GPI's six month entrepreneurship skills training program provides out of school girls and young women information on small business management as well as skills training in either sewing, shoe making, or fish farming. The training is followed by a 3 month internship with local businesses, and graduates have the opportunity to use GPI's Creative Commune of machines and tools for one year afterwards. Graduates of the program have better chance in being financially independent.
There is a correlation between gender discrimination and the capacity of girls and young females to achieve intellectual and economic development. A number of Nigerian girls drop out of school as their parents are unable to afford the cost and are thus made to settle for menial jobs (i.e. house maids). Their life is thus characterized by low self-esteem, inability to define life goals and aspirations, poverty and inability to self-manage.
The core lessons in GPI's Entrepreneurship Skills Training program are values clarification, capacity to solve problems and manage conflicts, building and nurturing relationships, developing confidence, motivation to take social action, economic empowerment and skills training in sewing, shoe making, or fish farming. With a 3 month internship program and GPI's Creative Commune of machines and tools, girls are supported in their efforts to put their training towards starting their own business.
The 50-80 girls who attend each round of GPI's Entrepreneurship Skills Training will have the ability to better manage their finances, be confident of their rights and skills in a workplace environment, and have a marketable skill, allowing them to start their own business. These results will decrease their level of vulnerability and discrimination and increase their ability to be financially independent. Graduates of the program can become resource people for students in the next class.
