First Female SRC President Wisconsin International University Had Shares Her Journey To Starting An NGO
- Bridget Bonnie Agbenyo became Wisconsin International University's first ever female Student Representative council (SRC) president in 2018
- A constant failure by the former SRC president before her to meet students needs motivated her to run for the presidency and acquire the power to effect changes
- The young woman started an NGO called the PEC Project to provide personal, educational and career development for children after seeing the poor conditions kids in her village were in
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Bridget has always had a soft spot for helping people whenever she could and this was very much evident to people she was surrounded by. For the kind of empathy and kindness she possessed even at a young age, almost everyone she came in contact with believed becoming a nurse would be the best option for her.
The young lady had a lot of admiration for military personnel and thought to herself that working as a nurse in the military would be a dream come true. Over the years, her career ambitions have taken various turns but one thing remained constant; her relentless desire to always meet people at their points of need.
Source: UGC
It was therefore no surprise when Bridget chose to start a non-governmental organization (NGO) to support the less privileged in the society. In an interview with YEN.com.gh Bridget opened up about the events that lead to using money she had set aside for a birthday celebration in Dubai to provide the needs of others instead.
From military nurse aspirant to pursuing marketing at Lister Professional Institute
Bridget started secondary school with the intention to study towards becoming a military nurse hence joined the school's cadet. After sometime in the group, however, she realised that in as much as she loved the cadet, she did not see herself becoming an army officer. She found a new passion, marketing.
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"I realized that I really enjoyed my freedom and I knew that joining the army may not afford me that freedom. Right after secondary however, a friend of mine drew my attention to the fact that I can be a good marketer given how eloquent I am. I thought about it and I was actually convinced that I can pursue that and so I did", she told YEN.com.gh.
Source: UGC
She loved marketing and felt that it was the best career path for her. She performed excellently at it and graduated with a distinction. The next thing for her was to charter in the field but that was brought to a sharp standstill upon finding out how expensive it is.
"Chartering in marketing required a lot of money and there was no way I could afford that at the time so sadly, I had to let go. Thankfully I still had my unique voice which I had done a couple of voice over and other media presentation works with so I considered venturing into journalism."
She applied to the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) and pursued a short course in radio and television presentation which she enjoyed very much. So much so that she became the course representative.
Becoming the first ever female SRC president of Wisconsin International University
Source: Instagram
In an attempt to gain more knowledge in journalism and pursue it full-time, Bridget applied to the Wisconsin International University to read communication. While studying, she got elected as the deputy chairperson for the school's Entertainment Committee (entercom) and that introduced her to the world of campus politics.
"As the entercom chairperson, I surprisingly had a lot of people approaching me with a number of problems students are facing that needed to be address. I played my role by relaying them to the SRC president at the time but I realised that all the students concerns were constantly not addressed and that bothered me a lot."
Bridget, being the empathetic and concerned young lady that she naturally is, thought of the best way to ensure student problems get solved and it clicked that the surest way to achieve that would be if she is in power. With this, she set out to become the next SRC president of the school.
"I must say a lot of people were really surprised when they found out I had picked up forms to contest for the SRC presidency. This was because in the history of the school, no female had ever vied for the position hence many were skeptical I would win."
For Bridget that did not discourage her at all. Rather, it was the perfect opportunity to become the first female to make history or at least break the long lasting record that no lady had never even picked up forms to contest for the the presidency.
With resilience and hard work, she went head-on with her male counterparts and emerged as the first female SRC president of the school.
"I was so happy and fulfilled when I won because I knew I'm now in a position of power where I have access to the finances and resources that would help solve student problems and create working systems on campus, and I did just that."
Starting an NGO to support the less privileged in the society
A visit to her mother in Kajanya, a village within the Ada East District of the Greater Accra Region, days before her 30th birthday had a tremendous impact on Bridget. Upon arrival, she found children who were of school going age just playing around and several teenage girls who had been impregnated by the men in the village.
"I was extremely taken aback by what I saw. It just made me sad to see all those kids with their whole future ahead of them facing such harsh conditions that has caused them to start off on the wrong path of life."
True to her nature, Bridget became very restless about what she had seen and knew something had to be done. For her, her 30th birthday celebration in Dubai could wait.
"I had saved up money to enjoy myself in Dubai in honour of my big 30 but that didn't feel right to me knowing what I had seen. The money had to be put to better use."
Bridget thought of the best way to be of help to as many people as possible and the idea to start an NGO was birthed. She named it, the PEC Project.
"The goal of the project was to provide Personal, Educational and Career development for children (both male and female) in Junior and Senior High Schools, with the hope and prayer that before they get to University they will be well groomed and informed."
Currently, the PEC project has three running schemes; before 2nd cycle for Junior High School students preparing to go to secondary school; before tertiary for secondary school students on their way to the university and finally LCN (Leaderships, career development and networking) for tertiary students.
"The projects are structured to educate students at the various stages on what to expect in their next academic phase, be it the various subjects or courses and the career prospects for all the programs at that stage. The intention is to give them a fair idea of what each program stands for and help them make informed decisions. After each training session, stationeries and sanitary items are shared for the students"
Funding for the PEC Projects
Bridget's very first source of funding was the money she had set aside for her Dubai trip but as time went by, people around her believed in the vision and began offering help where they could.
"My friends and family have been really supportive. There are a lot of NGOs outside who are there for just their selfish gains and so getting bigger funding from external sources is really difficult. Thankfully, I work as a digital marketer for a fintech company and I support with my own money as well"
For her, the long term goal is to have The PEC Institute for those that are interested in Technical and Vocational Education and that requires bigger funding hence the need to search for external support. She is therefore calling on all who can support in any shape or form to come on board.
Source: YEN.com.gh
