By Abayomi Elias
In its effort to leverage on behavioral change among trained teenage girls in Majidun community in Ikorodu, Access to Learning and School Initiative ATLAS established ‘THE ELITE ENTERPRISE’ a platform designed to showcase the acquired skills of young girls in sexual reproductive health and rights SRHR to stakeholders who need them.
Newsconnect reports that with the support of PLAN International, ATLAS trained and graduated 61 girls through the project dubbed ‘Enriching Lives Through Education’.
According to the Executive Director of ATLAS Initiative, Habeeb Balogun at the graduation ceremony of the girls after 9 months of training, Habeeb said the project was set up to train 50 girls in Majidun community, Ikorodu but today, 61 girls had been trained on various skills including Sexual reproductive healths and rights as well as practical skill that actually speak to SRHR.
The graduands according to them and what they exhibited on the day of their graduation ceremony depicted they can now produce hygiene products which include soaps, antiseptic solution like Dettol or Izal, shampoos, conditioners, and various products that can be used for their personal hygiene.
“We also taught them on making eco-friendly reusable pads as well as Upcycling. That address indiscriminate waste and can end up reducing the cases of teenage pregnancy, early marriage, and abuse that can happen to out of school girls or young girls who are not in the position to fend for themselves.
“This project had been really wholistic, we are thankful that we are able to engage all these various community stakeholders, and they are able to take up safeguarding of these children, they are able to support with their training and the children are being able to demonstrate all the skills that they are being taught.
“The Elite Enterprise is one of the development that happened during the training.
“Today is the closing ceremony of the project, however, it doesn’t mean our intervention in the community ends. We are going to continue engaging them. Stakeholders have already promised to patronize the girls of the skills we have taught them, they promised to get contracts for them.
“We have given some very exceptional girls out of all the 61 girls we have trained some startup kits to give to start up as a business, we are starting with a cottage business which is a cooperative side of business.
“The Elite Enterprise is going to be a cooperative business model where the girls are going to be working in groups.
“We have shared these girls into groups according to their personal interest that drives their passion. Upcycling, making of reusable pads, girls develop passion in making hygiene products”. He said
Pastor Felix Egbodofo, The Secretary of Abejoye CDA said the ATLAS team has done an excellent job, excellent work. He told journalists at the graduation ceremony that;
“The community appreciates what they have done for our daughters, they taught them how to turn waste to money and a lot of good things like that.
“We need the continuity of this job, and stakeholders in this community at a meeting had promised us that. We are going to monitor how they progress, we don’t just want them to learn the job, they performed excellently in displaying what they have done.
“The Olori has given a place, we as a CDA will support them morally and financially because they are our children”. He said
One of the participants, ayoung mother, Adewale Idowu told newsmen at the event that she is happy with this program. As the 9 months training came to an end, she said;
“All the knowledge we learnt would be beneficial for us in the future. I will go into full business now that the training has ended. We thank ATLAS for their support, we promise them we will make them proud with the training”.
Other graduands expressed optimism to leverage on the knowledge and skills learnt going forward.