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Welcome to Bright Light Projects 2023 Annual Fundraiser Gala. We appreciate your support and we hope to build a much more robust partnership in the future as we strive to deliver on our vision of supporting our beneficiaries to become self-reliant and contribute positively to the development of their communities
2023 Fundraiser Theme:
BLP Empowerment Center: The pathway to Sustainability
BLP 2023 Priority Problem:
The Need for A Sustainable Pathway for BLP Beneficiaries
For a long time, our approach to addressing poverty has been strictly cosmetic across most of sub- Saharan Africa. We have been given handouts as a way to fight poverty which has contributed more to deepening poverty with a dependency mentality. The whole idea behind BLP is the promise that opportunity can eradicate poverty in so many ways. Give everyone an opportunity and see them transform into productive citizens. This is why our motto is to support our beneficiaries to become self-reliant so they can contribute positively to the development of their communities.
Across BLP’s numerous programs is a great need for transformation through skills training, mentorship, and entrepreneurship. Our programs namely: Mend the Gap schooling program for vulnerable Ebola orphans and survivors (MDG), Girls Shall Rise (GSR), Young Men Entrepreneurship (YME), Adolescent Youth Leadership and Mentorship (AYLM), BLP Mothers Club Familiarization program (BLPMC), Village Savings and Loan program (VSLA), all have a long term objective of to improve the human capital development for poor individuals and communities. Help them get new life by gaining knowledge and vocational skills to revitalize, their hope and aspirations to become good assets to their communities.
With about 70% of the global Youth population, with a staggering 80% of youth unemployment, there is a need to engage youths positively with solutions that will not only add value but transform them into entrepreneurs providing them with the necessary tools to compete in the global marketplace. Youths could become great assets or liabilities; it all depends on how we engage them.
The Solution:
Bright Light Projects Empowerment Center:
Nelson Mandela puts it better: “Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life”.
Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa requires a much more honest and practical approach. Africa’s youth lack the necessary infrastructure and mentorship to compete with the rest of the world. With about 70% of sub-Saharan Africans under the age of 30, local Governments need greater partnerships through international support to strengthen domestic resource mobilization. Sub-Saharan African countries need job creation hubs to reap the demographic dividends from their growing youth population. Job creation hubs can help reduce startup costs with centrally shared resources, provide networking opportunities, and encourage knowledge exchange. The ‘Taobao” villages in China for example are hubs that house about 100 businesses in the e-commerce space paving the way for youths to become part of the development ecosystem for sustained growth. Africa’s youth need support and mentorship to innovate. There is a need for an empowerment center that will serve as a job creation hub to reduce Youth Unemployment.
The BLP Empowerment Center will provide:
- Vocational training which are instructional programs or courses that focus on the skills required for a particular job function or trade. In vocational training, education prepares students for specific careers.
- A sustainable outlet for our programs enabling us to train more students cutting down on huge expenses BLP is paying now to train our beneficiaries
- It will provide a revenue stream to sustain the organization, staff and operations relieving the burden from some few individuals
- Graduating students will have a home and a job to perfect their skills and gain more business knowledge preparing them for the outside world of business
- The center will generate income to provide startup business kits for graduation students easing their journey to entrepreneurship or dependence on grants which are more competitive now
- BLP will not rely on grants to maintain operations as income will be generated locally for program expansion and scalability
- Developing community-based networks, social support networks
- STEM education for young People
- Business development courses including marketing
- Financial literacy workshops and other workshops for empowering youth, kids, and adults
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