WOMEN INSPIRATION CENTER
Location
The idea is to have a Women Inspiration Center in Nigeria Where there would be a cybercafé for (women only) for them to learn about web 2.0 and happenings around the world.This will help them to take more positive steps in reducing their level of poverty and lack of adequate representatives in the leadership of their community which continue to plaque them.
About You
Section 1: About You
First Name
Busayo
Last Name
Obisakin
Website
Country
Nigeria, OS
Section 2: About Your Organization
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Organization Name
Organization Website
Organization Phone
Organization Address
Organization Country
Nigeria, OS
Is your organization a
Not registered
How long has this organization been operating?
Less than a year
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Your idea
Name Your Project
WOMEN INSPIRATION CENTER
Describe Your Idea
The idea is to have a Women Inspiration Center in Nigeria Where there would be a cybercafé for (women only) for them to learn about web 2.0 and happenings around the world.This will help them to take more positive steps in reducing their level of poverty and lack of adequate representatives in the leadership of their community which continue to plaque them.
Country your work focuses on
Nigeria
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
This idea is unique because it is a known fact that the development of Africa and Nigeria inclusive depends on given the women a say and participation in the leadership. If the women have lacks information, innovations and economic power, there is little or nothing they can do and their oppression will continue. But when they have access to happenings around the world through web 2.0 and how to go about innovations in their community that will help them in taking positive actions to be able to stand on their feet economically, this will enable them to stand up and challenge the power pulling them down from contributing their own quota to the development of their community and their nation as a whole. Another thing is that the very few cybercafé in the rural areas are already taking over by the yahoo boys. These are the boys that perform illegal businesses on internet and they can be so unruly and dangerous. This make the very few cybercafes around a no go areas for women who are afraid of being attacked and molested. By so doing cybercafes for women only and safe are needed as a matter of urgency for the women not to remain in the dark of web 2.0 and information around the world through out their lives. There are only 5% of educated rural women and 0% of the uneducated ones that have the knowledge of web 2.0 in Nigeria through an interview carried out in the media in 2009.If this situation continues, it means almost half of the country's populations would be deprive of better lives that could be achieved through information technology.Women in Nigeria also are in need of a place where they could come together to share ideas, encourage one another and relax which will reduce the number of death among women as a result of poverty and hypertension. The saying says proplem discussed is half solved and the Women Inspiration Center will be providing all these for them.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
Yes
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
Tell us about the social impact of your innovation. Please include both numbers and stories as evidence of this impact
Despite the overwhelming evidence that empowering women is the key to health, social and economic growth of the developing world and the fact that it is paramount to gender equality and to stopping violence against women, yet only meager % of the developing budget goes to them. In Nigeria, according to the census of the year 2006, women constitute 45% of the population of the country, yet their representation in the leadership of the country is nothing to write home about. Out of the 109 seats in the Senate, women are only 9 and out of the 360 seats in the House of Representatives, we have only 24 women. For the fact that Obafemi Awolowo University, ile-ife, osun state is one of the leading universities in Nigeria that we can say is conscious of Gender equality because the university actually has a Center for Gender Equality and Social Policy, yet as at 2008, there are only 13 females out of the 192 professors in the university.
Nigerian women are victims of stereotypical attitudes towards gender roles. They are victims of sexual abuse, undue pressure as a result of the high poverty level in the country, HIV/AIDS, hypertension and even psychological problems. All these problems and lack of access to information and happenings around that could help the women to improve themselves, because of ignorance and lack of empowerment, are limiting their ability to discover their potentials and exploit them to the fullest. Nigerian women bottled up so many problems and yet they put on bold faces as if all is well because it is the belief that you don’t wear your problems in your faces. I visited the Cardiology and Psychiatric Clinic which are incidentally in the same place at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, and I discovered that at every clinic of the five consecutive clinics that I visited women patients are double the men in the clinic The answers to these problems are education, access to internet and empowerment. Women in Nigeria are in dare need of a common place, away from home, to interact with others, share their problems and receive encouragement, have access to internet and happenings around the world. This is the vision of WOMEN INSPIRATION CENTER.The vision is also to create an opportunity for the Adolescents and Young Adult who dropped out of schools as a result of poverty and unwanted pregnancy to learn a vocation and be self reliant with positive values and attitudes towards life. This set of people are already constituting social problems through out the nation because as a result of them, there are large increase in the number of Human trafficking, prostitutes, HIV/AIDS victims and loss of woman dignity which is making it more and more difficult for the achievement of Gender Equality in Nigeria.
