How Can Girls Touch Lives at Christmas? - By Eniola Longe

Christmas is here again, the time of the year when people are actually looking forward to the holidays. Thinking only of what we can get and not what we can give, thinking of what people can do for us this Christmas and not what we can do for others. Christmas should be a time to reach out to those around us who are not as fortunate as we are. It is the time of the year when even the littlest of kind gestures count. How can just a girl touch a live at Christmas, it may seem impossible for a little girl of 9 or 17 to significantly touch any life, but as it obtains in our society, there's nothing new under the sun. Let's take a cue from Zuriel Oduwole who is just an 11year old Nigerian girl and is speaking up for the girl child's right to education. As a girl, Zuriel has gained international recognition doing what she is passionate about. A key thing to note is that as girls we need to focus our energies on things that we are passionate about.

 

Another prominent girl is 17year old Malala who is from Pakistan and is also fighting for the girl child's right to education. Malala has had to overcome various hurdles to be where she is today and had even been shot in the head because her actions were in defiance to the rule of the Taliban in Pakistan.

 

Firstly, taking a look at our immediate environments, we may notice that they aren't exactly sanitary. This is a point of call as a girl. We can gather our friends in the neighbourhood and clean up. If however the workload is too much for us, we may go from door to door asking for funds to hire professionals. Even if the environment we live in is already sanitary, we may go out of our comfort zone to some other place where we think that cleaning would make this Christmas more enjoyable for them. Alternatively, there is the obvious cooking for people who need it. As girls we have a lot of hospitality to show others, why not do something out of the ordinary this Christmas. Gather a bunch of your friends, contribute some money or ask your family for some and cook a meal for the workers in your house or your hairdresser or even your driver.

There is also the conventional going to orphanages. This is actually effective as you can do all the above listed in the same place and you would still equally be touching lives this Christmas. We can also pass on knowledge, either education-wise or skill-wise to the children in the orphanages.

 

Where there is a need, it is the girl child's duty to find a solution. Groups are better suited for these sort of activities, thus if you have friends that have like passions, team up as the girls who organise the Purple Project have done. Additionally, if our parents do not understand why it has to be us, why not other girls, just let them know of the two girls stated above and tell them that you are just doing the little you can do to improve your community.

 

Eniola is a 19 year old 4th year Law student of the University of Lagos. She is a confident and focused young woman, stopping at nothing in her quest for excellence/impact. Her inspiring essay clinched 2nd place in the Girl Pride Circle Christmas Essay Competition.