The long-awaited 26th of July finally arrived with all its brightness, strength, zeal, passion for impact, and butterflies in our tummies. No doubt, we got a fair share of nervousness, little doubt here and there, and then running up and down to ensure everything needed was on the ground to ensure that the event is a huge success.
We kicked off the first day of the “High School Summer Camp Leadership and Entrepreneurship Training” tagged EMPOWHER2LEAD with a very interesting session on “Transformational Leadership”. This session started with an indoor session with Miss Chika Ike-Ojukwu where she taught them the meaning of Transformational Leadership, who a leader is, the difference between a leader and a transformational leader, and the characteristics of a transformational leader. The enthusiasm of the students and the rapt attention made it easier to teach them.
Tallest Tower 
Minefield 
Making a Movie
The indoor session was followed by an outdoor session. We explored activities such as Minefield, Tallest Tower, and Make a Movie. The girls actively participated showcasing the skills of a transformational leader (Team spirit, Critical thinking, problem-solving, time management, etc.). They expressed themselves while making the movie and it was really exciting to see how these children could come up with 3 scenes of a playlet in less than 10mins without fighting about it. All the students were commended for their efforts and active participation throughout the day’s program.
Since the program started on a very good note, all we could do was anticipate that day 2 would be more exciting, educating, and empowering. Before we could get home, rest, and prepare for the second day, day 2 was already in our faces (Let’s do this!!!). The students arrived at the venue right on time, ready for the day’s lessons. Our, facilitator Miss Dorcas Robin, the CEO of Doro Beads (a Fashion Brand that specializes in the production of fashion accessories e.g., bracelets, necklaces, waist beads, etc.).
She taught the girls “Bracelet Making”. Step by step on how to make a beaded customized bracelet and Shamballa bracelets. All the girls’ made both the beaded customized bracelets with their initials and a Shamballa bracelet for themselves. They also learned the business of the skill as Miss Dorcas wrote out a list of items needed for the production of beaded accessories. The energy for the day was on point.
Wow, it’s the third day already, super double-packed session loading. This spectacular day began with the first session on “Smartphone Graphics Design” from the graphics boss Mr. Samuel Nwisabari. They didn’t just learn the elements of a good design (theoretical), different design apps, they also learned how to design with the Canva app. The students asked and also answered questions which made the class interactive.
The second session began after a 5minutes break with the “Copywriting session”. Miss Joy Ekpenyong, a copywriter and an intern at TiCNetwork did justice to this as it’s her area of specialization. We chose to Copywrite as one of the courses for the students because it’s one of the skills that are in high demand. With the current pandemic and increased globalization, there is a great deal of competition.
This is why a good copywriter is incredibly valuable for every company. After much talking, writing, questions, and answers, the girls were given a task to write a copy to sell their bracelets which they made the previous day and it was incredible to discover how creative these students could be. Many of the students read their copies to the hearing of the class while Miss Joy made corrections and constructive criticism. The day ended with photographs here and there.
Indeed, practice makes perfect. Two amazing sessions again and these sessions were a continuation of the previous days. Bracelet Making and Smartphone Graphics Design-Video Editing. This time around the girls were able to put into practice what was taught in the earlier session of the training and creatively utilize the materials provided to make waist beads, necklaces, and earrings.
They were also taught how to package their finished products. The training for the day was wrapped up with a top-notch “Video Editing” session by Mr. Worth Peter. The knowledge from the smartphone graphics design class was timely as it helped in the quick understanding of video editing. The students ended up editing a video with the support and guidance of Mr. Worth and the Team members.
Welling up with mixed feelings, it’s the 5th day and guess what? It’s the last day of the training but as we know the “Best is kept for the last”. We are so pleased to have had Miss Queenpraise Uzoma the CEO of Nk’s foods educate the students on “Entrepreneurship”. The session was super inspiring with notes on entrepreneurship, types of businesses that one could engage in and how to make good use of opportunities so as to make money.
The sweetest and most interesting part of her session was the practical session. Its food time (join me in the happy dance). She taught the girls how to make “American Pancakes”. All the students participated actively (who wouldn’t participate?). She gave them the recipe, the accurate measurements for each and the procedure while practically putting them through. Everyone was so eager to see how the pancakes would turn out to be. Exactly 45 pancakes were made and all the students had one or two to enjoy after the session.
Entrepreneurship is a broad subject matter as such we had another facilitator explicitly teach us how to start up a business since we already had an idea from the previous sessions.
Mrs. Otobong KenJoshua a mother and a vast entrepreneur taught the girl’s how to start a business from scratch, the Do’s and don’ts of a business, and how to package a product to attract potential customers. Her success story inspired all the students and before I forget one of the students won a thousand Naira from Mrs. Otobong for guessing right.
Everything that has a beginning must come to an end and the High school leadership and entrepreneurship training was no exception. We had the graduation ceremony for 38 students (Trainees). The program started with an opening prayer after which the founder, Miss Blessing Akpan gave the opening remarks stating what the organization stands for, appreciating the entire school management for their timely approval for the program, the parents in absential for allowing their wards participate in the program and the students for showing up. The vice principal on behalf of the principal gave a great response. She commended TiCNetwork for a job well done in getting the attention of these young ones. She also spoke to the students on how not to be loosed in character and they should apply all they learnt from the training. The trainees were asked to give feedbacks on what they learnt throughout the program. 6 girls were given the privilege to stand up and speak and their responses gave both the facilitators and mentors the fulfillment that they had made impact. Others that were not opportune to stand up and speak were given sticky notes to write out their feedbacks.
As part of the program for the event, an ice-breaker was done. We grouped the students into 5 groups and played the Word Game. It was fun. They also made beads in a group of 5 for the vice principal, Mr. Udeme, Mr. Joseph, Mr. Matthias and Miss Enobong. It was time for presentation of gifts to outstanding students. Miss Blessing gave a wonderful book titled “Girl’s Entrepreneur by Ibukun Awosika” to the overall Best student. Miss Chika also gave out 10 copies of her book “Dream to a Reality” to 10 outstanding students. Sanitary pads were also given to the student’s courtesy of Mr. Loveday and Mrs. Otobong KenJoshua. The latter taught them how to use it. The whole program came to an end with words of advice from our sponsors, facilitators and mentors to the students. Thank you, Lord, for a glorious outing.
Written by – Chika Ike-ojukwu