Top five community initiatives of 2022
Raise your glasses to another year survived in this anti-clockwisely governed nation. The question of how we do that–like survive year after year–has only one answer and no, it is not that we are “resilient”, we have only survived because of community.
Because some individuals come together to solve the problems in our society with various initiatives. To appreciate these people, and as part of the year-end round-up, we showcase five of the community initiatives that made our year. Here you go:
1. Chess In Slums
Tunde Onakoya, the founder of Chess in Slum brought the first boy forward from the bridges of Oshodi in 2016, and we knew he was onto something. This initiative has placed many young boys in the global limelight with transformations that will knock your socks off.
This year, the number of underprivileged children that Chess in Slum has trained [from the ground up] in chess, hit 500 while a hundred children have reportedly gotten support in academic scholarships, through them.
2. Beyond Play
Of course, we know children need to play but without Raheem Yusuf and his team, we are afraid we’d have not understood how deep that goes until it was too late.
Raheem Yusuf, the visionary behind the Beyond Play initiative strongly believes that being intentional about children playing produces well-adjusted adults and as such created a space for children to experience play in its truest form.
3. Trashion Show
The concept of clearing the streets of waste may sound regular but upcycling it and turning them into something as cool as runway outfits is passion–a virtue the tribe will never cease to appreciate.
Chinedu Mogbo is the conservationist that came up with the Trashion show in Nigeria in 2012 as a way to combat the general problem of environmental pollution.
4. Dream Nurture Initiative
This initiative that is in the journey of reshaping the lives of indigent girls through education, therapy in the form of art, music, and life skills began in Seyi Oluyole’s parlor, with two orphaned girls.
At first glance, you will see a lot of feel-good video dances of the children which may easily be misread as “unseriousness” on the part of the kids but make no mistake; the children are well-seasoned within and beyond the confines of brick-and-mortar.
5. Tech4Dev
Tech4Dev initiative has set many –17,000 plus people the last time we checked–on their path to tech. This year alone, they accepted 1476 applicants to their 2023 fellowship. Not to mention the numerous free boot camps or supporting eager learners with tech equipment.
Take a minute to look around you and see the good changes that just a few initiatives have brought to our society. Then, put your mind to how much better life will be if we vote wisely.
#Unsolicited is a segment for reviews and opinion pieces. In this edition, we highlight 5 community initiatives that made our year.
