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2006 Events: The Dew Drop Foundation 2006 Award Ceremony/Graduation

 The participants of the skills Acquisition program of the Dewdrop foundation completed the three months session on the 30 th of September 2006. These three months session of skills Acquisition commenced on the 4 th of July 2006 with a total of 24 (twenty four) participants.
17 (seventeen) participants registered for the child care program while 7 participants registered for the Basic Customer service program.

The Child care class had their lectures on Tuesdays and Thursdays every week while the Basic customer service program had their lectures on Saturdays with a general class of both courses on Saturday mornings.

The session ended with a revision class on the 19 th of September.

Examinations started for both programs on the 27 th ofSeptember and ended on the 30 th of September 2006. About 20(Twenty) participants were able to write the exams, i.e. a total number of sixteen participants for the childcare program and four participants for the basic customer service program.

Thirteen participants in the childcare class passed the exams and were qualified to graduate and all of the participants for the Basic Customer service class passed the exams.

The Graduation/award ceremony for the participants was scheduled for the 19 th of October at the Rockview Hotel Extension, Wuse 11 Abuja
The ceremony started by 4:20pm with an opening prayer by the acting chairman Mr. Victor Dare (since the chairman was absent at that time).

After the opening prayerthere was an introduction of the important guests of the occasion at the event and they were called to occupy the seats at the High table.

The following important guests were welcomed to the high table.

1. Mrs. Rosemary Umana- Acting Director, Department of Policy making and Implementation, Education Secretariat here in Abuja.
2. Mr. Victor Oshadare- MD, Smart Generations
3. Alhaji Suleman Ajanah, HOD, Vocational Skills Department, NDE
4. Dr.(Mrs.) Chi-Chi Aniagolu Okoye- Country Director, SRIP
5. Prof Bart Nnaji- The Chairman, Geometric Power Ltd.
6. Mr. Manford - Head teacher, Raberto Nursery and Primary School, Wuse 11
7. Barr. Lesley Agams- Country Representative, Ashoka Innovators for the public.
8. Mr. Nwaefuna - Acting Director, Federal Ministry of Education.

This was followed by a welcome address by Mrs. Agatha Nnaji, the CEO of Dewdrop Foundation. In the address, she welcomed in a special way all the members of the high table especially all those who took extra pains to ensure the success of the Foundation. She also welcomed all friends and well wishers of the Foundation and congratulated the graduating participants. She went on to identify the important role the Ashoka innovators played towards actualizing her vision for social re-engineering. In her address she mentioned that according to a research carried out by DDF about 50% of the Nigerian women and youths are presently unemployed, illiterate and unskilled and that quite a good number of the youths are school dropouts due to lack of sponsorship. In her words she said "..these people end up working under harsh conditions as unskilled domestic assistants in private homes, hospitals, schools and stores, for meager salaries". Hence, the need for the establishment of the Dewdrop Academy , to provide customized skills for these people. She also acknowledged the response received from the National Directorate of Employment Abuja and that of Geometric Power Limited towards establishing a long term relationship with the Foundation in expanding nationwide. She concluded by congratulating the 25 participants and encouraging them to come back for the subsequent modules.

Next on the program was the chairman's opening remarks. This was done by the acting chairman Mr. Victor Dare (M.D Smart Generations). He welcomed all present, congratulated the graduates and encouraged them to continue to add values to their lives. This was followed by a thank you note by the acting M.C Mrs. Oby Nwosu. Next was the brief presentations by Miss Jessica Anih and Mr. Obinna Okonkwo .Jessica represented the outgoing module 1 childcare class and she talked about diarrhea - it's causes, prevention, management and treatment. She ended by singing along with her class the diarrhea treatment song
Obinna Okonkwo represented the outgoing module 1 customer care class. He talked about customer care services and how to maintain good relationships with customers since they determine whether your business grows or not. He continued by pointing out that customers are the life blood of any business and that it is important to ensure that they are satisfied at all times.
Dr. Mrs. Chichi Aniagolu Okoye followed up with the keynote address. She talked about the Ashoka fellows and their role in the world. She then went ahead to tell the participants how important they have become in the society. She congratulated them and pointed out to them that with the basic knowledge they had gained they could open up their own businesses or day centers or network with each other to start small scale businesses. She promised to be of assistance to anyone of them that might need encouragement in any way and to fix them up to firms or organizations looking for such services. She advised them not to stop here but to strive harder in adding more value to their lives. After her speech came the presentation of certificates, awards and gifts.

