GROOMING Centre, a Non-Government Organisation (NGO), has launched a 132-page photobook to document exploits of ordinary women doing extraordinary things in promoting small scale businesses.
Entitled: Stories of Impact: Real Women, Real Lives, Real Growth, the book will be launched on April 28, at the Grooming Centre Multipurpose Hall in Ejigbo, Lagos.
It highlights and celebrates the resilience, grit, and courage of 30 women and their life-changing journey with the Grooming Centre.
The Grooming Centre is founded in 2006 to address the challenge of access to credit at the base of the pyramid.
It has provided 12 million credits, and empowered 720,000 members through a network of 605 branches in 26 states and Abuja.
A member of the Governing Council and chairperson of the Stories of Impact committee, Ms. Ier Jonathan-Ichaver, said: “Grooming is impacting well over 700,000 families through its microfinance programme.
‘’Starting out from Ejigbo in one small room and growing to what it has become today in 15 years is amazing. But more amazing is the way it has touched the lives of market women, traders, artisans, small businesses and all kinds, with some starting as low as N15,000 in the past.
“We are excited that getting to hear the stories of just a tiny percentage of these amazing women and their families, their journey, and their grit and their sheer determination to survive in spite of the odds… So, it’s an amazing thing.”
Co-sponsored by Platform Capital, the launch will also include a photo exhibition showcasing the profiled inspiring women, and a tour of the centre’s new Learning Centre.
The event will feature a review of the book, Stories of Impact: Real Women, Real Lives, Real Growth, by Yale University Fellow and Founder of the School Politics, Policy and Governance, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili.