The Female Media Network

I'm Eneh Mercy, a Public Health Finalist at Federal University Of Technology, Owerri.
I'm a Media Expert with several years of experience in photography and Visual design, currently working as A Photographer at Deezey Media Studios, Senior designer, Lead Creative and Founder of  The Female Media Network (TEFEM)- a Non governmental organization aimed at improving the standard of living of Ladies through Media. 

I began my journey in Media in pursuit of my passion to impact to humanity. Gathering experience during my period of service at an Orphanage home, I came to build a strong passion for making impact in the lives of many so a great giant arose from my mind, leading to the birth of the NGO, Tefem and being surrounded by like minded people, today that vision is a reality.

Several areas that would help boost the economy and provide many with a means of livelihood are 'believed' to be for just the male population, leaving so many females to struggle with unemployment, prostitution, drug abuse, poverty and so many other vices.

What we're proposing and how it could elevate humanity

As regards to these problems, which can't be quantified as problems keep manifesting one after another, we are  aware that dealing finding a way to deal with this would have a tremendous positive effect on society, 
The Female Media Network, TEFEM was established to profer solutions through the provision of opportunities for ladies to be trained, inspired and equipped with certain skills which empower them and provide for them a source of livelihood.  
TEFEM chose to focus on the feminine gender not to promote gender equality but to promote the recognition of the female gender.

1. Unemployment: By providing ladies with skills which eventually make them to be self employed.

2. Low self-esteem: Most times, having low self-esteem can result from lack of skill and invariably, less value in the society. By training ladies to be Public Speakers, Photographers , Graphic Designers, Web Developers and Content Creators, TEFEM empowers them and the term empower (promotes their self actualization) and by so doing, improving their self esteem.

3. Over Dependency on white collar jobs: This is another specific problem that TEFEM solves. By empowering our ladies, Entrepreneurship is promoted. Hence, less dependene on white collar jobs. 
4. Prostitution: This can be considered as one of the problems that TEFEM solves, because most times, lack of money is the reason most take to prostitution, although  some might be as a result of laziness and 'get rich quick' syndrome, yet others would be as a result of having no skill to use in fending for themselves. 

5. Poverty: Ladies coming from a poor background, can use the opportunity given by TEFEM to change her story. TEFEM has made it easy for every class of Lady and so no one is with an excuse.

The Female Media Network (TEFEM) was Founded on the 28th Day Of September, 2018 by Eneh Mercy, A Photographer and Creative Designer, who is Passionate about unlocking opportunities for Ladies in the Media Field. 

TEFEM is an acceleration programme aimed at improving the standard of living of ladies through media, running with; 

Vision: To Be Recognized as one of Africa's Best Empowerment platform for Ladies in Media

Mission: To Unlock Economic Opportunities for Ladies by inspiring, training and equipping them with Media skills like Photography, Graphic Design, Content Creation, Web Design and the likes and also get these Ladies connected to platforms where they can be financed and empowered

By

-Organizing practical training sessions in Media for Ladies accross Africa.

-Organizing online webinars for entrepreneurs all over the world.

-Hosting a Conference Annually for all Beneficiaries and skilled technocrats, which would serve as a platform to fully launch these Ladies into the Media Industry and get them connected to already established Platforms where they can get mentorship and gain more experience in the field.

Our Core Values: Impact, Integrity, Innovation, Reliability, Leadership and Service.

Less than 30% of the Female population worldwide venture into the Media Field and explore the opportunities available there. Where are the rest of this population?

Some probably end up struggling with social vices and the likes, many others hope to get a white collar job after tertiary education, hoping on the society to create one for them. 

These and several other similar beliefs and values are the bedrock for this Network, TEFEM.

We organize enlightenment programs through webinars and outreaches to educate young ones on the Opportunities available in the digital and media field. We also encourage creativity, innovation, right leadership skills and Entrepreneurship.

TEFEM chose to focus on the feminine gender not to promote gender equality but to promote the recognition of the female gender.

We leverage on equipping Ladies with Digital Skills such as Photography, Graphic Design, Content Creation, Web Design, Public Speaking as a means of elevating Opportunities for those who are still far behind the trend and we enlighten them on the need to gain mastery in these skills. We believe this is inline with the selected dimension in this challenge to strengthen competences particularly in STEM and digital literacy for girls and women to effectively transition from education to employment.

I had to take responsibility for myself at an early stage in life due to certain challenges, so I decided to master certain skills, particularly in the Media Field, which helped me take care of myself in school, earn self Confidence and become a person of relevance. I decided to make people feel inspired whenever they heard my story instead of pity, I discovered I could make something better out of my situation by mastering skills I could monetize and thereby foot most of my bills.

The birth of this great vision came to be on the 28th of September, 2018. It was a dream come true, I finally had the opportunity to startup what I always wanted to achieve. 

With the blessing of a great team, the journey began  and I'm glad I took the step to begin we're still determined to reach out to Ladies who are struggling with survival, inspire and equip them with skills which they can monetize and improve their Standard of living.

