Ajegunle.org
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
Champions of Quality Education in Africa competition.
About You
Location
Project Street Address
18 Akinbola Street, Ilupeju 100252
Project City
Lagos
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Nigeria
Your idea
Country your work focuses on:
Nigeria
Website URL
http://www.ajegunle.org , (PIN Website: www.pinigeria.org)
What stage is your project in?
Operating for 1-5 years
YouTube Upload
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
<$50
Name Your Project
Ajegunle.org
Describe Your Idea
Innovation
Describe your idea in fewer than 50 words.
Ajegunle.org is the first of our community-empowerment models that create better livelihoods – through ICT and entrepreneurship training, short-term internships and a Graduate Loan Scheme – for young people in underserved areas. Considering the huge socio-economic deficit in targeted locations, the project addresses employment issues while also helping youth to shun crime.
What makes your idea unique?
The Ajegunle.org idea’s income-generation and sustainability strategy involves the use of volunteers; 10% return on profit from paid internships and developed businesses; and return on investment from the community telecentre. The project entry format employs a free entry/deferred payment model and the decision to work with our target audiences is an attestation to the innovative income-generation model we have adopted. Our use of a relay training scheme, social enterprise delivery and adoption of a positive peer pressure platform in our training also describe our idea of doing business differently. While there are other organizations that deliver entrepreneurship training and ICT training, we are focused on a mostly-ignored market segment and use ICTs as a platform for opportunities. We have now been able to establish an early partnership with a diplomatic institution that is leading a number of UK companies to take on our trainees as interns. Our training program utilizes local cyber-cafes in the local communities where we take the training programs to: We used a cyber-café that was almost running out of business in the Ajegunle pilot training.
What is your area of work? (Please check as many as apply.)
Children & Youth , At risk youth , Education , Youth development , Development & Prosperity , Community development , Economic development , Employment , Income generation , Information technology , Mentorship , Poverty alleviation , Rural development , Technology , Vulnerable populations .
What impact have you had?
From the 154 youths that applied for project participation, 75 youths resident in Ajegunle were selected to participate in the Ajegunle.org project. 13 of them participated in the internship scheme at Afrinvest West Africa, DHL, London Metropolitan University (Nigeria Office), Lornamead Africa, Standard Chartered Bank, UK Trade & Investment and UK High Commission Abuja. The project also hosted its second consecutive Korea Internet Volunteers (KIVs) in July 2008. Program graduates from last year have now trained 195 youths from their community as part of the positive peer pressure strategy while 4 have been offered employment by UK High Commission, MMA2 and Lornamead Africa. The trainees also remitted over N50,000 (representing 10% of their generated income) to the project towards its sustainability. Emmanuel, one of the first set of graduates, returned to the project as a much-loved volunteer trainer! There are now many communities requesting for the replication of the model and we are in talks with the Igede community of Benue state (Northern Nigeria) and have also commenced a train-the-trainer process for all 6 states in the South-West of Nigeria.
Describe the primary problem(s) that your project is addressing.
The primary problems of the project include a cost-effective training facility, meeting the demands in terms of internship opportunities and supporting graduates after they complete the training program.
Describe the steps that your organization is taking to make your project successful.
We have maintained the use of rented facilities (e.g. local cybercafés) but are now raising funds for the establishment of a more permanent facility that can lower long-term costs. We are also reaching out to more organizations regarding the internship openings by demonstrating the impact on previous interns. Our support for training alumni has now taken off with the introduction of the Graduate Loan Scheme.
Impact
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Success in Year 1:
The establishment of a more permanent training space where students can have access to training and post-training meetings with mentors. Within the same year, we also hope to increase the percentage of students who benefit from internships to 30%
Success in Year 2:
Establishment of the Ajegunle Innovation Centre (AJIC), a location that can train more students and will also serve as an incubator for project graduates. We hope to increase access to the Graduate Loan Scheme to a minimum of 30% of the students while internship opportunities should be available for 50%.
Success in Year 3:
To increase access to Graduate Loan Scheme to 50%, internship to 75% and extend model to at least 5 communities across Nigeria.
