Children Empowerment Funds (CEF), a non-governmental organization focused on fulfilling the UN’s Social Development Goals (SDGs) of Good Health and Quality Education in underserved African communities, has partnered with international faith-based organisation, DOXA Foundation to organize a Spelling Bee amongst four (4) primary schools in Makoko, a slum in Lagos
CEF is a sister organization to Mission Enablers Africa, a movement with the mission to ensure that children in underserved communities and highly remote areas in Africa get access to proper hygiene and education, the organization.
The Spelling Bee whose goal is to improve the spelling and pronunciation of students of Makoko Primary School, Ayetoro Primary School, Adekunle Primary School, and Fazil Omar Primary school, held on the 26th of May, 2022.
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“Our focus should not only be on setting them on the path to making a better future. We also need to encourage them today as getting an education in Makoko is challenging enough,” said Tope Akinrotimi, the Program Manager of Children Empowerment Funds.
According to Akinrotimi, regularly encouraging the children via events like The Spelling Bee will help them focus on getting the best out of school while encouraging those who are out of school to get an education.’
“Recognizing that every child has infinite potential, but too many children have only limited opportunities. Moreover, only 0.1% of those who access these opportunities in remote areas access the necessary educational materials to make the most of the educational opportunity. This reality informed the gift the winners of the Spelling Bee competition received,” she added.
Ogbonna Ebube, Adam Noah, and Dele Ogooluwa, took the first, second, and third positions, respectively. The top 2 winners are from Fazil Omar School, while the third winner is from Makoko Primary School. The winner received an Educational Tab, School Bag, Lunch Box, Lunch Pack, Water bottle, Pencil Case, Exercise Books, and Mathematical Set. The first runner-up received all the items the winner got except an Educational Tab. The second runner-up received all the items the winner got except an Educational Tab and a Lunch Box.
The look on the children’s faces – both the winners and the audience, was a testament that the children needed encouragement. They were pleasantly surprised and felt seen and appreciated. The students who did not win or were not selected by their schools to partake in the competition told the organizers to come back and host another Spelling Bee. They said they are encouraged to learn and ultimately go home with a box of needed gift items.
The Makoko Spelling Bee was a pleasing experience for children and the organizers. The team looks forward to hosting more of this with the ultimate goal to ensure the children are not in school because they must be but make the most of their time while they are in school because the rewards can come at any time. One of them said, ‘She is staying prepared,’ and that brought smiles to the organizers’ faces.
In the Education and Hygiene space, there are so many grounds to cover. Children Empowerment Funds, alongside her sister organization, Mission Enablers Africa, is hopeful that the state of education and hygiene in Africa will be better in years to come. One of the organizers said the future of Africa requires building it today and one way to do that is to give every support to the African child to grow and be all they can.
