Progress Report
Name of Organization: Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation.
Project Title/Name: Digital Literacy: 5k youths in connected economy
Focus Country: Nigeria.
Project Locations: Lagos, Nigeria.
Focus Area: Building a vision of an economic ecosystem, a complex
Network of interconnected systems built on trust, value
Alignment and reciprocity.
Project Type: Direct service, Street based Project
Proponent: Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation
Address Klm 1 Eke-Ahiara Junction, Umuofor Nnarambia
Ahiara, Ahiazu Mbaise, Imo State, Nigeria
BRANCH OFFICE: 88 Murtala Muhammed way,
Yaba, Ebute Metta, Lagos.
EMAIL: support@samonyemaechihumanitarian.org
WEBSITE: https://www.samonyemaechihumanitarian.org
Introduction;
With digital literacy skills, youths can move beyond a process-oriented understanding of technology and apply digital resources creatively in their original work. Connecting youths in the digital economy is to expose them to a broad range of economic activities that use digitized information and knowledge as key factors of production. The digitization of the economy creates benefits and efficiencies as digital technologies drive innovation and fuel job opportunities and economic growth. “It is quite important because our nation Nigeria is at a point where it is evolving into one of the nations that will in the next couple of years be regarded as one of the leading digital economies in the world. The digital economy is the economic activity that results from billions of everyday online connections among people, businesses, devices, data, and processes.
Executive Summary:
Innovation has been identified as a means to support development in developed and developing countries. New technologies can bring significant changes to these countries and improve their living conditions. In attempting to compensate for this insufficiency, Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation have launched our teeming youths into the new world of connected economy that will help them to eke out a living and to fit into the new trend in digital Technology. Through education and financial support, this project has nurtured self-confident, independent, and productive individuals. By breaking the cycle of poverty, Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation is empowering new generations of youth to achieve their dreams of owning their own homes, building happy families, and creating their own satisfying life projects. This will certainly contribute to the social development of Lagos and its environs by creating a fairer and educated society.
The coming of Internet has profoundly shaped our world and has changed our lives in both big and small ways. The technology change around us has happened both quickly and imperceptibly. The very first connections between computers nearly fifty years ago have been transformed into a wave of connectivity that covers the planet. New devices and innovations have given us more ways to harness the power of connectivity wherever we go and have given us functionality we could never have imagined. We shouldn’t underestimate the fundamental changes that faster, more affordable access to the Internet has already brought and will continue to bring to humanity. The question is whether we are ready for what’s coming next. Now is a big moment for the Internet. As we engaged with our community in the development of this project, it became clear that people are anxious about the future of the Internet. Some see a frightening future that awaits us in a technology-driven world. There are conflicting views around whether the Internet is a positive or a negative influence and while it becomes more and more central to our modern lives, we find that some are beginning to reject the globalised world view that it has fostered. On the other hand, communities just coming online see the Internet as “life”, as their connection to opportunity and freedom and they want a chance to influence its future.
Organizational Background
Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation’ started in the year 2012, officially registered September 7, 2017. Joined GlobalGiving community May 29, 2021, with a vision to provide education and financial support, nurtures self-confident, independent, and productive individuals. By breaking the cycle of poverty, Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation is empowering new generations of youth to achieve their dreams of owning their own homes, building happy families, and creating their own satisfying life projects. This will certainly contribute to the social development of Lagos and its environs by creating a fairer and educated society. We provide an opportunity aimed at, to love and care in action. We create deliberate interventions to support our communities in increasing skill and resiliency, connecting them to their power, consciousness and confidence. Our programs offer tools for vulnerable youths to sustain not only their creativity, but their holistic development and future livelihoods. We cultivate an environment of transformation, solidarity and kinship, a safe space where respect, positive thinking and collaboration is core. In the first 3 months of its operations, ‘Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation’ did a rapid assessment in the region to discover a dearth of serious, structured interventions with young and aged people in the area. The team from ‘Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation’ visited more than 20 rural communities and several NGO functionaries operating in the area to learn about the involvement of youth and adult in social initiatives in the area. In these visits, most of the principals, teachers and social workers voiced a need to build leadership among young people on social issues and motivate them to take up social action initiatives. The educators expressed their concerns and difficulties involved in mobilizing young people for social action initiatives.
