Call to Love Initiative (Call2Luv), a non-governmental organisation, has trained 100 indigent pupils from low-cost schools on entrepreneurship to become self-reliant.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the ongoing week-long programme was organised by Call2Luv to give pupils the opportunity to acquire both hard and soft skills.
The camp, which is the eighth edition, was for 100 pupils, who were trained in skills, including coding, graphics design and animation, hand sewing, etiquettes and playing of musical instruments.
Mrs Omowunmi Akingbohungbe, the Founder, Call2Luv, told NAN that the activities were geared towards enriching lives through education and social development.
“Our vision is to build a pipeline of beneficiaries that will be empowered.
“First we taught them coding, which is a very important skill now; we taught them how to animate, and create websites.
“They also learned how to hand sew because these are children that have limited resources and we are training them on how they can use a token to earn so much more.
“They have learned how to make hair bonnets, they have learned how to crochet.
“We have had people come from recyclers and the Lagos Waste Management Authority LAWMA Academy to train them on waste management and how they can leverage on this to get an income,” she said.
Reacting to many of the boys showcasing bonnets, Akingbohungbe said the NGO was deliberate in balancing gender by giving both boys and girls an opportunity to experience same activities.
“The boys are amazed that they can actually create something this feminine. Everybody made their bonnets themselves,” she said.
She described the camp as a medium to reach out to children to identify the areas where they need gaps to be filled after the programme.
“Those we identify that are preparing for common entrance exams, we organise extra-curricular classes to teach them in preparation for their common entrance.
“Those learning musical instruments, we go more intense to teach them how to play; we also look for opportunities for them to perform because this will boost their confidence,” she said.
Mrs Queenesther Isedu, the Vice-Chairman, Association of Formidable Educational Development, Mainland Chapter, said the interactions with other children and skills learned at the annual camps had helped build confidence in her pupils.
Isedu, who is also the Proprietress of Lazlen Divine Nursery and Primary School, said the exposure the children gained through learning with ICT had helped to broaden their horizons.
Blessing Kalu, a Call2Luv alumna and the facilitator who taught the children how to make bonnets, said she learned the skill during her participation in the 2021 camp.
Kalu said she was making and selling bonnets all through 2023, while undergoing training in fashion design.
“So, I’m teaching them how to make and have it as a business by selling and making money out of it just like I did,” she said.
Oluchi Sunday, one of the participants, told NAN that she had a prior knowledge of crocheting before coming to camp but lacked the skill to make something she could sell.
The 12-year-old said it took her about three hours to learn to crochet neatly and two days to make a bag with a zipper and flower.
“I also learned etiquettes, like how to sit properly as a girl and not to pollute my environment,” she said. (NAN