Problem: Describe the primary problem(s) that your innovation is addressing
The primary problems my innovation will be addressing are poverty level of women in the community which is also contributing immersely the poverty level of the country as a whole, informational technology that is majority of the women even the educated ones knows very little about web 2.0 because the very few cybercafe around are already taken over by the yahoo boys which makes it very difficult for women to have access to the cafes, violence against women in terms of domestic and sexual whic abound in the community and which i am aware of because of my proffession as a guidance counsellor in the university , lack of adequate representatives in the leadership of our community,gender equality, Human traficking prostitution that reduce the dignity of women day by day and untimely deaths that are very common among women in the community because of the high level of poverty in the country and the pressure much more on the women and also the fact that there are no avenue for relaxation exercises and interactions among women that could give them the opportunity of sharing their problems with each other and receiving encouragement in return.
Actions: Describe the steps that you are taking to make your innovation a success. What might prevent that success?
I have carrying this dream about for long until i had the opportunity to go to bank for loan to buy a laptop and get myself connected in my office. It was as a result of my access to the internet that i came across the competition of the Voice of Our Future Correspondence in the World Pulse. I went immediately into it because i knew it was going to help me realize my dream for the women in my community. Out of the 500 people that initially signed for the program, I was selected to be part of the 30 citizen correspondent that went into six month training and empowerment and i completed and got the certificate. I was also the lucky candidate among the 30 to get the scholarship attend the Empowerment Institute of David Gershon and Gail Strub this last January in Rhinebeck, Newyork which i will also be going back to finish in june after my homework here in Nigeria to organize Two Empowerment Workshop With two different groups. I also already have on ground a team that i called Operation No Violence Against Women that we have been handling cases of violence in the community even before i have the opportunity to travel to US in January. they are the first group i will have the empowerment workshop with for them to be able to help me in empowering other women in the community.
Results: Describe the expected results of these actions over the next three years. Please address each year separately, if possible
In the next three years of these empowerment program in my community i see explosion, i see revolution because by that time with the help of my team members we would have empowerseveral women to the tune of thousands and if with only me being empowerment and the community leader have already seeing changes in the attitudes of our women just because i just have the opportunity of addressing some group of women close to forty on my experience in USA at the empowerment training, we have not even started empowering them then you should know that with the empowerment, access to the internet and the opportunity at one time or the other to come together to share that the eyes of so many women would open to the potentials that God have already deposited in them as i discovered mine and they will want to exploit them as i am also exploiting mine at the moment. If not for VOF program at Worldpulse, i wouldn't have known that i could write passionately because i never had any clue before that i could write. All the education, innovations and contacts that i got through the program i wouldn't have been able to have them. Therefore i know that in the next three years If another 999 women joined me, then there would be a kind of revolusion that the men in Nigeria will not be able to ignore or withstand and they would be forced to listening to the voice of the women because it will be so powerful. Also becuse of these innovations, the life of our women would change, many will have powerful economic power which will help them alot
How many people will your project serve annually?
101‐1000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
Less than $50
Does your innovation seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
If your innovation seeks to impact public policy, how?
