Task 2

I MAKE THE DIFFERENCE

“Small individual actions can create longer collective difference”

MY TRASH another person’s treasure

The past one week was really demanding, I had to properly dispose my trash and create a recycling system in my home which I belief will have a long lasting positive effect on my surrounding environment even though we don’t have a good waste disposal system in my community.

I THREW AWAY

Food wraps

Egg shells

Plantain and potato peels

Tissue paper

Damaged lamp holders

Used toothpaste pack

I RECYCLED/REUSED

Plastic bottles

Glass bottles

Metal cans

Nylon bags

Newspaper/magazine

·    The plastic bottles were properly rinsed and reused in the home to store drinking water and other liquid in the house such as vegetable oil.

·    Glass bottles were packed in a specific bin till I eventually sold them to people who come around from house to house to purchase such materials which are later recycled in factories.

·    Metal cans were also stored in another specific bin and later sold to blacksmith who reforge them into other materials such as cooking utensils.

 

                                             
      my used cans (over a week) at the blacksmith workshop, the other picture is showing me and the blacksmiths during reforging

·    I discovered I had lots of old newspapers and magazines which I personally packaged and took to a paper recycling factory that was 2 hours away from my community by road on the sixth day. I also made little cash from the sales which covered my transport to the factory.

·    Nylon bags were reused as shopping bags.

MY EXCESS

“As little as I have, I know that there is always someone out there who has less than I do”

·    Elementary school textbooks I used while in elementary school, I donated the books  to Al-Hikmah nursery and primary school,Gusau library

·    Secondary school textbooks I used while in secondary school, I donated the books to Government Girls Secondary School, Gusau library.

·    Oversized T shirt was donated to Mr. Segun Abolarin (a Tanker driver that lives 2 blocks away)

·    Shoes and jeans were donated to Yusuf Abolarin (only son of Segun Abolarin).

·    Children interactive novels I used while growing up were donated to Hope orphanage Gusau.

One thing that touched me most was the smile I saw on Yusuf Abolarin’s face when I gave him the shoes and jeans which signified appreciation, though he is out of school due to financial challenges but hope to get back into school next year. At that point I could feel a warrior within me.

MY CONSUMPTION

“Everything I consume has an impact in the world”

What I consume

·    Food – Rice,         beans,      yam,        potato,      plantain, sugar,           bread,      noodles,       eggs,        beverages,        milk,             meat,        fish.

·    Water – for drinking, washing, bathing and cooking.

·    Electricity

What I could economize

Water

I flushed the water closet with less water and also reduced my consumption of water during washing of clothes and dishes.

Food

Beverages – I took lots of water and reduced my beverage consumption all through the week,i was able to save money from not buying much beverages.i stuck to 1 - 2 cans a day.

Meat – I reduced my consumption of meat to once in three days

Sugar – I reduced my intake of sugar and substituted it with honey which is lot more cheaper in my community.

This reduction in purchase of these items had a significant positive effect on my income; I was able to save some money.

Task 1

WHO AM I

I am Ojajuni Oluwasijibomi Paul, a young social entrepreneur from the south western part of Nigeria, a place where the people are accommodating, culture is rich and the land flows with milk and honey. I am a resourceful and energetic social entrepreneur with a strong passion to affect lives positively by creating opportunities to reposition lives and reconstructing minds through inspiriting information.

This poem I wrote reflects who I am

ECHOES OF FATE

As doubtful thoughts began to sweep through my mind,

About life, future and alliances that must bind,

Concerning fulfillment, love and people we find,

Convincingly I looked within and said to myself,

I was born to love, give, rule, and conquer.

My name and life radiates providence,

Day by day I gain wisdom and grow in confidence,

I am much more planned, not a coincidence,

At this point I paused and said to myself,

With all this what will the future offer.

I see a future filled with grace, favour and prosperity,

With joy, I shall live and love life without worldliness,

I picture a loving family built on God the rock,

I smiled and whispered to myself,

“May his loving kindness and blessing be abundant upon me”.

Now I can share life and make friend without doubt,

Knowing fully well that my future is secured by faith,

I feel so optimistic, enthusiastic and spirited,

To create change, and help secure the future today,

‘Cos I am OLUWASIJIBOMI PAUL OJAJUNI.

I am a graduate of Human Physiology from the University of Ilorin with interest in Social entrepreneurship, project management,public health,monitoring and evaluation, HIV/AIDS, Youth reproductive health and right, Maternal health.

HOW DO I FEEL

I feel I am an agent of change who sees hope in the present and future of my generation and others to come in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

I feel it is time for every youth to take action in addressing pressing global issues by being part of the process of change by creating long lasting solutions through sustainable initiatives.

PROFESSIONAL QUESTION

How can I successfully plan, initiate and run a youth friendly center I intend to establish and why is there little support/acknowledgement for youth led development initiatives/projects.

