Airtel Touching Lives beneficiary wins 2015 World of Children Awards

Airtel Ghana’s Touching Lives beneficiary, Winnifred Selby, President of Educational Empowerment Initiative, EPF, and as co-founder of Ghana Bamboo Bikes has been recognized with the prestigious World of Children Youth 2015 Award in New York, USA.

This award comes due to her impressive and exceptional work and dedication to support youth in deprived communities in Ghana who stand the risk of dropping out of school. She has under her supervision and intervention provided educational supplies, clothing, and shoes to needy school children to encourage them to remain in school.

Airtel Ghana, through its multiple award winning CSR television series Airtel Touching Lives supported Winifred’s effort to transform the lives of needy students in the Bunkpurugu Yunyo District in the Northern Region of Ghana who had to walk for over eight miles to school often on bare foot. Airtel Touching lives supported Winifred with a cash donation and bales of clothing for distribution to the children and to support her charity work.

The young entrepreneur also featured in The Airtel Catapult Your Business Competition, a transformative start up accelerator program and competition that guides companies from validated products to fundable business opportunities open to women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Winifred came third with her innovative business idea called ‘Afrocentric Bamboo Bikes’, a technology for adding value to raw bamboo by producing bicycle frames for export and fully assembled bamboo bikes for the local market.

Speaking about her latest award, Winifred said, “I am very happy and honoured to be recognized in such a manner. This is a testament to the fact that I am doing a great job together with all those who have and continue to support me in this endeavour. It has always been my passion to impact the lives of the needy especially children. I express my profound gratitude to all individuals and organizations who have shared in this vision and supported me to get this far and I will entreat them to continue to support this dream”.

The World of Children Award, often referred to by the media as the Nobel Prize for Child Advocates, searches the globe for the most effective change-makers and provides funding and recognition to support their life-changing work for children.

It is the only global recognition and funding programme for people specifically and exclusively serving the needs of children.

Since 1998, World of Children Award has granted more than $7 million in cash grants and programme support to more than 100 humanitarian leaders driving programmes that serve children worldwide.

Winifred, along with the recognition has been given a $35,000 grant to aid projects closely associated with the young entrepreneur’s area of dedication.

Airtel Ghana was recently recognized at the Ghana CSR Excellence Awards as the Best CSR Company for Education for the Change-maker company’s instrumental role in promoting education and community empowerment in Ghana.

Story by Ghana/Myjoyonline.com