Education Nigeria Project #53909

Educate and Empower 400 PLWD Leaders in Nigeria

by Global Integrated Education Volunteers Association

Project Report | Dec 9, 2024
Educate and Empower 400 PLWD as Leaders in Nigeria

By Daniel Newton Obaka | President/Project Leader

Dorothy -Life Backyard Poulry for All.

Encouraged by the success of the Generative AI Skills Challenge project which was recently concluded and its social impact on the marginalized population especially, the people living with disabilities and women, the "Empowering Dorothy Project!" was initiated.

This is in a bid to further achieve the objectives of the long-term project of empowering 400 PLWD as leaders. Having donated a Chromebook to Dorothy (a 43-year-old physically challenged lady with a spinal cord injury that makes her unable to control the lower part of her body), the GIEVA Organization trained Dorothy in a three-day hands-on workshop from the 23rd to the 25th of September, 2024, at Dorothy’s residence.

With this, Dorothy will now be able to demonstrate the power of technology in gaining skills to contribute to the development of the nation even if one is glued to a spot. She was paired with an expert Data analyst and programmer sponsored graciously by this project. By the end of the training, Dorothy was empowered with digital skills. It is with excitement that we announce that the program was a huge success as Dorothy has improved to beginners level in her ability to program in Python. With related skills gained, she is poised to begin her backyard poultry for all.

This has inspired interests among other PLWDs community who are in similar conditions to request for such training and enabling them to gain self-confidence and freedom from system dependent mindset.

With this interest, Dorothy,the PLWD’s long term project advocate has excited agreed to mobilize PLWDs to participate in all future Gen AI training programs as organized by the GIEVA Organization for business skills especially in digitally driven busineesses. By your continued support, the year 2025, looks exciting year for our organization’s social impact on the PLWD leaders in Nigeria.

The GIEVA organization demonstrated interest, participated, and engaged in high-level discussions in promoting “Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access for Persons Living With Disabilities (PLWD) in the Annual world conference on Nigeria’s PWD and Women inclusive and Accessible 2024- seventy-ninth UN General Assembly’s post-summit of the future”.

The conference was organized by The joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD-National) and Equal rights for persons with Disabilities International. The conference convened PWD and stakeholders such as veterans, women rights and gender-based violence advocates, NGO’s and Government organizations to discuss critical issues facing PWD and address critical questions and topics bordering on areas such as:

Has the National disability Act been fully implemented?,
What is the level of impact of the implementation of the 2018 National Disability Act?,
Has insecurity and terrorism reduced in Nigeria?, and
What are the actionable steps taken to ensure inclusion and curb marginalization of PWD in Government appointments, general opportunities and welfare?

The conclusion of the discussions led to the putting forward of twenty-three strong recommendations to the Government and Donor agencies and a call for an immediate ceasefire in the internal discord and acrimony that is dividing the disability community by saying ‘Nothing about us without us’. This is a bold step in ensuring we develop and build societies with inclusion in mind.

Understanding the needs of Students With Disabilities in Nigerian Universities.

With the growing interest of the future of PLWD in Nigeria, the GIEVA Organization has intiated to conducting a landscaping analysis on the needs of PLWD in Northern Nigeria. The survey is aimed to collect data from students With Disabilities to determine the kind of support and advocacy they need in informing our programs towards empowering them in 2025. The GIEVA organization has prepared questionnaire to be administered to across two Universities in Nigeria. The result of the study will enhance interventions to foster inclusiveness and equitable access to education and career development opportunities. It is expected that in next reporting cycle, we shall let our supporter know for their continued support for this long-term project.

We are happy to inform our supporters that on 3rd December, 2024 the GIEVA Organization team participated in commemorating the International Day of Persons With Disabilities attended the Program themed, “Amplifying the Leadership of Persons With Disabilities For An Inclusive And Sustainable Future” organized by the Plateau State Disability Rights Commission and The Joint National Association of Persons With Disabilities, Plateau State Chapter. In attendance, were representatives and members of the PLWD communities from across Plateau State, Nigeria.

Our Team identified Four Persons Living with Disabilities conceived as Leaders and Influencers at the Conference including Grace (A hair dresser), Favour (Undergraduate student), Morris (A Leader of JONAPWD), and Madu (A leader of JONAPWD).

GIEVA is set to empower Grace, who is a Hair dresser and had sustained a spinal cord injury and has since been using wheelchair, with tools and structures to start her Hair dressing Business. In our Interview with Grace, she is motivated to inspire other people living with disabilities to believe in themselves and express their talent and train them as well.

Our motto for 2025 as planned to be incorporated in our SCHOICE-STEM Club is the quote of Dorothy Marcus, our life-time advocate for PLWD Project in Nigeria: “Disability is not the absence of creativity, innovation, and human inherent resilience”

The GlobalGiving training resources have continue to be the source for building our resilience to engage authentic community support base.

As always, we at GIEVA wish to profoundly appreciate our supporters- the GlobalGiving Organization, Consortium group, advocates, the GIEVA Board of Trustees, Directors for ever ready to provide their advice. We at GIEVA’s CHOICES Club, are poised to continue building our skills to support the STEP’s long-term CAUSE: Educate and Empower 400 PLWD Leaders in Nigeria.

We want to pprofoundly appreciate your supports that continue to manure and water the growth of this TREE: PLWD Leaders in Nigeria. Its shades provide the marginalized and the vulnerable the place to evolve and become part of a larger community with inclusive rights and benefits of diversity, equality, and accessibility to community resources for the common good. THANK YOU AGAIN.

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Aug 7, 2024
Educate and Empower 400 PLWD as Leaders in Nigeria

By Daniel Newton Obaka | President/Project Leader

Dorothy Marcus- Advocate for back-yard poultry.

