by Chris Agbo
Step To The Top Leadership Centre (STLC) on 1st to 3rd of October, 2020 in Abuja organized a 3-day leadership training workshop for women with disabilities in the FCT.
The workshop is part of the activities of Project Thinkable 2 supported by Oxfam Voice Nigeria.
Project Thinkable is a leadership capacity building programme designed to build the capacity of women with disabilities to lead and take charge of their lives.
Simon Nkemdilim Ozioko, the project program officer of the organization while welcoming the participants urged them to take the training serious because it is a life changing opportunity. He also said that Project Thinkable 1 made a lot of impact in the lives of many women with disabilities who benefited from it and as such, he believes strongly that it is going to do the same in their lives.
TQM learnt that the programme is divided into two parts, the training workshop and the community service. The participants are expected to carry out community service as second phase of the programme after the three days training. Therefore, they would be assigned to a mentor each who will guide them to take right decisions before and during their community service.
Oluchi Anih, a participant at the workshop told TQM that she learnt alot, describing the training as being participatory, interactive and engaging.
STLC applied the principle of “nothing about us without us” by engaging members of Project Thinkable 1 as facilitators.
TQM also learnt that the modules, leadership qualities, Personality and people, Personal Vision, Goal setting, Communication, etc were designed to reshape their thinking about their personality and also help to harness their inherent potentials.
They were grouped into 3 and they adopted some slogans such as Unique women, Unique Thinkers and Fabulous Ladies.
The Second Day was remarkable because it was the day the participants were introduced to their mentors. STLC also applied “nothing about us without us” by nominating some women with disabillities as mentors.
The Executive Director of STLC, Dr. Teresa Nwachukwu during her speech appreciated the participants for their zeal to learn. She expressed joy that Project Thinkable is achieving the aim of the project. She urged the Participants to be the ones to reach out to their mentors and they should not hesitate to share their challenges with their mentors. She advised them not look down on their mentors because in future, they may be ones mentoring others. She also advised them to make good use of the opportunity because it gears towards building their life changing skills.
A prize was presented to Nnenna Alaukwu for writing 22 reasons why she should show appreciation during one of their sessions.
The Face of Project Thinkable, Miss Okeoghene Jane Akpeva encouraged the participants to be more committed to the programme, assuring them that it is going to add value to their lives just as it did to her and many others who benefited from Project Thinkable 1.
As the participants were departing, the ED, urged them to put in use what they have learnt, ensure they carry out their community service and keep record of their activities. She informed them that STLC would be monitoring their progress but she is convinced that they will do the organization proud and make remarkable impacts in the various communities.
Thirty (30) women and girls with disabilities were trained and they were drawn from different clusters of disability.
SOME PICTURES OF THE WORKSHOP
