emotions, from screams of excitement, and tears of Joy, and to lots of hugs and appreciation. At the end of the presentation, Mrs Mary Akpobome thanked all of the fathers present at the event for being there and urged them as decision-makers in the home to deal fairly with the girl child.
The meeting ended with the distribution of gifts from Dufil prima foods plc (makers of indomie noodles), an official sponsor of the event, food and drinks, and a photo session. It was a beautiful way to celebrate the girl child in 2022. The Purple Girl Foundation, a platform given to education sponsorship from primary to University level, is urging the public, corporates and well-meaning individuals to contribute to this great work in achieving gender parity in education, for the girl child. Together we all can.