In the same period, a team from ‘Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation’ participated in the ‘Change Makers program’ that was conducted jointly by The Nonprofit council with the aim of understanding the current community development initiatives of other NGOs across Nigeria. During this phase the team studied the program design and the community mobilization methods of these NGOs. The team also underwent a one year long mentoring and handholding under this program. In the process, the team also participated in a several learning programs with several NGOs working on community issues from across the nation. In these sessions, the team interacted with more than 12 NGOs and their several community leaders working in different parts of the country.
Equipped with an understanding of local issues and an understanding of the best practices of NGOs from across the country, ‘Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation’ started conducting basic life skill and active citizenship programs in communities in Southeast. The program was named ‘change for life’. These workshops caught the interest of educators and students alike and they welcomed ‘Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation’ team to conduct repeat workshops on several issues in 15 communities with around 8,367 in attendant. This program also had an indirect outreach of another 4200 people. ‘Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation’ also initiated a pilot program named ‘Metamorphosis’ that involved families in community outreach program. This program involved around 10,600 farmers from 15 different communities in the area. In the same period, ‘Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation’ conducted two parent counseling workshops in two different communities to discuss the issues of their children. This program titled ‘Parenting and grassroots child-care' helped us put forward our standpoints and increased our acceptance with parents who are the prime decision makers for their children
Now in its second year of operation, ‘Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation’ has started conducting life skill and active citizenship workshops in 10 additional Communities. This program so far had a direct outreach of 2700 families. Parenting and grassroots child-care has been conducted in two new Communities in the year. Currently, ‘Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation is actively working with 23 communities in Southeast working on different issues in different communities. In order to give a push to these projects, 'Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation’ has identified the need for:
a) Help the vulnerable improve and maintain a healthy and independent lifestyle and to maximize their quality of life.
b) Starting of 2 Resource Centers in southeast to address the needs of farmers
a) Resource Centers for youth to learn vocational skills.
b) Resource and Empowerment Centers for farmers to equip them with skills in farming.
Vision and Goal:
Building a vision of an economic ecosystem, a complex network of interconnected systems built on trust, value alignment and reciprocity.
Core values
Involving people, applying knowledge and making things happen. We take as our Motto “Peace, social justice, diversity, fun and democracy as key values” which guide us.
Organizational Structure
‘Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation’ is registered as a Trust with Mr. AKARAONYE Samuel, Engr. Greg Ntiwunka, Mr. Joseph Ehioma and Ms. James Rosita Nkeiruka as the Board of Trustees. The ‘Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation’ Team is currently led by Chief Augustine Anyanwu and comprises of Mr. Dominic Anyanwu, Ms. Agnes Bassey, Mr. Ezekiel Uche, Ms. Anthonia Chuke etc.
Aims and Objectives
The overriding objective of the project aimed at the empowerment of youth, through imparting them in the connected economy and encouraging their self-economical reliability. To empower youth through income generating skills. Promote the youth to and full participation, on the basis of equality with youth in economic opportunity and education. To develop and disseminate strategies that can be used in analysing the local situation and developing innovative skills at the local level. provide education and financial support, nurtures self-confident, independent, and productive individuals. By breaking the cycle of poverty, Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation is empowering new generations of youth to achieve their dreams of owning their own homes, building happy families, and creating their own satisfying life projects. We provide an opportunity aimed at, to love and care in action. We create deliberate interventions to support our communities in increasing skill and resiliency, connecting them to their power, consciousness and confidence.
Target Beneficiaries:
The project was implemented in Lagos and Imo State. Some youths from each state in all the 36 states in Nigeria where all represented. The beneficiaries are youths aged 18-45 years. Seminars and paper presentation on the different types of digital literacy were presented: creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information, fluency, critical thinking, problem solving and decision making.
The impact of the underlying project on the target population.
Digital literacy initiatives have generated more excitement around learning for youths, especially as their growing fluency enables deeper connections with others and equips them with a new lens to critically evaluate the world around them.” It has boosts youths’ engagement. From ads on YouTube videos to peer-to-peer communication on social networks, youths are constantly exercising their ability to process and respond to technological communication in a nanosecond. youths have learnt appropriate ways to interpret the constant influx of information. It has kept the youths more connected, better informed, and happier than seniors who don't use the internet. When you consider that there are many social media platforms, it becomes even easier to find one for you. Digital literacy is also effective at finding these options, even if it's as simple as Googling.
