Empowering Women of the Future - Day 2, Ajegunle

I arrived Ajegunle 4 hours before our group meeting time yesterday because I intended to visit some of the women leaders to discuss ways of improving the lives of teenage girls in the community and how they can support.

After taking a walk round with the secretary to the community- Chief Samson Afolafun and discussing with some of the well respected women, he took me to a birthing home that is owned and managed by a woman leader popularly called ‘Matron'.

The Narrow Path Leading to the Birthing Home

The Front of the Birthing Home

The birthing home consisted of two (2) rooms, one served as the delivery room while the other served as an aftercare ward.

Holding One of the Baby Girls

There I met four teenage girls who just put to birth, 3 middle aged women and a woman who was well into her late 40’s, they barely had clothes to wear, food to eat and money to access quality healthcare. They received our donations of baby and adult clothes, baby towels and wrappers with joy in their heart and tears in their eyes.






Some of the women were seen wearing the clothes they had just received before I left.

Later at the EWOF session, we were surprised at how much the group increased as we had 10 new girls in attendance.

After introducing the program to the new participants, we went straight to the business for the day. The topics we discussed were: Definition of a woman and the role of women in the home, society and in the world.

We got some very interesting response to the question: Who is A Woman. Some of them were:

•  a woman is a grown girl;

• a woman is a human created from a man;

• a woman is a mother and

•  a woman is a person who takes care of children.

The response we got for the roles of women in the home, society and the world were very similar to the definitions we got.

As a group, we took turns talking about some of the problems/challenges we faced at school for those who are in school and at our place of work for those not in school. Some of the girls said they were being bullied and put down by some of their classmates and teachers, some said they have trouble reading and writing while others said they hate mathematics.

Participants were given these Essay topics to write on and submit at the next meeting:

• Who is a Woman;

• What role can women play in nation building and

• What are some of the setbacks women face in their journey to self-actualization?

We closed the 1 hour 30 minutes session with Affirmation of self.