Civil Society Organisations give grants to special kids’ mothers

Agency Reporter

Special Needs Initiative for Growth in collaboration with the Let Cerebral Palsy Kids Learn Foundation conducted the third annual career development project in a bid to alleviate poverty, promote social and economic inclusion and proffer educational intervention specifically for mothers with cerebral palsy children and their Special Needs Children across Nigeria.

The opening remark was made by the CEO of Mama Moni Nigeria in the person of Mrs. Nkem Okocha, who shared a 10 minutes advisory session on business branding, business packaging, and the relevance and benefits of financial accountability in business. Mama Moni Nigeria will be supporting the women with a financial technology Application that will enable them to build sound financial habits in their businesses.

The first phase of the project commenced with the capacity building training with an alumna of 2019 Cohort Business Pitch First Place Winner in the person of Mrs. Bunmi Alli who equipped the women on how to build an effective customer relationship management and also shared insight on the impact of the knowledge and resources obtained from the first project in 2019 transformed her business.

Mrs. Akinsola Olaitan who was a 2020 alumna and second place winner of the Business Pitch equipped the mothers through demonstrations on how important it was to keep proper filling of all expenses, income and profit established in the business.

Founder of the Let Cerebral Palsy Kids Learn Foundation, Tobiloba Ajayi, exposed the women to practical tips and skills on bookkeeping, savings and investments after making sales in their businesses. This training aspect helped the mothers to learn how to effectively run a business, understand basic financial concepts that have proven important in knowing the status/position of the business.

Founding Executive Director of the Special Needs Initiative for Growth, Racheal Inegbedion, also known as Initiative for National Growth Africa, equipped the women on how to leverage on simple multi-digital/social media channels such as Google, Facebook, Instagram to acquire customers, track visibility and welcome feedback.

She shared practical knowledge on content development customised to their business field and also how important it is to leverage on Free Internet entrepreneurship platforms at all times to advertise their businesses.

Administrative Director of the Special Needs Initiative for Growth, Kikelomo Olatunde, shared insight to the mothers on a STEM Sequencing tool kit which was provided to the children with Cerebral palsy.

The Sequencing tool kit is adapted to enable the children with Cerebral Palsy to acquire educational accommodations for learning styles and patterns, so that they get to hone their critical thinking, cognitive flexibility, communicate better, become more autonomous and independent; making it easier for their families and caregivers to support them in their developmental stages at home and at school.

The children with Cerebral palsy were provided pedagogical and therapy support by Ms. Precious Buba, Mrs. Akinsola Olaitan, Mrs. Favour Egbadekwu.

The second phase of the project commenced with Amdi Salam, the Creative Director of the Special Needs Initiative for Growth preparing the mothers on how to properly pitch their individual businesses which cuts across Food Business, Household Items, Healthcare businesses, Educational items etc.

Mr. Amdi Salam shared insight on how to properly present their business to a potential investor, articulate the problem and solutions around the business, what differs them from their competitors and how to properly articulate the type of financial support or resources they may require from a potential grantor or investor.

The Business Pitch session immediately commenced with two minutes granted to each mother. After the pitch three winners emerged in first place position by Mrs. Kajero Omowunmi, second place by Mrs. Ogunnaike Olayinka, and third place by Mrs. Olasupo Lawal Omolola.

All the mothers were provided small enterprise grants by the organisers of the project to enable them to scale their businesses so that they replicate the positive outcome of economic stability to their families within various communities in Nigeria.

All the beneficiaries’ mothers will be undergoing a 10 months mentorship session and continuous monitoring and evaluation to ensure that the knowledge, skills and grants provided to them are fully utilised.

With this knowledge in hand, they can manage cash flow, make sound financial decisions, maintain healthy spending and budgeting habits, and better position the business for investment opportunities which over time can lead to both personal and business financial wellness/growth.

This project has been recognised and celebrated by the World Summit on Information Society, which is a unique two-phase United Nations (UN) summit that was initiated in order to create an evolving multi- stakeholder platform aimed at addressing the issues raised by information and communication technologies (ICTs) through a structured and inclusive approach at the national, regional and international levels.

In May 2021, out of 1,270 submitted projects, 360 were nominated for an Online Voting, following a comprehensive review by the Expert Group. The World Summit on Information Society reviewed more than 1,3 million votes cast and Special Needs Initiative for Growth became the only Nigerian Civil Society Organization in the Enabling Environment Category to be awarded by the World Summit on Information Society as the 2021 Champion WSIS-ITU Prizes on the Career Development Initiative for Mothers with Cerebral Palsy in partnership with organizations such as the Let Cerebral Palsy Kids Learn Foundation, Sifax Group, The Pollination Project etc.

Also, in February 2021, Special Needs Initiative for Growth had been the only Nigerian Civil Society Organization that was awarded the Best Innovation Practice for Employment and ICT for persons with disabilities by the Zero Project in Vienna Austria.

Inegbedion stated that the project is meant to improve the status of women and also enhance their decision-making capacity at all levels in all spheres of life, especially in equal participation in economic growth. She stated that women with special needs children who could be excluded from the halls of power can now make their voices heard through advances in knowledge and practices of Investments, business development, digital inclusion and financial technology literacy which is reducing inequalities for them and promoting decent standards for employment.