MY DREAMS

My dream is to establish a youth friendly centers where youths can meet, interact, share ideas and receive counseling and also in the near future establish an orphanage for children most especially those who lost their parent to HIV/AIDS.

I also dream an HIV/AIDS free society where no child will be orphaned and become vulnerable, I dream a world where youth reproductive right will be highly upheld, I dream a world where young people play pivotal role in addressing global issues and are supported to create solutions by initiating development projects, I dream a world where every youth becomes an agent of change anywhere they may be irrespective of race, gender, and religion.

MY CHALLENGES

Little support for youth led initiatives from the government and bad government policies towards such initiatives.

Encouraging youths to initiate development projects has also been a major challenge and most are unwilling to sacrifice time and energy in being an agent of change.

MY PURPOSE

WHY I WANT TO TAKE PART IN WARRIORS WITHOUT WEAPONS 2011

To gain more knowledge and skill in social entrepreneurship - how to initiate a project, sustain it and effectively monitor and evaluate the project which will make me a better social entrepreneur. Meet and share ideas with other gifted youths from around the world who are passionate about creating change. I also intend to be part of the warrior without weapon program to learn from success stories from other youths and possibly discover how to overcome my challenges which is part of the motives why the program was created.

MY ACTION

I have over the past 4 years been involved in peer education training for youths in my community, in secondary and tertiary institutions in my state, creating focus groups among them for better interaction, creating awareness on HIV/AIDS, youth reproductive health and right, help in setting up HIV/AIDS counselling and testing centers.

Cross section of myself and secondary school students I trained

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  Helping to take away orphaned and vulnerable children of the street and placing them in orphanages.

   

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  Empowering uneducated women in villages to live healthier lives by teaching them simple healthy lifestyles and also making them more relevant and productive in the society by teaching them how to set up small and medium scale enterprise.

These projects are majorly financed by donations from people and organizations that are socially responsible and from selling donated used items such as cloth, shoes, furniture, and food items.

ABDUL’S STORY

                            Picture of myself and Abdul (picture taken six months ago)

Abdul is a seven year old boy orphaned eight months ago by HIV/AIDS, Abdul’s father was a farmer who died from complications of HIV/AIDS two years ago, since then Abdul has been living with his mother. Unfortunately Abdul’s mother also died eight months ago from complications of HIV/AIDS. I have been working with some other young people to take children like Abdul of the street which they have made their own. Abdul is the fifth of six children in the family and the others are still on the street. Abdul is currently in an orphanage where we help place him in. There are still so many children who have similar case such as Abduls’ on the street who have nobody to call their own but live on the edge and can only hope for a better tomorrow.

MY COMMITMENT

MY PLANS, THINGS I WILL DO WHEN I RETURN

I will definitely apply knowledge and social entrepreneur skills gained from the warriors without weapons program  in planning and setting up a youth friendly centers where youths can meet, interact, share ideas and receive counseling on issues such as HIV/AIDS, relationship reproductive health, value clarification, self esteem.

I will also teach youths about becoming agents of change by being social entrepreneurs which I will include in my curriculum while I train them hereby making a social entrepreneur out of them.

     

My World Youth Congress Report

REPORT OF THE 5TH WORLD YOUTH CONGRESS, ISTANBUL, TURKEY.

OJAJUNI, OLUWASIJIBOMI PAUL

YOUNG EDUCATOR DELEGATE

ojajunisiji@gmail.com

ABOUT WORLD YOUTH CONGRESS

The world youth congress, an event that brings young people all over the world together which aims to inspire them to initiate youth – led development projects, motivate them to take action in solving global issues by getting involved in decision making, policy making irrespective of race,gender,religion or interest, create a platform for youths to share ideas and experience ganerned from their respective projects which could lead to sustainable collaboration that can help not just in solving localized problems but also global issues which will imbibe in the youths the idea to think locally and act globally with a view to affect the immediate community as well as the world.

Istanbul, the city that represents tolerance and peace with a variety of cultures in its midst is the 2010 city of culture played host to over 1000 of the most active young people from 147 countries for the 5th world youth congress which took place from July 31 to August 13. The congress had previously been hosted by great cities around the world which include Hawaii (1999), morocco (2003), Scotland (2005), Quebec (2007). Istanbul prides itself in it’s rich history and thousands of years of civilization which gave all participants an unforgetable experience, moreso the theme of the congress “imece” which has specific importance in the Turkish culture for many centuries and it’s key qualities such as solidarity, togetherness and volunteerism are just as relevent in todays world.

The World Youth Congress is organized by an organization known as Peace Child International (www.peacechild.org.); a UK Based Educational Charity with a network of more than 1,500 affiliate groups in over 180 countries. Peace Child International was closely supported this year by the E-genclik Association (www.e-genclik.org.tr), the Turkish Ministry of Education, Istanbul Youth Assembly and a host of other notable organizations.

MY ACTIVITIES

I attended the congress as a young educator,young educators are young people that are passionate about raising awareness and empower their peers and their communities through both formal and non-formal education.They all came to share experiences, learn new methods and ideas and see how to be more effective and relevant.