Do you have a business plan or strategic plan? (yes/no)
Yes, but the plan has evolved since we started implementing the project.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization? STEP 1:
Establish a permanent training centre
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization? STEP 2:
Increase the number of partners who host interns
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization? STEP 3:
Improve the Graduate Loan Scheme
Describe the expected results of these actions.
The actions will result in huge (long-term) cost-saving in terms of training space rent, improve the quality of training by ensuring that more students have access to internships, and help the project advance closer to its overall objective by equipping graduates with loans that can help their small businesses grow.
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
Following an invitation to train a group of young people in Ajegunle in 2004, I initiated a baseline study from May to July 2007, in which questionnaires from 242 respondents (chosen due to its notorious nature as Nigeria's most popular slum) were evaluated. The average age of respondents was 15 with a gender ratio of 1:1. With a spread of occupations between 23 artisans, 24 undergraduates, 41 primary school students, 79 high school students, 39 non-specific students, 23 students in transition between high school and university and 10 with no stated occupation; I noticed a 9% PC ownership rate, 44% computer literacy level, 100% with ICT learning challenges, 94% acknowledgement of ICT application importance and 87% with high expectations for ICT/Entrepreneurship training opportunities. With the extremely high unemployment rate, low entry barrier for the initiative and the opportunity to demonstrate the possibility of the model through Ajegunle, the idea was too exciting to be left unattended. Having been deprived access to computer training myself while I was growing up in Akure (a rural city about 350km from Lagos), it was easy for me to identify with these youth – and to see the need to use the skills I had acquired to help them. That was a defining moment for me, and after a few years of the encounter, I resigned from paid employment to pursue this laudable life mission!
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
‘Gbenga Sesan, an Ashoka Fellow, is the Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative Nigeria and he serves on the board of a number of non-profit organizations. Originally trained as an Electronic & Electrical Engineer at Obafemi Awolowo University, ‘Gbenga has completed Executive Education Management Training Programs at Lagos Business School, New York Group for Technology Transfer, Oxford University, Harvard University and Stanford University. His consulting experience includes assignments completed for numerous institutions, including Microsoft, Harvard University, UN Economic Commission for Africa and the International Telecommunications Union. ‘Gbenga has consulted and made presentations in numerous countries. He is a member of the United Nations Committee of eLeaders on Youth and ICT and Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellow; and he was Nigeria's first Information Technology Youth Ambassador. He was the Vice Chair of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s African Technical Advisory Committee (ATAC) the youngest member of the Nigerian Presidential Task Force on the Restructuring of the Nigerian Information Technology and Telecommunications Sectors. In recognition of his dynamic efforts, 'Gbenga has been honoured with numerous awards including the Nigerian Youth Leadership award, Youth Advocacy award, Best Use of Technology award and the Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) in Nigeria award, among others. ‘Gbenga Sesan has been profiled as one of the 35 Icons of ICT in Nigeria and he keeps a personal website at www.gbengasesan.com. He is married to Temilade, a PhD scholar with research interests in Renewable Energy Policy and Implementation for developing economies (especially Nigeria and Kenya).
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Through Yuting Beverly Lien, by eMail.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
What would prevent your project from being a success?
There are a number of personal factors such as distraction from the project’s vision and administrative factors such as staff/volunteer efficiency but through continuous learning and evaluation, these (and other factors) can be checked.
Financing source
Yes
If yes, provide organization name.
Paradigm Initiative Nigeria
How long has this organization been operating? (i.e. less than a year; 1-5 years; more than 5 years)
1-5 years
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
PIN has an Advisory Board whose major responsibility is governance support and accountability.
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs? (yes/no)
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses? (yes/no)
Yes
The Story
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government? (yes/no)
Yes
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
We have NGO partners that work with us in the recruitment of the right candidates for the training, and we support them in return by providing ICT support. Our business partners host interns who have gone through our training program. Government partners also nominate under-represented youth groups and also receive input from the project to inform possible social interventions for local communities.
How many people will your project serve annually?
