Women in Management, Business, and Public Service (WIMBIZ), a non-profit organization, focused on increasing and supporting the success rates of female entrepreneurs, in preparation for its 20th anniversary held its ‘Big Sister Program’ across secondary schools in Nigeria.
Big sister
The ‘Big sister’ program is designed to provide, equip and empower young girls in public secondary schools between the ages of 14-18 years with life skills that will boost their confidence and build their leadership capacity; thereby preparing them for post-secondary education.
Beneficiaries of the program are mentored by accomplished female professionals in various fields who have a commitment to the development of the girl child. The objective of this program is to shape the mindset of students and expose them to vital skills for success in life.
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On Friday, 22nd October 2021 the ‘Big Sister Program’ was held at New Era Girls’ Secondary School, Surulere. The girls were lectured on self-confidence, goal setting and planning,
One of the big sisters advised the students to be confident in themselves, have values that will shape their character and define their actions. She also advised the students to hold onto their values, be honest and set achievable goals.
The girls of New Era Girls’ Secondary School were taught by experts how to manage money, create a budget and how to effectively save money.
The Executive Director of Wimbiz, Hansatu Adegbite, while speaking to BizWatch Nigeria said that the “goal of the big sister program is to mentor young girls in senior secondary especially in SS2 and SS3”.
She also revealed that the program was executed in 4 places across the country; Lagos (4 locations in Bonny), Ibadan, PortHacourt, Uyo and Abuja.
Why are we doing this?
Adegbite said “we are doing this because we believe in the education of the girl child, we also believe more in giving back. All the volunteers, sponsors and members of the Wimbiz have come together to inspire, empower and guide them on personal hygiene, career development, entrepreneurial skills, to raise their self-confidence, and how to deal with peer pressure”.
What are our future plans?
“We hope to inspire people to take on the sponsorship and mentorship of girls, for people to consider sponsoring girls beyond secondary school and we hope that the girls will be inspired to excel and we also hope that scholarships will be available to these girls”, said the Executive Director of Wimbiz.
