Springboard Road Show Foundation

Madonna Yaa Oduro

Intervention: CoRe

A humbling, insightful and fulfilling encounter. 

The feedback from beneficiaries of the CoRe Programme about how it has helped them has been a humbling and fulfilling experience for Madonna. Having heard the stories of many of the mentees, she is happy to have been given the opportunity to be a blessing to them through the programme. She shares her story.

My name is Madonna Yaa Oduro. I served as Project Coordinator for the CoRe Programme. Before the outbreak of COVID-19, I was working on another youth initiative project and when the number of cases increased in the country my organization asked its employees to work from home. This presented an opportunity for me to learn the ropes of working effectively and productively from home to meet deliverables.

Personally, aside dealing with the anxiety that came with the pandemic, my husband had to be away for about a year because of the country’s lockdown and the closure of its international borders and airport.

Working on the CoRe project made me grateful and grounded because I realized I was fortunate. I had to look at the positive side of everything as I continuously heard the stories of other youth who were not as fortunate as myself. I also acquired a lot of knowledge from the different components of the project, and I was therefore better prepared to deal with the challenges that came with the pandemic.

The project made me to better appreciate that when technology is used appropriately and effectively, it can be a great tool to create an impact in the lives of youth. One great highlight of the project for me was the effective use of messaging platforms such as WhatsApp to provide mentoring and counselling to beneficiaries. I also embraced the new way of life which was that technology was going to play a crucial role in every aspect of our lives.

It was always such a joy to hear from our beneficiaries through feedback and success stories about how the project has impacted their lives through listening to our weekly e-learning episodes or being counselled and mentored on the project.