100-1000
What is the total number of employees and total number of volunteers at your organization?
2 full-time employees and 11 volunteers.
What is your organization's business classification?
Non-profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Have you received funding from any of the following groups? (Please check as many as apply.)
Ashoka .
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Comments
Please see project video on CNN iReport at http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-14359.
Thank you.
Stumbled on this. well done guys.
"Change twenty-five people, change a community" to me, sums what Ajegunle.org is about.
Ajegunle is one of the poorest communities in Lagos, Nigeria and it is obvious that youths who live in such a community have limited opportunities. Ajegunle.org has given youths who have taken part, the opportunity to meet people and go places they never would have dreamt possible. I remember a blog written by the programme manager a while back "From Ajegunle to Abuja" about a youngman that had graduated from the programme and was working with a department of the British High commission in Abuja, Nigeria's capital city.
I have been priviledged to be one of the volunteers in the past and it was a moving experience meeting the youths and hearing their stories. Since then, I have come in contact with some of them mostly by coincidence and I can say they have indeed risen above their circumstances.
The graduates have not only risen above their circumstances but are helping other youth in their community do same. The unique structure of the programme allows them to contribute part of their income and mentor those that come after them. Indeed they are also helping transform their community by helping change twenty-five people at a time.
Thanks for the kind words, Obinna.
Volunteers like yourself add immense value to the project and as we walk towards replication across different locations, I'm sure we'll be able to tap from your wealth of knowledge regardless of location, using online tools.
Our volunteers are not just a lecturers, but mentors -- and I trust that the inspiration that volunteers like you continue to provide will motivate the participants.
Regards,
This is a great project. I think sustainability is very important and I like that this has been well-thought through and built into the project. It is very important that young people from economically-disadvantaged areas have access to opportunities such as these to get information technology training, as well as support afterwards in their respective career development.
I look forward to this Ajegunle.org model being replicated in other communities.
Thanks Ore,
We are increasingly excited about the revenue generated by the project participants. Their 10% return may look small when you consider 'temporary volume' but when we consider the fact that these are kids who'd probably not earn an income otherwise, we are glad that sustainability plan was built into the project. It serves the purpose of revenue generation and measuring their growth.
We're also excited about replication opportunities and even though it's not a 'cut-and-paste' solution for every new community, we are glad to overcome even new inertia.
Best regards,
Ajegunle.org is a true story of how any idea that is trully pursued can transform the lives of people in a community. This project has been a success till now but it needs to be sustained. Hope needs to be given to more people. So, there is a sense of urgency to replicate this model in other communities and ensure its sustainability.
Ajegunle.org is more than a mere project. It does not only equip our youths to take charge of their lives but it also creates a platform for them to affect their immediate community. Now is the time to join hands together to push this project forward. Will you join us on this crusade?
Thanks for the call for support, Emmanuel.
As a founding member of the Friends of PIN group (and moderator of the group on FaceBook), I'm sure you know how much value we place on partnerships. Through partnerships, we have been able to introduce the internship component of the program; and same goes for the recently introduced Graduate Loan Scheme.
We are glad to talk to new partners, and appreciate our existing partners. Thanks!
Ajegunle brings to mind the definition of squalor and abject poverty, while this is true of the living conditions, it is also true of opportunities available to its dwellers.
The Ajegunle.org project equips young Ajegunle dwellers with important life skills and experience needed to succeed in Nigeria and the world of today.
What is very unique about this projet is that PIN "select(s) the young people who need help most – and who will in turn be able to pass on the baton of positive change to their colleagues and community."
It will be great to see more support for this project that has recorded such an high success rate so that more of these one-in-a-lifetime opportunities can be provided and 'fate' changed.
Thanks Yinka,
One of things we hope the project will achieve in each community where we work is community awareness. Most people think of such communities as Ajegunle as no-go areas but having worked in such areas across Nigeria (and other developing countries), I see that there are a lot of assumptions. As we work in these communities, we are excited to see new online content that tell the other side of the story of such people-groups, e.g. Ajegunle's page on wikipedia. Thanks for yoour continued support.
Best regards,
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