The first week I have been in Nigeria I have spent in Benin City, which is four hours from Lagos by bus. Here in Benin I will do field visits at several NGOs that work on the issue of trafficking. The first organization I visited was Girl’s Power Initiative (GPI). GPI is a youth development organization, and it focuses on education, leadership and other nonsexist life management abilities, information on sexuality, support and safety of sexual and reproductive health, and rights of in- and out-of-school girls between the ages of 10 and 18, in Nigeria.

GPI has a nice office with a library and I was invited to use their books for work on my thesis. I was also invited to visit their classes in empowerment that they have every Saturday. So this Saturday I went to one of their meetings, and then I also attended in one class. The girls run the meetings themselves, and this is one step in empowerment according to the staff at GPI. The organization promotes girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights through educational programs, counseling, referral services and social action. GPI also educates, informs, and trains girls to stand up for their rights as human beings. The topic for the day in the class was breast cancer: why it occurs and how to look for lumps in your breasts. They also discussed other forms of cancer that is common among women. It was very interesting to see that this kind of education is offered to girls, and I can’t think of a better way of education. We should see this and learn from it in Europe!

This week I also visited an organization called Idia Renaissance. The organisation is an NGO and seeks to eliminate human trafficking and bring back the cultural values of Nigeria and the re-establishment of human dignity. To achieve this goal, they use education, spread information, communicate with girls that are vulnerable to trafficking, and mobilize and counsel the girls who already have been trafficked. This coming week, I will visit the organization again and attend one of the classes for trafficked girls.