“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do”—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe.
Each of our volunteer mentor facilitators held on to these words in their hearts as they stepped on to the steps of their respective Schools of assignment. As expected, they met a classroom tense with anticipation and filled with beautiful faces buttered with faith in their abilities as future change-makers.
From the first session, our facilitators could perceive that the FAME Illuminate Leadership program had left them expectant and hungry for more leadership transformation. They had gained so much, but now was the time to actualize their knowledge as FAME Club brings reality into the classrooms.
It’s been an exciting couple of weeks for our FAME CLUB program. The program kicked off on the 9th of February 2021 in over thirteen public senior secondary schools across the city of Ibadan, with over 700 students enrolled in the program. It has been a blast! FAME CLUB is a mentorship and skill acquisition program for our fame illuminate leadership program beneficiaries made up life skills modules designed to continue the leadership development process and empower them to succeed in school and in life. Our beneficiaries are engaged to the extent that they find application to what they have learned, pick up new life skills, learn vocational, digital skills and have fun; learning ought to be fun.
Every week, our Fame Club mentors who are each assigned to a school, show up at an appointed hour and engage these students for a period of one hour to an hour thirty minutes.
It gets even more exciting.
All our FAME CLUB sessions have been packed with leadership games and activities that teach teamwork, leadership, Ethics and Morality, effective communication, the importance of having a good value system, showing empathy for one another, and discovering the boldness to say No! in the face of situations requiring the compromise of one’s moral standards.
We specifically tailor these games to the reality of the average secondary school student using real-life situations they can relate to, to engage them actively and encourage them to give feedback. One example is our short video session this week. We showed every class a video focusing on the achievements of young and seemingly ordinary people like them, but who by sheer determination and faith in their potentials became solution providers in their communities. We used this to teach them that everyone has the potential to be a solution provider, to which they affirmed the line in our FAME Chant that reads “I AM A SOLUTION” with more confidence.
Another striking example was when the students played, “What I’d do if I Got to Be the Governor of Oyo State for A Day.” Many students gave thoughtful responses that centred around creating change in their communities, fixing bad roads, awarding development contracts to competent agencies, and tackling unemployment and other societal problems. Some students also mentioned how they would return to school with the essentials they lack knowing well that what our society lacks in leadership can be provided at the secondary school levels.
When every session comes to an end, we appreciate the students for the positive energy they bring to the classrooms. Every session assures the organization of a brighter future in an education system presently hanging by the tightrope. This is why we do what we do. If you come around, you may even hear one of our students reprimand another for noise-making while addressing themselves using the title “Leader of today”.
The FAME family are change-makers, we catalyze a change in our notion of leadership as a country one student, and one secondary school, at a time. We envision a world where young people find their true identity and purpose and become the change they want to see, being capable of solving complex problems to empower people in their communities.
We encourage you to become part of our movement. Visit our website’s home page today; give to this cause. With your donations, we can reach even more lives to actualize the future Nigerian’s deserve. One School at a time!