The certificates were given to about 16 child care participants and 4 Basic Customer Service Class who had successfully completed the three months (Module 1) training in child care which commenced on the 4 th of July 2006.
The names of the Graduates in the Child Care class are as follows

1. Ruth Dirisu
2. Grace Adams
3. Lucy Onwuka
4. Oluchi Agbayim
5. Rekiya Salawu
6. Monishola Agboola
7. Dayo Olubena
8. Faith Keshi
9. Rosemary Ahaotu
10. Gloria Anih
11. Jessica Anih Ugochukwu
12. Calista Ugw
13. Naomi Abutu
14. Chioma Obani
15. Elizabeth Ogar
16. Helen Eze

The certificates for the child care class were presented to the participants by Mrs. Rosemary Umana the Acting Director of the Department of policy and implementation Department of the Education Secretariat here in Abuja . She further added that she was delighted to present the certificates to them.
The names of the Graduates in the Basic Customer Service class are as follows

1. Obinna Okonkwo
2. faith Ubah
3. Juliet Titilayo Dogbla
4. Victoria Onwujiogu

The certificates for the Basic Customer Service Class were presented by the HOD Vocational Skills Department of the National Directorate of Employment. He congratulated the graduates of the class and encouraged them to make good use of what they had learnt.
In additional to the certificates presented to the Graduates there were also awards for the best student in the child care class, Miss. Chioma Obani and Obinna Okonkwo for the Basic Customer Service Class. There were other additional awards for the best behaved student, Miss Jessica Anih and best attendee Miss Elizabeth Ogar both of the Child Care class.
The chairman of the occasion Prof. Bart Nnaji walked in during the presentation of gifts. He apologized for coming late and said he was extremely busy but had to squeeze out time to be there.
The Chairman of the occasion professor Bart Nnaji presented certificates to the resource persons and the volunteers who participated in the program and worked towards the success of the program. The resource persons and volunteers who participated in the program are as follows:

1. Mrs. Oby Nwosu( she taught child care)
2. Mrs. Franca Eneh (she taught Basic Customer Service)
3. Barr. Oluchi Agbanyim( taught Basic Rights to the General class)
4. Mrs. Rosemary Umanah
5. Mrs. Dayo Keshi
6. Barr. Chinwe Okwuonu (taught the General Class Basic Rights and Child rights to the Child care class.

At the end of the presentation of awards, the chairman gave his speech. In the speech, he praised the CEO -his wife for her achievements and then told the story of how she had conceived the idea of DDF and how she had told him about it. He said at first he didn't really understand what she wanted to do but encouraged her to go on. And today he is happy that her dreams have been actualized. He then went on to cite other prominent people in the world who believed in their dreams to make it happen -people like Florence Nightingale who founded the Nursing sciences.
The chairman's speech was followed by a closing remark by Mrs. Rosemary Umanah -the Acting Director, Dept. of Policy and Implementation, Education Sector Abuja. She talked as a mother, scholar and an achiever that she is. She captivated the audience with her simple ways. She praised all the graduates for believing in themselves and for participating in the program. She said she visited them a number of times during their training period and saw what efforts they had put in. She promised to be of help whenever needed. She gave examples of prominent people who started from scratch and made it to top -people like Prof. Bart Nnaji of Geometric Power Limited. She said she had waited all her life to meet him in person and was so happy that she finally met him there. She said he inspires her so much in many ways. She concluded by advising everyone present not to go for quick and easy money but that every one should rather try to develop intellectually and be able to add value to other peoples lives since it is not how long you lived that matters but how well. She said all should try to change the world positively no matter how little the contribution might be.
This was followed by a vote of thanks by Barr. Chinwe Okwuonu (the project coordinator also known as "the lady on the wheel"). She thanked everyone present especially all those that contributed in one way or another whom she described as "those she gave headache". She also encouraged the graduates to come and participate in the subsequent modules. A little refreshment followed after which Aunty Uzo said the closing prayer at about 6: 35 pm. Group photographs were taken afterwards.