Founder: Al-Ibrab Memorial School for Orphans & Less Privileged.
“I am the first female Lawyer in my community. I am proud of that but that is not fulfilling enough for me. What I’m really really proud of today is that God has given me the ability to touch lives.”
Tell us a bit about yourself and the work that you do?
My name is Fatima Ibrahim Haruna, I am a lawyer by profession, and I am into telecommunication services; I work with a telecommunication company that provides telecoms infrastructure to telecom operators.
You are a Woman Champion with many moving parts; you are a Lawyer, you work in the tech ecosystem and you also have a school for vulnerable children. Tell us about your foundation and what inspired you to start it?
I have a foundation which I started in 2021, to reach out to orphans and the less privileged in my community in Kano, State. So, I saw a situation where so many children are out of school; they don’t go to school, either because they don’t have parents or simply because their parents do not have the means to send them to school, and I’m like this is an opportunity to give back to my State, Kano.
I don’t feel good each time I go to Kano, I see a lot of Children not going to school. I was inspired to see how I could give back and also because I know the value of education. I’m the first child among 17 children and I saw where education has taken me to and I said to myself, why can’t I help these children? So, I divested some of my investments and I built a school in my community. The schools started in 2021 with about 15 pupils.
I also reached out to friends and family and told them about the school and we came up with different sponsorship packages. Sponsoring a child for a session is N30,000; this includes uniforms, books and school fees. So, my friends came onboard and some of them are sponsoring children as we speak; I have someone who is sponsoring 30 orphans. We also feed the children every Friday just to encourage them to come to school, and all through Ramadan we feed them. A school that I started in 2021 with just 15 children, has approximately 230 pupils today.
There is something that I also did. I thought that leaving it at primary school wasn’t enough, because if I just leave it at primary school, when they finish, they’ll go back to society and nothing much would have been achieved. So, what that means is that we would end up not achieving much, what was gained would have been lost, and so I decided to start the secondary session which is operating now. Our goal is to provide free education to them from Nursery to Primary and secondary. And then, we will decide whether to get people to sponsor them to university for those that want to further their education.
How challenging has this been for you?
For now, it’s not that challenging because I’m working in Abuja and the school is in Kano. So, what I did when we started the school is that I went to Kano to put processes in place. I have effective processes in place whereby, whether or not I’m there the school will run smoothly. Also, I have very competent hands to help me run the school. How was I able to do this? Every child that we take in the school has a sponsor; so we tie each child to a sponsor. It’s not as if you will just give us money and we take it; we have a sponsorship form that we give to sponsors to fill each time they show interest.
After assigning a child to a sponsor, we take photos of the child and send it to the sponsor. It’s a process that I learnt from my day to day work that I implemented in the school. The school is so organized to the extent that when people come they say, “this school can’t be in Kano.” This is because of the standard. Just recently, we got an award from Dove Women.
Being a Lawyer and a tech person is quite demanding. How have you been able to create a work life balance for yourself, looking at the many things that you do as a woman?
I work in the telecoms space and I have been working there for over 20 years. I have been able to strike a balance, in that when I’m at work, I’m at work and when I’m at home I’m at home. I dont allow interference, and you know as women we have this ability to do many things at the same time. I’m in the office now, I do my work diligently, and when I’m at home I focus on my family. Above all, I have a very understanding and supportive spouse, who appreciates me.
You come from a part of Nigeria where women and girls political and economic inclusion is still a major issue. How can we break the barriers that women and girls face in the region?
I had that issue before and I understand what it’s for a woman not to be able to identify her capabilities and bring value to the table, it’s a big challenge. For me, I was able to go to school through the support of the Kano State Government. In my community in Kano, I’m the first female lawyer, and everyone knows my zeal for education. It’s the fact that I understand those barriers that women face, that is why I created the school to cater for women and especially the girl child.
I know that the only way you can break this barrier is through education. Even if it’s primary education, it’s very paramount that they know something as easy as knowing how to calculate to enable them to do little businesses. But the thing is, a lot of women are realizing this now and they are doing all they can to get educated. I’m also doing my own bit to enlighten women to know the value of education. We also have plans to set up a skill acquisition center for women who couldn’t go to school because of these barriers. Women need financial empowerment, that is why some of them endure so much abuse in their marriages, because they are financially dependent on their spouses.
Looking at the work that you do and all your achievements as a Woman Champion, which of them are you most proud of?
I’m the first female Lawyer in my community. I am proud of that but that is not fulfilling enough for me. What I’m really really proud of today is that God has given me the ability to touch lives; being able to open a school, taking care of orphans and the less privileged that’s the most important achievements for me today.