Educate and Empower 400 PLWD as Leaders in Nigeria.

On May 22, 2024, the GIEVA Organization consortium held its End-Conference to feature the Generative AI Skill Challenge Project: Enhancing youth, persons living with disabilities, and marginalized women-led businesses in Nigeria through sales, AI capacities, and infrastructure. Two people living with disabilities (PLWD) leaders were sponsored and participatedin the End- Conference programthat featured the impactful results of the project on the traditional marginalized population. The challenge project focused on bringing the marginalized population into the use of the generative AI capabilities to create sustainable digital livelihood.

The two PLWD participants included one of the STEP’s long-term strategic projects: Educate and Empower 400 PLWD as Leaders in Nigeria. As GIEVA’s strategic partner in the PLWD educational project, she spoke passionately about the continued neglect of the PLWDs in every socio -economic and educational sectors of the Nigerian society. She appealed to the conference organizer and the government representatives at the conference to ensure policies that consider the rights of the PLWDs as they relate to mobility, health, and equal education among others.

One of the project beneficiaries who is now an active advocate for the PLWD educational projects, spoke and advocated for back-yard poultry farming to feed the nation. Currently, with a chrome laptop donated to her recently, she is now set to gain further knowledge in generative artificial intelligence on how to grow this unique back-yard poultry farming and turning it into a movement for the benefit of the nation by calling other PLWDs to join.

We continue to witness growing impactful developments in the PLWD Projects.

As a motto, Dorothy said, “disability is not the absence of creativity, innovation, and human inherent resilience” She is resolved to demonstrate that persons living with disability anywhere are also contributing members of nation building. Working closely with CHOICES Club and its Technovation Girls, Dorothy is set to work with them to design and create platforms for small scale integrated rural farming to fight poverty and the impending hunger in Nigeria.

The various GlobalGiving training resources continue to be critical to developing the fundamental frameworks and skills to engage authentic community support base.

As always, we at GIEVA wish to profoundly appreciate our supporters- the GlobalGiving Organization, Consortium group, advocates, the GIEVA Board of Trustees, Directors for ever ready to provide their advice. The Technovation Girls of the GIEVA CHOICES Club, for preparing, and building tools capable of supporting the STEP’s long-term CAUSE.

We want to boldly restate again that together we have planted, and it has germinated. We shall continue to manure and water it until it becomes a huge tree with shades for the marginalized and the vulnerable to perch and become part of a larger community with inclusive rights and benefits of diversity, equality, and accessibility to community resources for the common good.

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Apr 10, 2024
Educate and Empower 400 PLWD as Leaders in Nigeria

By Daniel Newton Obaka | President/Project Leader

The PUVA App Technvation Girls

Educate and Empower 400 PLWD as Leaders in Nigeria.

The strategic leadership platform for the persons living with disability- the long-term PLWD Project in Nigeria is impacting the beneficiaries. Also, it is enhancing the benchmark framework for engaging with both private, public, and individual philanthropists for sustainability support.

The last for months has witnessed three exciting developments affecting the PLWD Project

PLWD Advocate for Rearing Chicken(PARC).

The mission of one of the first batch beneficiary - Ms Dorothy Marcus is to initiation of an advocacy movement to inspire the PLWD community to feed the nation through back-yard-small scale poultry farming during the next 12 months. She is seeking knowledge in using Generative AI technology to manage the growth of the idea of poultry business among this unique community to feed the nation.

In Dorothy’s words, “disability is not the absence of creativity, innovation, and human inherent resilience. All humans have inherent power to change circumstances that tend to define who we are”. … We are already defined. She is resolved to demonstrate that persons living with disability anywhere are also contributing members of nation building.

Technovation Girls Against Poverty. Three girls under the mentorship of the GIEVA Volunteer staff are designing and developing a technology application that will be capable to inspire PLWD leaders and other marginalized and exploited groups to connect to social impact development organizations with technology-driven applications and farmers. The central purpose is to enable bypassing of the middlemen to connect both the food and cash crops with the local market to feed the nation with minimum exploitation of the producers/farmers. From the training manual, the three girls intend to connect the products to both social impact organizations, individuals, government, and local farmers to fight the growing poverty and hunger in the land rich with natural resources.

The three girls are determined to demonstrate that through PUVA (Poverty Under Violet Attack) App, they can mobilize stakeholders and inspire social impact organizations to empower local farmers to produce both cash and food crops on one hand, while managing the control of local food supply chain for the benefit of the greater population. It is envisioned that the Technovation Girls program will enrich the STEP’s PLWD Project to inspire PLWD adolescents/young adults in STEM related studies.

Age of Artificial Intelligence: The promising results of research being carried out by a consortium group in Nigeria through the grant awards of Data.org and Microsoft Generative AI Skill Challenge has led to the development of Generative AI application prototype for training in the use of Generative AI to enhance the youth and women lead businesses in Nigeria. It is envisioned to become a tool for empowerment and training of vulnerable communities including the PLWD Leaders in the use of generative AI technology. This training tool is going to be critical in empowering the out-of-school children especially the children of the PLWD community through STEP’s transformative education training framework.

The ongoing Little by Little campaign 2024 is another powerful channel for translating the organizational efforts to engage authentic community support base.

As we evolve, we at GIEVA wish to profoundly appreciate our supporters- GlobalGiving Organization, Consortium group, advocates, the GIEVA Board of Trustees, Directors and Technovation Girls for preparing, and building tools capable of supporting the STEP’s long-term CAUSE.

Indeed, together we shall plant, it will germinate and become a tree with shades for the marginalized and vulnerable to perch and become part of the larger community story for the common good.

GIEVA President

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