*Project Details
INCOME
S/N DESCRIPTION AMOUNT
In-kind contribution $145,53
3 Lesson Computers (LITTC) $200
4 Anonymous donation in support of the program $500.00
Grand total $845.53
Income= $845.53
EXPENSES
S/N ITEM QTY RATE AMOUNT
1 Seminar materials 50 $2.5 $125
2 Facilitators 4 $100 $400
3 Volunteer/Staff appreciation 6 $50 $300
5 Communication and telephone bills ---- $60.15 $60.15
6 Graphic Artist 1 $50 $50
Grand Total $935.15
Grand total of expenditures= $935.15
Balance= $-89.62
Difficulties and Challenges
Lack of capital and sponsorship have been our greatest challenge in realizing our dream. We cannot accommodate as many youths as we proposed due to financial constraint in footing the bills. A lot of them needs to be empowered but we cannot do so due to the circumstance that surrounds us. We call on all to support us in the fourth coming little by little fundraising campaign coming up in April 4th through 8th.
Sustainability of the Project
The ability of our organization as a whole to survive and to meet our mission goal, we embark on an entrepreneurial venture, as a way of raising money for community, financial and organizational sustainability. The foundation runs a food production, processing and packaging factory. We have been partnering with a company in processing our food items for sales. We are working hard to build our own factory for our organizational sustainability, and to help youth that have vocational skill to acquaint themselves with entrepreneurial skills to be resourceful and useful to themselves and society at large. The procurement of the necessary equipment for production, processing and packaging of organic raw materials(food) and construction of a multi-purpose hall that will accommodate our factory and other activities is our priority, we can achieve this through external sources like grants and long-term funding or through internal sources like income-generating activities or membership fees. And to actualize our mission and goal, we have these points as our guiding principles: Collaborative leadership, member-driven decisions, effective communication, change-ready and adaptive workforce continuous improvement, on-going evaluation and measurement, sound financial infrastructure.
Annexes
Annexed below is a sample of this section that has been drawn from the project report of ‘Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation’ – a non-profit organization that works with young adolescents, youths and adult in rural Communities.
*Overview of the Program:
We at ‘Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation’ very much value exposure, interaction and peer learning processes. Our recent interactions with more than 20 Communities have reinforced this belief. We are now looking out for support to create 2 youth resource and Empowerment centers in southeast, Nigeria where young, adult etc. can come together, co-create learning experiences and contribute positively to the community development. We plan to utilize these resource Empowerment centers as spaces for involving the youth and adult in “self-development” and ‘social action’ projects of various kind. 'Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation’ has the required experience and expertise to design and run social action campaigns. We feel campaigns are great opportunities to demonstrate leadership skills, highlight social issues, develop deeper understanding about issues and mobilize young people. Campaigns give energy and take care of youth and adult needs such as fun, interaction, novelty etc. We want to organize a campaign each year highlighting youth action.
What we have achieved so far?
‘Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation’ is now an accepted name in more than 35 Communities. Our volunteers are personally known to tens of thousands of families in southeast. As a part of self-development initiative, we have conducted workshops in more than 25 Communities in the last 3 years with a direct outreach of approximately 4000 people in the last 3 years. We have so far organized one major campaign in nearby villages where they went and identified families who were not buoyant enough to Carter for their family’s needs.
Since the beginning ‘Sam Onyemaechi Humanitarian Foundation’ has been running out several programs in Communities promoting spirit of volunteerism and celebrating youth led social action. We have organized a major social action project titled ‘Change for life’ in 10 large Communities with an approximate outreach of around 23000 peoples. This project involved collecting and donating used and unused clothes blankets, shoes, food items to the needy.
What we propose?
We aimed to make more impact, circulate more information into the community and expand activities and events to support disadvantaged youths. This will depend on obtaining funding and other forms of support as any costs currently incurred to run events are out of pocket expenses. Additionally, they are actively engaging with more community centers, the local council and NGOs to support the SOHF and its expanding activities.
Awareness Campaign:
We will design and run campaigns involving adolescents’ young people and adult from rural and urban areas every year starting with the end of year 1. This will help to consolidate their learnings and create awareness about social issues.
Conclusion
Given the increased risk of unemployment ravaging the country, there is greater need for digital literacy education to position our teaming youth were the world is going, it allows youths to gain experience in their chosen career path before they even graduate. Youths who finish those rigorous programs, have the credentials and training they need to get started right away in their chosen career path.
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