Former Southern Zone Basketball League (Sozobal) Ladies Division champions, Mikoko Mystics, has introduced a session of webinars [online seminars] aimed at empowering the girl child with relevant life skills.
The webinars are tailored to tackle social issues that affect girls such as early pregnancies, peer pressure, drug and subs tance abuse and academic excellence.
Facilitator of the first webinar session, Lindsay Katchika-Jere, who is also a World Literacy ambassador, said it was important to educate the youth on their sexual rights.
She expressed pleasure on the introduction of these chats more especially by women in sports as they can easily empower girls to make informed decisions about their future.
The first of the series was held on September 20 and attracted about 100 college girls. The discussion centered on early pregnancies.
The next webinar will be held on Sunday which coincidentally is International Day of the Girl Child.
Mikoko captain, Miranda Dula, said the initiative was fulfillment to their philosophy of empowering girls through sports.
“Being a basketball team comprising career ladies and college students, we saw the immediate need to play a role in showing the other girls that anything is possible if one puts heart to it. Our performance both on the court and in our daily endeavours is evidence enough that any girl has potential to excel if given a chance,” she said.
Dula said that even though webinars have become a trend over the Covid-19 era due to limitations in physical gatherings, it was coincidental that Mikoko had chosen the same mode to reach out to the girl child.
“We may have subconsciously settled for webinars as a mode of reach but what has stood out is the commitment our players have shown to transform society by empowering the girl child. Going forward we will use all modes including group discussions to maximize the impact of what we are doing,” she said.
Though it was only Mikoko players featuring as contributors to the discussion, there are plans to incorporate players from other top teams from across the country.
“We plan to invite other teams to participate in the discussion as well. We are bringing everyone on board because we appreciate the essence of unity in empowering the girl child,” she said.
Dula said plans to involve Mikoko men’s team to encompass the spirit of HeforShe, a movement that encourages men and boys to fully participate in gender issues, were underway.
