Beyond the Stereotypes turned 2 yesterday, 24th April 2021. ALHAMDULILLAH. We currently have over 200 young Muslim women across different universities in Nigeria. We also have among us young professional ladies and older professional women like my mentor, Mrs Aminat Akinyemi-Ayoola, the Director of Academic Programme at Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, Nigeria. Jazakumullah Khayran for your support, ma’am.
When you start a community like this at such a young age, you can never estimate what change you’ll make with it, at least I didn’t. I am grateful to Almighty Allah who has made this journey an easy path for me. I recognised a problem and I knew something had to be done about it. I didn’t stop to think about the commitment or the required work, I can be that impulsive sometimes. Alhamdulillah. I am grateful for our amazing team and volunteers who share in the workload. Thank you so much for your support, ladies. Jazakumullah Khayran.
To celebrate this milestone, we decided to collect feedback data from our members. I’m not here to tell you how difficult it is to run Beyond the Stereotypes because, Alhamdulillah, I do not find it difficult. I am here to address some issues from the feedback form. Before I go into these issues, I will like to appreciate everyone who took the time out to fill the feedback form. You may not know the essence of your words to us but we appreciate every single character you punched into those spaces. Jazakumullah Khayran.
A lot of people said they enjoyed our lockdown series. We are glad those conversations about:
Personal Finance by Aminah Shodipo
Public Speaking by Mutiat Olagoke
Negotiation & Effective Communication In a Professional Setting by Mahmudah Yusuf-Zubair
Personal Development by Zainab Haroun
Essay writing by Humainat Raji
Mental Health: Staying Sane in Isolation by Lara Agbaje
Professional Ethics by Monsurat Akinremi
General Health by Maryam Yusuf
Writing with Balikis Adewoyin
CV& Resume Writing by Monsurat Akinremi
Setting and Implementing Strategic goals by Mujidah Sakibu
have helped you one way or the other. You also talked about our impromptu break and how you felt during this period. First, I want to apologise for the lack of communication during this period. I know how it feels to be in such a situation.
Why did we go on a break, you may ask? 2020 was a lot of things for everyone. Aside from the Covid19 virus crushing everything into dust, in Nigeria, we were also fighting police harassment, sexual harassment and a tug of war with the government. It was a lot. Coupled with some personal issues, I was overstressed and overwhelmed. So we stopped the conversations in the community under short notice to focus on the Skill Hub where we paired 60 ladies with mentors and BTS for girls in secondary schools. I also need to apologise to my protégés, who later got transferred to someone else because I had to be offline.
Bi’idhniLlah, I will ensure that we communicate better. I appreciate your feedback and I want to dedicate this post to it just so you know how important it is to us.
As we celebrate another year together, I pray we continue to grow together as a community. May Allah continue to guide us to the right path. Ameen
As-sallam Alaykum Warahmatullah Wabarakatuh.
Love always,
Humainat