YTOP Global Donates Beds, Food Items To School For Children With Special Needs In Osun

A youth empowerment foundation, YTOP Global, has donated bedding materials and food items to state-owned school of Children with special needs in Ile-Ife, Osun State, to commemorate its 8th anniversary.

The event was held on Friday at the premises of St. Philip’s School for Children with Special Needs in Iloro, Ile-Ife, where the foundation was warmly received by the headmistress and other staff members.

Speaking with Amiloaded, the Founder of YTOP Global, Oluwadamilare Ekundayo, said the eight years of empowering people through the foundation’s various initiatives have been worthwhile, and the journey has been both touching and emotional for him.

Speaking on what inspired him to start the foundation, he said: “Eight years ago, I discovered two things. One, I discovered that many parents want their children to fulfill their unfufil dreams, that is, by choosing them a career line that they don’t have passion for. I regard the space whereby parents need to provide guidance to their children, but many parents, or let me say few of the parents or some of the parents enforced their children to go for a particular course.

“I have a scenario whereby, the person studied law, and immediately the person graduated, he took the certificate and gave it to his dad and said, ‘Now I’ll fulfill yours, this is your degree, let me go back to what i really desire to do . When I saw that, I said, ‘Oh, this is a big deal.’ Then that’s why we started doing career tours around schools. We started with career tours,, self-discovery before career development or career choice, basically from secondary school for children in SS two, SS three, and also JSS three, because of transition into senior class, you can know whether they fall into the art, commercial, or sciences.

“So, that was the basis. Then getting to the university, and , I’m getting this notion from majority of the final year students that, ‘Oh, when you are done with school, there are no jobs, you have to start wandering around.’ And I told myself, ‘Okay, what could be the main issue? But am I doing my background check?’ I discovered that there is a skill gap of what university provides and what the labor market needs, and there is a need to bridge that gap. And that took me to the journey of professional development, whereby I need to go and take courses. And I know I got to a level whereby I know that, ‘Okay, right now I have the skill, and my future is settled.’ And it’s still in place. How can I help other youths? So, we started the journey of empowering youths with trainings on skills, learning the basics principles of skills like communication, leadership skill, critical thinking skill. We went further into advanced professional courses, project management, digital analysis, and vocational skills that they can acquire.

While stating that the government should provide platforms for graduates, Oluwadamilare emphasized the need for young people to find their place within government plans and position themselves to seize available opportunities.

Commenting on the donation, Oluwadamilare said the gesture was borne out of his observation that children with special needs are often neglected and denied opportunities in society.

He called on other NGOs to focus on supporting children with special needs — helping them discover their potential, identifying their career paths, and equipping them with relevant skills.

Oluwadamilare further urged NGOs to place people with special needs in strategic positions in the employment space, noting that empowering one child means empowering an entire generation.

In her remarks, YTOP Adviser, Professor Bukola Oyebamiji, stated that the foundation is about selfless and passionate youths helping the community through initiatives targeting youth, women, and general empowerment.

Affirming that YTOP has achieved great things from humble beginnings, Professor Bukola encouraged youths to develop a vision they are passionate about and to come together not for vices, but to make meaningful impact.

The headmistress of the school, Mrs. Egunjobi Oyenike, commended the foundation’s kind gesture toward the special needs children, describing the visit as “an unexpected miracle.”

She prayed for continued progress for the foundation and its founder, while noting that the school still requires interventions such as bed frames and other items to make the environment more conducive to learning.

The highlight of the event was the presentation of 30 beds, over 100 bedsheets, bags of rice, garri, and other essential items.

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