Celebrating International Volunteer Day

5 December was a special day for my organization--The International Volunteer Day--a day to celebrate the efforts and impact made by volunteers! We supported the celebrations five states across in Nigeria including Lagos. Given all the madness that comes with getting 20 NGOs to work together, we somehow managed to pull off the program.

Attended by about 160 individuals & organizations, 21 media reps; we got the fabulous Crowne Troupe of Africa to perform a hilarious however brutally real dance drama. The highlight for me personally was when we awarded six volunteers Recognition Awards, it was the first time such awards were being presented in Nigeria (so I think!) . A couple of volunteers also shot a video taking glimpses of the events and interviews with the organizations, volunteers and media--which should add to developing the first documentary on national volunteering in Nigeria!

Though my anxiety levels were shooting the roof, the onsite volunteers were agile, attentive and very quick to deal with all that could go wrong--including the soundless PA system and the rain! We already are getting fantastic coverage in media and managed to make some solid contacts.