Chidi realised that she needed more volunteers to help her. She couldn’t do it all on her own, and she needed people to be able to take over if she was sick, needed a break, or if her mother’s sickness got worse. She had some volunteers, but they often seemed flaky or incompetent. Sometimes it […]
Category Archives: Toolkit 1 – Youth Work: Women Upskilling Young Women
Wise words are like seeds. The more you scatter them, the more they will grow into infinite gardens of knowledge. Suzy Kassem Sometimes it can seem that writing things down is a pointless exercise, but it’s actually an investment – distilling wisdom and experience for others. When you have written guidance, whether it is on […]
He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions. Confucius It seems crazy that Chidi’s cooking club may close because she left early to care for her mother. Who could have imagined that that one decision would lead a girl to be attacked, pregnant, and the community to have lost trust […]
Chidi had been running the cooking club for a year, regularly having twenty girls aged 13-16 attending each week. All the girls who attended were doing well in school, and three or four regularly sold baked goods in their schools. Parents who had initially been reluctant for their daughters to attend when they could have […]
You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you. Maya Angelou Searching for income for your organisation should be a responsibility that your board and managers work together […]
May I stress the need for courageous, intelligent, and dedicated leadership… Leaders of sound integrity. Leaders not in love with publicity, but in love with justice. Leaders not in love with money, but in love with humanity. Leaders who can subject their particular egos to the greatness of the cause. Martin Luther King, Jr. Your […]
Mrs Nanja is a board member at the Cooking Club. She was Chidi’s teacher at school and is now retired. This week Chidi needed help, and Mrs Nanja joined the activity. Chidi was initially nervous, but Mrs Nanja made it clear that she was there to help Chidi, not to take over. The activity was […]
When we set up our youth project, we had recently left university. We wanted to make a difference for other young women. We felt that people wouldn’t take our youth organisation seriously as we were all young – and all women. We reached out to our networks and were lucky that some established people were […]
We learned about honesty and integrity – that the truth matters… that you don’t take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules… and success doesn’t count unless you earn it fair and square. Michelle Obama Chidi has been working hard with her youth club for quite a while. Many people in the community […]
Chidi had a great youth activity idea. The sister of a lady from her church was visiting from Paris, where she was working for an international organisation and had agreed to come to the cooking club. The only professional women that she had introduced to the young women in the club had previously been local. […]