With the experiences I faced, struggling to fend for myself in school, missing an examination just because I couldn't pay my fees in time, I couldn't imagine letting anyone go through similar circumstances, if I could so something about it. 

This idea was birthed on that passion to see the girl child evolve, discover her abilities, acquire soft skills, learn to monetize such skills and thereby improve her standard of living and in turn reflect this improve in society. After the first edition of the acceleration program in which about 30 ladies were empowered, I saw ladies these ladies becoming better. 

Also remembering the experience I first had when I joined a media company, where I learnt photography, I felt bad realising that out there, there's a kind of segregation regarding what a lady should and shouldn't do, what skill she should gain or not gain and I saw the need to expose ladies to the opportunities that await them in the media field, make them realize being a lady is not a weakness but a strength.

I worked in an Orphanage  for Four (4) years before I got into higher institution and during that period, I was a able to acquire certain leadership skills as I was part of the managerial team. I was able to lead most of the staff members, make the children feel okay both in the presence and absence of my Director and it as indeed an awesome experience. Getting into school later on, most of my leadership skills were tested and I also went ahead to acquire some soft skills like photography and graphic design in a media studio I joined in school. After the training period, I became a staff in the and by so doing I was able to foot most of my bills for a reasonable period while in school from 2015-present day. In presently serving there as the Financial Secretary and The Chief welfare officer of the media Studio (Deezey Media Studios). 
With this experiences, when this idea Tefem was birthed, I was and am still able to lead the Team and also lead these Ladies. I have the ability to connect with people emotionally, make people do things and making people put their strength and emotion which is their strongest force, into anything the wish to do, to be able to yield result.

When I concluded my secondary school education, it wasn't possible for me to apply for admission into any Higher institution because of financial challenges, I really wanted to go to school, but I had no one to take care of me, I stayed at home for Three (3) years, after which I was able to save up a bit to apply for Jamb, Screening and even when I was certain I'd get the admission, I was scared because there was no one to see me through school and take care of all the fees involved. 

My Director at the Orphanage home I was working in paid my acceptance fee and this was a real starting point for me, though I was still faced with the challenge of paying my school fees, getting an accommodation etc.
I had to do several jobs just to make ends meet. With all these and the help of some people, I was able to raise the fees and painfully but successfully get through the 1st year in my 5-year course journey. So far, I've made it to the 5th year and things have only gotten better.

It was raining heavily on a Monday afternoon, I was with my 2 neices, (2 year old and 9 months respectively) .

Before it started raining, they were sleeping but fearfully as a result of the thunderstorm, so they started crying. 

I had to run up to them  and make them feel safe. 

The truth however is that I was scared to, I hated the sound of thunderstorms but at that point, I needed to stand for them, they were looking up to me.

This got me thinking about the people who I  inspire on a daily basis. They make me bring out the hidden potential I never thought I had and so I resolved that what makes a leader is the people under him/her,  if you have something to live for, something to fight for, you will be able to utilize your hidden potentials, because we all have it.

I always try to remember the reason behind what you are doing, it can give you greater strength.

TEFEM is a non-profit organization and unlike other platforms which offer trainings for Ladies in one or two media skills, we offer trainings, mentorship and guidance for beneficiaries, see that they get connected to platforms where their skills can be monetized. 

We don't just train Ladies, we groom Leaders who'll in turn groom other leaders till a positive societal impact is seen within her community.

Another striking difference between TEFEM and other alike solutions is that while we focus on the Female population, the male counterparts still get to benefit from our Leadership and Entrepreneurship forum (not practical) and where people of like minds get connected to help each other grow.

Being in existence for two Years now, we've successfully established a training center in Federal University Of Technology, Owerri, Imo state Nigeria, where we kicked off. We've recorded over 350 beneficiaries through our practical training classes with over 30 beneficiaries currently connected to platforms where their skills are being monetized.

Here is an excerpt from the Last Women's day celebration.

Currently we're serving over 350 Ladies in just one out of 3- states in Nigeria. In a year, we target to serve about 100,000 beneficiaries within Nigeria. 

In Five years, we hope to train over A million Ladies accross Africa.

Goals within the next year

-To be recognized as one of Africa's best empowerment platforms for training Ladies in Media.

-To spread to all tertiary institutions within Nigeria.

-To reach out to younger ladies through 50 secondary schools in the within Nigeria.

Goals within the next Five years

-To be recognized as Africa's best Empowerment platform for Ladies in Media.

-To reach out to 70% of Africa Nations and train over 1,000,000 Ladies.

We Provide our beneficiaries with knowledge of digital skills and how to monetize them and improve their Standard of living.

Seeing this is a digital era, we hope to reach out to Ladies who can't access such trainings due to cost and other challenges, so no one is left with excuse.

As a Non Profit Organization, our major path to Financial Sustainability is through Donations and grants.