This innovations is going to have impact in the policy of the punishment for violence against women especially sexual and domestic violence. It is like in Nigeria that you can treat your wife in any way you like, you could beat her up, maime her and go scot free. Also rapist could easily escape justice in Nigeria. But by the time women are empowered, their eyes re open that they could ask for their right and also have the support of other women which was not available before things will have to change. Also through the innovations women will have more representative in the leadership with the backing of their fellow women which will make their voices louder in the leadership and help them to raise issues that concerns women and make good and positive amendment to them.
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for less than a year
Does your organization have a board of directors or an advisory board?
Yes
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with businesses?
No
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with government?
No
Please tell us more about how partnerships could be critical to the success of your innovation
As a new organization that the registration is under processing, we need partnership from other NGOs to learn how they are making thing work in their own organizations and the processes of their operations. I also have a lot to benefit from the NGO that brought me up like the WorldPulse, The Empowerment Institute and The Global Press Institute whom i will still continue empowering me as i move on in my own NGO for example i could have so many contact through them which i am already having now. Since i am their baby they could actually help me with fund to put me on my feet. For example when i was in NewYork, Gail Straub invited her friends to lunch for me to speak to them on my vision and some actually dropped some money for the registration of the center to commence immediately. Also after sharing with the Board Members of the WorldPulse, they decided immediately that they were going to pay the registration fees of the center. The Global Press Institute also want to discuss with me on how we could rub mind on the cybercafe that would be in the center because they are also planning for a similar program in Kenya.
We would like to learn more about how your initiative is financially supported. Please explain your business plan/revenue model
For the activities we have been doing like helping women which has been mainly addressing women on how to protect themselves from sexual abuse and the fact that women if we decided we could live our lives the way we want it and not the way we are forced to live it. Also telling women that we are proposing to have a center for women which is going to help the women tremedously. All these moves are still self sponsored becuase i feel very strongly about the vision and i have the faith that it will eventually be a reality. the registration which is under processing is sponsored by my friends in USA that is the board members of WorldPulse, My mentor Amy Lombardo and Gail Straub and her friends. When the building of the center is put in place with the cybercafe and the vocational center which will be sewing and hair care, manucure and pedicure. In about three years these businesses that is the cyber cafe which women will paying token to visit and the vocational centers which women would be patronizing because we will make them realize that as you visit the center to sow your cloth, do your hair and do your manucure and pedicure you are helping another woman to be on her feet economically. This will encourage a lot of women to be patronising the center since they actually need all these services naturally.
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
I lot my father 22 years ago at the age of 23. As the first born of the family the burden was on me to cater for my six sibling and my jobless mother. The worst happenned when i decided that my mother was not going to remarry because it will compound our problem because she already had seven of us and if she remarry again the new man will also want his own children from her. The family sent us parking because of this and we had to move out of the family house to rent a room where we had a small bed for my mother and all of us were sleeping on the mat. I was just out of college of Education and so went to look for a job in which i establish my mother to be selling petty things and with two of us solely we trained my five sisters and brother. I went into all kinds of things along the way because my small salary and the little my mother was earning could not be enough for the family. A lot of people like my mother and me are in our community today, some have become victim of HIV?AIDs which God helped me to escape, a lot victims of human trafiking and a lot have lost their being overwhelmed by their problem. I want help as many women from wasting away and live their lives according to their and not the way they are forced to live it. I want women to a say in what that affect and not what is forced on us. The voice of women in my community is so silent and i want it raised. Even though i came out of my problem and ten years later i still decided to go to the university, a lot of people do not have that courage and i want to help them.
Tell us about the person—the social innovator—behind this idea.
