Girls Should Thrive Initiative (GiST)

One of the beauty of story telling is that it connects you with people on a level that you ordinarily may not have. Winning the elevate prize will give us a larger platform and visibility to share our story with a wider audience and also connect with others to hear their own stories as well.

It will also give us the opportunity to be able to share the positive values of Elevate prize with the world through our stories which are being told by the girls themselves. This is a faster and easier way for the organization to influence the world on a large scale.

Funding from the elevate prize will be used to establish a digital film workstation/ hub in Brigade that would cater to a minimum of 100 females. We will purchase 15 different professional cameras, 20 different lighting equipment, 20 laptops and other technical equipment required. We will also cater to utilities such as internet, communication and electricity costs.

Aside from this, the funding will provide transport stipends to 100 girls for the duration of the program. It will cover the trainers' fee, refreshment, media costs, project management team costs and the beneficiaries short film production costs.

Growing up in this community where girls are marginalized and undervalued, being able to go on to the university to study engineering was a miracle. Being a first generation female college graduate, I had to fend for myself all through school. This was possible because created opportunities for myself to learn digital skills such as film making and story telling.

I became a beckon of hope to other girls within the community and seeing that not many of them had the capacity to drive themselves to breakout of the limitations our community placed on us, I was inspired to started GiST, to not only empower girls but more importantly to get them to also take responsibility for others coming behind.

My purpose is overcome the challenges many challenges that Africa is facing by helping more women to become financially independent and take up leadership positions.

Through my organization (GiST) i'm equipping girls from underserved communities with 21st century skills and solid values to become leaders and changemakers.

In the next 50 years I would have built a community of strong female leaders who are effecting changes across different sectors in the continent and are making the world a better place.

Girls Should Thrive Initiative (GIST) is a registered non-profit born out of the experience of a very passionate girl growing up within this community.

Despite accounting for half of Nigeria’s population, there are twice as many females living below the poverty line. The problem is even more prevalent in northern Nigeria, specifically Kano state, where girls below 20 are abused and married off early, rather than being enrolled in schools.

Nigeria's out-of-school population is the largest in the world. Of the staggering 10.5 million out-of-school children in Nigeria today, the majority are girls. According to UNICEF, only 47 % of eligible girls in North-West Nigeria receive a primary education.

The Safe Space Filmmaking Academy is our signature 9 months program focused on training girls on basic and advanced film-making skills like scriptwriting, video editing, etc. The project seeks to bridge the skills gap and provide meaningful engagement and employment opportunities, not bounded by location, thus, enabling them to become financially independent. Also, the project creates a safe space for girls to learn about their health, protecting themselves from abuse, and speaking up about issues. Through this project, we are amplifying the voices of girls without infringing on their rights.

We are not just trying to get young women back to school, we are empowering young women to be a part of the solution themselves. Women in Northern Nigeria are not into media and tech because of the cultural limitations. We are challenging the norms, and inspiring girls to believe in themselves and hone their storytelling and film making skills. 

Through our work, we currently have a movie in production on “24hrs in the life of a northern girl” which was inspired and developed by the girls themselves as they share their daily experiences and how it has affected them. The girls are now speaking up as our work is giving them a voice in the media.

By articulating their stories through filmmaking, we help young women develop technical and creative skills and confidence. Moreover, the collaborative nature of the workshops and the sharing of each other’s stories helps the women develop a sense of solidarity.

We use filmmaking and storytelling as an arts-based empowerment intervention strategy to describe, provoke and inspire change.  Since 2018, we have graduated 1,750 young women.

Unlike before when they suffer in silence, these young women now have a safe space and skilled counsellors that they confide in with issues that are bothering them when they are abandoned on the streets, get pregnant outside of wedlock, get an abortion, experience rape or domestic violence.

Like 19 year old Salma and her family who we met homeless and living on the street. Salma had been crippled at birth and is unable to walk. We got her a wheel chair and fixed their abandoned home after which Salma began to attend the 9 months training at the safe space. She started a business of making local perfumes and air fresheners and with our support she was able to return back to school and her presently completed her final exams, waiting to be enrolled into the university to study law.

Our activities in Nasarawa LGA  have helped reduced incidents of suicide in the community. The parents and community leaders now see us as partners in progress, opening up about numerous challenges. We have become a trusted hand in the community.