"Empowering the girl child" - Nigeria Give Back

Earlier this year, each member of the team was given time and financial support to design, invest and produce their own personal passion projects. Luckily we’re building a team of creatives who care and by grace we’re sharing the work of Victor Edet, our community administrator based in Nigeria.

It may not be common knowledge, but ourppls has a CIC arm which over the next year we’ll be activating more and more through funding, programs and events. 

The core mission of ourppls CIC is to support the lives of our community through creativity and culture. The CIC is funded by our commercial arm which serves charitable organisations and other Community Interest Companies through creative storytelling and cultural production.

In response to the team task of self-investment, Victor committed to producing a program focused on young women and girls. Read on to learn more about Victor’s personal project.

I’m Victor Edet, the Designer and Coordinator of the ‘Empower the Girl Child Project’ which is dedicated to ensuring that every girl in my Nigerian community is celebrated for her inherent worth. This commitment drives this initiative.

On 21st March 2025, we made a visit to Saint Mary’s School, Damaturu, Nigeria to carry out a one-day seminar with 200 School girls, aged 12 to 20. The event focused on dignity, menstrual health and hygiene, and environmental sustainability. It had 5 clear objectives:

1. Empowerment: Instill confidence and self-worth by emphasising the inherent dignity and worth of every girl.

2. Health Education: Increase awareness of menstrual health and hygiene, dispelling myths and promoting best practices.

3. Practical Training: Demonstrate the proper use, cleaning, and maintenance of reusable sanitary pads.

4. Promoting environmental sustainability:  Distribute 200 sanitary pads to the School girls to encourage the use of reusable sanitary pads over disposable ones, in an effort to reduce waste and protect the environment.

5. Community Engagement: Involve local school educators, and other community leaders to ensure the longevity and sustainability of the project’s impact.

In many communities across Nigeria, especially North Eastern Nigeria, challenges related to low self-esteem, menstrual health, hygiene, and environmental waste are prevalent. Girls often face stigma and a lack of proper guidance on managing menstruation, which can impact their education and self-confidence. 

We were honoured to invite a team of professional guests to help lead us throughout the day.

Dr. Tinam Napthali, a licensed medical doctor and former Head of Department Pediatrics, Yobe State Specialist Hospital who spoke on menstrual health. 

Miss Josephine Okon, Principal at Essence International School, Damaturu who spoke on the dignity of the girl child. 

Finally, Rhoda Simeon, a Registered Nurse (RN) with the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, who led a session on menstrual hygiene and demonstrated how to use reusable sanitary pads. 

Our speakers and facilitators not only spoke from their lived experience but also harnessed their professional backgrounds within the medical and education field, to share useful facts and practical instructions. The young girls participated in an interactive discussion where they freely asked questions, shared their concerns, and had their doubts and uncertainties addressed within a safe and judgement-free environment. 

Through our pre and post seminar surveys we were able to measure the change in knowledge of menstrual health, with the responses showing an increase by 22%. For us, this is a significant achievement as it means that more girls felt confident in managing their menstrual health, and discussing menstrual issues with teachers, family, or friends, after the event. Albeit the first of future events and interventions,  this means a lot to us.

After the programme, one of the girls, Mercy Habu shared: , "I learned how to use reusable sanitary pads, keep my body clean and healthy and how to associate with people when I'm menstruating”

At ourppls, when we say we care , we mean it in the most practical terms, and this outreach is a step in a larger effort. We look forward to the next opportunity to impact more girls and communities

You can partner with us on this impact outreach by sending an email to:

UK and Worldwide administration: info@ourppls.com

Nigeria Administration: victor@ourppls.com

Kenya administration: gloria@ourppls.com