My name is Busayo obisakin, I am 45 years old born into an illiterate family. I have five sisters and a brother. I got married to Makanjuola Obisakin and we are blessed with three children a girl and two boys. After being a guidance counselor for 18 years in various secondary schools, i move to Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State as a guidance counselor at the Division of Student Affairs. I am also a citizen Journalist of WorldPulse in Nigeria and the Reporter of Global Press Institute in Nigeria as well. I am a woman that is very passionate about Gender Equality. I am already known as a Woman Right Activist in my community. I got to know about web 2.0 just last year. Even though i was educated already with master degree, yet i was ignorant of anything related to computer. It was because of this and the burden i have about the vision i have been carrying about for so many years and did not know how to go about it. I decided to buy a laptop on credit and got a loan from the bank to get my office connected. I then decided to start looking for women organizations where i could have knowledge about what they are doing so that i can do it in my community too. I came across worldpulse and i went into the VOF program. 500 women put in all over the world, At first 30 of us were picked to continue the training for four months. It was after the program that i emerged as the candidate given the Scholarship to come to USA for the Empowerment Training program. I was able to have access to the knowledge of web 2'0 through the program. This will help you to understand why i felt that we need "women only" cybercafé in my community as a matter of urgency. As educated as many of us are we are still ignorant of the happening in the world through the internet.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Through another organization or company
If through another source, please provide the information
ICRW
Does your project address any of the following barriers to women’s technology access and use?
Women’s time poverty, Women’s lack of involvement in the technology development process.
If you checked any of the boxes above, please explain how.
Women in my country are always busy making more money to be able to cater for their families and so even the educated ones don't have time to visit cafe talkless of knowing anything about web 2.0.and to crown it all, even when they are interested women do not have access to the few cybercafe around which are already taken over by the yahoo boys and they could be so unruly and violent. this is casing a lot of set back for wimen as they are not moving forward as the world is moving technologically.
Does your project involve women in one or more of the following stages of the technology lifecycle? Identification of the problem the technology will solve:
Technology introduction, Technology training, Creation and maintenance of market linkages for women's economic outputs.
If you checked any of the boxes above, please explain how you will ensure women’s involvement in each relevant phase of the technology lifecycle.
Women coming to the center cybercafe would be receiving training on information technology and they will be introduced to web 2.0
If women are a focus of your project, how did this focus evolve?
The project focused on women from its conception..
Which type of women will your project reach directly?
Rural, Low income, Middle income.
In what ways does your project team/leadership involve women?
It is led by a woman/women from a developing country., The core project team includes women from developing countries..
Has your organization formed any new partnerships in response to this challenge? If so, with what type/s of organization/s?
Women's organization.
Has your project leadership had prior experience with the following?
Working with women, Working to increase women's economic empowerment through technology.
 | stellashiku2005 said: Girl, You continue to inspire us to move mountains in our midst! I wish you well in this initiative. You are well empowered to ... about this Competition Entry. - 665 days ago read more > |
| stellashiku2005 said: Girl, You continue to inspire us to move mountains in our midst! I wish you well in this initiative. You are well empowered to ... about this Competition Entry. - 665 days ago read more > |
| Ayobami said: As a woman living in Nigeria, I agree that at times, going to browse or surf the web at a cybercafe could be risky because many of the ... about this Competition Entry. - 668 days ago read more > |
| Nusrat Ara said: Dear Busayo, You are finally working on your dream. This initiative of yours will help more women to dream while some will see theirs ... about this Competition Entry. - 672 days ago read more > |
| Khushbu said: This certainly is a wonderful idea, and the fact that Busayo is taking the lead makes it even more special. She has been an inspiration ... about this Competition Entry. - 697 days ago read more > |
| Victoria Vorosciuc said: Busayo, I believe in your idea and I hope that people will read and understand how important is for you to win this competition. I ... about this Competition Entry. - 706 days ago read more > |
| janicew said: I admire this idea as the greatest untapped economic asset we have right now, lies in the potential of women and girls worldwide. Women ... about this Competition Entry. - 706 days ago read more > |
| jadefrank said: From the moment I met Busayo online to the moment I embraced her in person, she has blown me away by her intense passion and ... about this Competition Entry. - 723 days ago read more > |
| Busayo updated this Competition Entry. - 725 days ago |
| Busayo updated this Competition Entry. - 731 days ago |
