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Olami

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	Olami
	Olamide David


Title and Organization:		Youth Worker, Leeds City Council
Gender and Age:		Female, 27
Country of Residence:		Nigeria
Country of Birth:		Nigeria
Nationalities:		Nigerian
Languages:		English



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About Me

I am a young Nigerian with an undying passion for young people and the issues that affect their lives. I had always been involved in community development by following my instincts without knowing that was what my actions implied.

My first formal experience of community development started during my youth service year in September 2004, when i signed up as a UNICEF Peer Educator Trainer, in fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS in Cross River state, which was the worst hit state by the disease.

This made me have a sense of responsibility & some level of awareness on how young people were the most exposed to the disease. As a UNICEF PET, i was saddled with the responsibility of mentoring 40 young people, teaching reproductive health issues and impacting life skills them. This was effectively done by using the impact of peer groups to reinforce the message.

I left Calabar after my service year but I never let the zeal die down. I have since continued as a facilitator for the United Nations on the fulfillment MDGs.I work with students of Kings College V/island. I enjoy working with young people, it’s a fulfilling experience for me knowing that I have sharpened their lives and helped them find their place in the society.

I hope to spread my tentacles and get more involved such that my impact will make a stamp in the lives of young people in Nigeria and the world at large.
In October 2005,I volunteered to work on a project called the Universal Basic Education drive in my local community where I live (Agbado) at that time the project was called “go girls!”
The project was aimed at young girls within the age range of 10 to 17 who would normally drop out of school because of their low level of learning and their inability to cope with their studies as a result of this.

Together with other young people like me, the teachers and the PTA we drew up a frame work for the project. My mother was on the team and this helped us a lot as her suggestions and her 27years experience in the teaching profession was extremely valuable.

The project entailed organising extra classes for these girls to boost their literacy level in English & Maths and help them with the difficult topics.
We organised art and craft classes for those of them that had a natural inclination for craft .e.g. Sewing, Hat making, Beading
We also invited old students who had graduated from the same secondary school but have made something good out of themselves. This inspired most of the girls and made them stay focused in school and put in more efforts in their studies.
As a peer educator trainer, I came up with the initiative that we should also include reproductive health talks in the content of the programme and this was done in March 2006.

The success story of the project was that after the first session, September 2005 – June2006, we had been able to increase the number of girls that made it to the senior secondary school by 23% against the back drop of the figures we had in the previous years. Another direct impact of the project was that by June 2007 we observed that the number of teenage pregnancy had reduced drastically as they had more confidence in themselves and could channel their energy and time towards their studies. I was really glad about this.

Currently, I am studying in the U.K and I am volunteering on a Supplementary School Educational project in Leeds. As a learning mentor, I teach young people who have special needs in a particular subject or need some sort of extra classes to reinforce learning. The project is targeted at the children from poor families in Harehills.

I have still not rested on my oars and I intend to acquire more experience to be able to make more impact by blazing the trail of life changing initiatives and projects that will improve the lives of young people.

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