The boot camp with the theme “Art for Social Transformation”
commenced November 2019 and successfully came to an end in March 2021 with the
graduation of 100 young creative change agents.
The programme, fully funded by VOICE is designed to expose
the most vulnerable youths in Nigeria living in disadvantaged communities to
the incredible world of the Creative Arts and its powerful usage for social
transformation.
Rita Ezenwa-Okoro, Founder and Lead Visionary of SPF, stated
that the objective of the project was to primarily prepare the youths for
opportunities in the job market and to build their capacity to advocate for
social issues affecting them. Creative
art tools, she said, were used to develop the participants’ soft skills such as
critical thinking, public speaking, communication skills, team building and
confidence.
Upon conclusion of the project, 60 per cent of the creative
youth were accelerated through mentorships, internships, scholarships,
fellowships, business loans and grants. Meanwhile, 12 per cent of the creative
youths are persons living with disabilities.
Rita Ezenwa-Okoro said, “We are glad for the strides made,
regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic that ravaged the world and our communities
less than mid-way into the project, our rightsholders, faculty, staff and
funding partner VOICE, were resilient. We embraced the new normal and navigated
through it ensuring our youth learned what they had to learn”
She continued by saying that “they get to celebrate the many
young creative change agents that have emerged, which includes the following:
Blessing Idoko a PLWD who has been granted a N1million COVID-19 SME funding by
the Central Bank of Nigeria to accelerate her bakery business, which was
affected by the Pandemic.
Uzoamaka Asiegbu, a PLWD secured a $1000 grant from
Pollination Project California USA, that enabled her to build the capacity of
30 PLWDs, and subsequently secured employment as a Program and Inclusion
Analyst at the United Nations, Abuja office. Deborah Johnson was selected as
one of the top-five across Nigeria for the ‘Silverbird Project YNSPYRE’ by
Silverbird TV now works as an intern at the radio station”.
Ezenwa Okoro, Director of Programmes, stated that “among
notable programmes that the Creative Youths have created, is a 13 Episode Radio
Drama titled “Omo, this is real life” a series that addresses the social
justice issues the young change agents care about.
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