#8 SPOTLIGHT FEATURE
Identifying the problems around you.
Morufat Oluwatosin Azeez is a youngin who despite age and circumstances around decided to identify and deal with a problem she could understand.
In this sit-down, she discusses with us how and why she’s prioritising the fight for the girl child.
Firstly, who is Morufat?
Morufat is a young girl from a family of 5 who is passionate about the girl child education. This passion pushes me to advocate for young girls and make the world a better place.
Interesting. We’d like to know something random about you.
Feel free to whisper this, we won’t loud it. *grin*
I’m scared of heights, but people don’t know that. It’s fine now that it’s out, though.
Ooh. And you’re making a lot of heights, interesting.
When did you become a girl child education advocate?
It all started when I attended the LET boot camp in 2017. It was at that time I realized the true meaning of leadership, understanding one’s purpose in life and how to give back to society. That programme changed my life. Later in January 2018, I went for another programme focused on empowering young girls through media(film). I initially thought the only thing we’ll learn would be film-making, but it was more. They brought in industry bright stars who went on to talk about how we can make actual differences in our community and our country.
That made me attend different programs, then I started volunteering for organizations and I decided to fight for the girl child because we are under-celebrated.
Interesting
My NGO — GT Initiative — is on a mission to promote and advocate for the social well-being of young girls. The long term goal is to create a positive change in the area of education and general well-being over time.
So, when did you get convinced that this was what you wanted to do What was the turning point? What problem were you looking to solve?
Early into this year, some younger girls in my community and some friends started considering me a change agent given that I contributed to some changes in their lives. Myself, I didn’t realize my impact till they began speaking about it. This made me easily accessible, and people could communicate with me.
I have this girl in my area who told me she uses clothes instead of pads for menstruation. After explaining the process, I got home and could not stop thinking about how many girls out there are still using a cloth. I managed to give her a pad. At this point, I realized there is more to being a girl child. So, my friends and I started thinking of ways to give back to society.
That was how the Pad-A-Girl-Child project came up. We realized we were just lucky to have support from family to at least have the basic things. The project was launched on the 19th of September, and we’ve managed to pad over 200 girls.
This is a great feat by the way. Is the focus of your initiative education? When I say education, I mean getting young girls in school. Or are you focused on making young girls see a better life overall?
Acknowledging that not everyone is chanced to go to school, what we look to do is educate them on things they are generally unaware of. An example is a fact that not everyone can afford a pad, and there are still people who don’t know the importance of pads. This knowledge that seems so basic, isn’t, after all. We invite guests to educate young girls on menstrual hygiene, making them have more knowledge about their bodies and demystify myths surrounding the female body. This might sound strange, but there are still places where menstruation is considered a taboo.
Creating awareness about this is part of education for me. This is just one area we are tackling, but we look to do more.
That is interesting. So primarily you are focusing on awareness for the girl child?
Yes. I genuinely want to see a world where young girls see themselves as a role model and they believe everything is possible for them. The dream is to have impacted at least 5000 young girls by 2023.
Cool. While doing all of this have you encountered any challenges?
Yes, most of it has been with funding, but at the same time, it’s easier because the entire team is working hard. The second is not so much of a challenge, but some people believe I shouldn’t be doing this because I’m still young, while some others try to discourage me stating that only rich people should have an initiative. *uncontrollable laughter*
That is a myth, and I presume you consider yourself demystifying that. Maybe you’re rich, after all.
I believe it doesn’t matter where you start, it only matters where you want to go and the price you are willing to pay for it.
What has been the most defining points of what you do? An instance is one time you felt overwhelmed with Joy cos of what you do. We trust you have a lot of instances, that’s why we’re asking for one
Because I’m trying to do a few things here and there, a lot of people believe I’m smart. I am, but the belief from outsiders has grown so much — more than I thought it would. This made Toyosi Akerele put me on her project which was using technology for educational improvement for young Nigerians.
Cool. What are some of the lessons you’ve learnt from your work building GT Initiative?
Teamwork and patience.
Can you expand on them giving examples of when it has reflected and helped your work?
For teamwork, I’ve seen it make work faster, and easier. When difficult tasks are split into simpler ones, we also develop specialized skills. For example, we have 3 groups at the moment — the advocacy group, the media team and the planning committee. Everyone works on the tasks for their assigned team relating it to the work of the other teams — this allows the entire team to sync.
Interesting. At Hertory, we’re big on tenacity and resilience as strengths that birth growth. What are some of the strengths that have kept you moving?
I would say resilience. The fact that I come from a “somewhat” poor background and I didn’t let that stop me from doing anything.
Inspiring. If you are to tell young African women anything at this time, what would that be?
Dreams are powerful, believe in yourself and your dreams because dreams do come true.
Thanks for that. Do you mind sharing some of the African women who have inspired you and how?
For me, Lisa Nichols has been an inspiration. She comes from a low-income family and she uses her story to transform herself. It’s truly inspiring.
Interesting. Lastly, do you have other interests? What are they?
Yes, I love reading novels, and learning from the people around me because I love knowledge. I’m into graphics as well, and I love watching motivational videos as well.
That’s great, thank you for inspiring Africa. Stay safe. Also, help use your voice to ensure dreams become valid in Nigeria by calling on the Nigerian government to End SARS.
Of course. Be safe as well
Thank you.