 I facilitated two workshops “building lives” and “clarion call”during the congress,ran an exhibition session and also played a key role during the action project which gave delegates the oppoortunity to turn their words into action.

WORKSHOPS

1.     Building lives

The workshop was aimed at teaching participants leadership skills to empower them to undertake youth-led developments initiatives. It further stressed the need to aquire these qualities which are essential in initiating developmental projects aside the drive and desire which is fundamental.

2.     Clarion call

The event was a wake up call to participating youths and youths all over the world to stand up and take action in tackling global issues by getting involved in decision and policy making, and furthermore inspire youths to use mediums such as entertainment to help achieve the set goals.

EXHIBITION

I was priviledged to showcase my projects and initiatives to participants  during the exhibition sessions where i was i allocated a stand. I shared experiences from past projects,interacted with delegates that came around on how to work more effectively and also shared ideas on future projects. I exhibited my previous projects on HIV/AIDS, women and youth empowerment, youth sexual and reproductive health.

ACTION PROJECT

During the congress, participants were fortunate to carry out community development  projects another city in Turkey. The action project was for 4 days where i worked with some other local volunteers to help paint some elementary schools, landscape the environment of the schools and also plant  flowers in the schools. We were also priviledged to visit historic sites in the community and also the Black sea (kara deniz).

SIDE ATTRACTIONS

During the congress  delegates were opportuned to -

Go on a boat cruz

Visit to Aya Irini for musical concert

Witness the Brouhaha carnival

Sultan Ahmet Tour

Taksim square

 On the last day of the congress, I and some other Nigerian delegates paid a courtesy visit to the Nigerian Ambassador at the Nigerian misssion in Ankara, Turkey; Ambassador Ahmed Abdulhamid Mallamadori. We were able to brief him on our activities at the congress and furthermore seek his support in making the voices of every Nigerian youth heard by helping in advocating for more youth involvement in politics,policy making in Nigeria.The Ambassador was delighted to recieve us and was encouraging by assuring that there will be more youth involvement which he emphasized its importance in te growth of the country.

One of te major outcomes of the regional meetins in the 5th world youth congress is the creation of Istanbul action plan, which will be presented to all Youth Ministers gathering in Mexico.The congress also focused on monitoring and evaluation of youth-led developments.As a result of this process a tool kit will be put together which aims to further professionalise youth-led development projects.

 “With 1.3 billion young people (age 15 – 24), now living in developing countries – the largest ever youth group in history – there is a critical need to invest in youth at this time. A failure to train them more effectively for the workplace, and to be active citizens, could lead to widespread disillusionment and social tensions (world development report 2007: Development and the Next Generation, The World Bank)”.

Further information can be found at:

www.turkiye2010.org             www.e-genclik.org                  www.virtualwyc.net     

  

My Profile

ABOUT ME

Oluwasijibomi Ojajuni a gifted young man driven by the desire to affect as many lives as possible by empowering individuals on health,and the environment, repositioning lives through life building skills, reconstructing minds through inspiriting information for the upliftment of the individuals and the society at large. He has zealously over the years worked in different capacities in achieving this all over the country.

Oluwasijibomi Ojajuni was born in Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria, he attended Bishop Hughes Memorial Primary School, Akure and Federal Government Academy (Center for the Gifted and Talented), Suleja, Niger state before proceeding to the University of Ilorin where he bagged a B.Sc degree in Human Physiology.

He was awarded the Federal Government Scholarship from 1996-2002 for his secondary school education (Federal Government Academy), he was also awarded Ondo state scholarship 2008, he was the best physiology student 2006/2007 session University of Ilorin. He is the director of planning and organization Health Action Concerning the Environment and You (HACEY-www.hacey.org), he is a member of Health Professionals Global Network (HPGN),member Health Information for All (HIFA).

Oluwasijibomi Ojajuni

·          Is a UNICEF Peer Education Trainer,

·         Has attained the meritorious level in global health education. (USAID and John Hopkins Bloomberg)

·         Has a certificate on the core concept of Millenium Development Goals (UN).

·         Is a UN volunteer

·         Is one of the 4 country representatives of HIFA 2015 in Nigeria – an online health information campaign launched in the United Kingdom.

He attended the 5^th World Youth Congress Istanbul, Turkey as a Young Educator where he facilitated two workshops “building lives” and “clarion call” and also ran an exhibition session which showcased his recent developmental works.

Oluwasijibomi Ojajuni is a talented youth educator, highly skilled in passing information with undaunting interest in public health and empowering lives,and also a fervent reader of journals.He has facilitated programmes on world AIDS day,world health day and world malaria day in secondary and tertiary institutions,he has been actively involved in creating focus groups in secondary schools on life building skills. He is currently working on a project in the northern part of Nigeria aimed at empowering women for better health and productivity (PROJECT ELEVATE... building lives).