©AfreePress-(Lomé, April 13, 2023)- In pursuit of the celebration of its fifteenth anniversary, Compassion International Togo organized on Tuesday, April 12, 2023, a major conference for the young girls of the program. More than a thousand young girls from Compassion program who had come from different clusters took part in this conference, the aim of which is to allow young women to discover their identity in the Lord and to fight to achieve their goals in life.
Two highlights marked this meeting. At first, Agnes Stanley Hotay, Africa Senior Director of Regional Program at Compassion International, spoke to the audience on the theme of the meeting, namely: « Discovering and embracing God’s plan and vision for one’s life ». She shared a poignant communication focusing on 9 points that must be the areas young women are invited to work on if they hope to discover and embrace God’s vision for their lives. These areas include reverence to God, character, discovering and using our talents, excellence, diligence, maintaining a positive attitude, determination, time management, and accepting failures gracefully.
Agnes HOTAY, Africa Senior Director of Regional Program / Compassion International
The second highlight of this conference was marked by a panel that brought together four women leaders in their field to share their experience with young people. Winner Fandoumi, Mechanical Engineering Works Engineer, Solar Energy Technician, and alumnae of Compassion International Togo program. Kossiwa TSIPOAKA, General Administrator of ARWP, woman passionate about God, reading, water, local development, youth training and women’s rights. Gina Adekambi, president of the National Basketball Federation of Togo. Holder of a Professional master’s degree in computer science. Former international basketball player and captain of the national team, she has several Togo championship titles to her name with the CBS club of Lomé and was voted best scorer and best player in Togo in 2005. Agnes Stanley Hotay, Africa Senior Director of Regional Program at Compassion International.
A view of the panel
The journeys of these women and girls have not been easy; punctuated by many challenges, failures, and intimidation, they still managed to realize their dreams in their various fields.
This sharing of personal experience gave the audience the opportunity to interact with the panelists. At the end of the meeting, the young people left satisfied with the discussions and made a commitment to fight to achieve their dreams despite the difficulties.
« I have listened carefully to the communications, and I am leaving with the determination not to give up on my dreams, I will now believe in myself, and I know that I have value in the eyes of God, that he loves me and that I can lean on him in life », confided ADEKPOE Grace, participant in the meeting.
A participant interviewed by the media
For Agnes Hotay, Africa Senior Director of Regional Program at Compassion International, “the aim of this conference is primarily to help these young ladies to discover the vision of God for their life. Secondly, we want to help them in hard working, determination, and excellence. We are not preparing them to be rebellious women, but with the humility that they can fight to achieve their dreams”, she confided to the press.
