About Us
Gideon Youth Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Lagos, is committed to revitalizing Nigeria's public education system. Through comprehensive programs addressing drug prevention, sexual health, academic excellence, leadership development, and social empowerment, we empower disadvantaged youth to break the cycle of poverty and exclusion.
Our Mission
- We inspire young minds by teaching them about personal effectiveness and leadership.
- We create awareness and strategies to avoid the pitfalls of drug abuse and premature sexual activity.
- We create an atmosphere of dignity for students to learn by providing furniture and refurbishing classrooms.
- We are committed to ensuring that deserving students from amongst our target group get the utmost support in their academic pursuits.
- We pay mandatory exam fees and offer scholarships to the most motivated students.
How we work
We target schools in our immediate vicinity and draw up a program of events which include training on personal effectiveness and development, sex education, drugs and substance abuse awareness, testimonials from people who have succeeded in spite of their circumstances and leadership training.
We also provide practical aid by improving school infrastructure through refurbishment of class rooms and provision of furniture.
What We Do
Leadership Training
We provide young students with essential leadership training, giving them tools and skills to create their best life. Empowering young people, one child at a time.
Drug & Substance Awareness & Prevention
We don't just create awareness, we furnish the children with practical strategies to avoid the pitfalls of drug.
Sex & Sexuality Education
GYF Sex And Peers program includes discussions of abstinence to help young people avoid unintended pregnancy or disease.
Our impact in numbers
Students Reached
Our school-based drug and substance prevention programs have reached over 20,000 students, fostering awareness and empowering them to make informed choices.
Young Leaders Trained
Our leadership training programs have impacted over 2,000 young individuals, equipping them with the skills and knowledge to become responsible and effective leaders.
Scholarships Given
We've provided scholarships to over 20 academically gifted students, enabling them to pursue their dreams and contribute to a brighter future. We've also registered over 60 students for WAEC, NECO, and UTME exams.
Why we founded Gideon Youth Foundation
Gideon Youth Foundation was born out of deep compassion for the fate of the average public school student as most public schools fall short as places of learning and development.
Overpopulated classrooms, dilapidated or non-existent infrastructure are just a few of the challenges facing our public school system.
These challenges, coupled with the socio-economic difficulties of families who are forced to use the system, lead to low morale and poor outcomes for the students.
It is in view of the aforementioned challenges that we have decided to step in the gap one school at a time.
Background to our name, Gideon
Gideon was one of Israel’s leaders and his story is recorded in the book of Judges Chapters 6-8; he was potentially a great warrior who was said to be hiding away ‘threshing wheat in a winepress’.
This can be interpreted to mean he was living below potential and not fulfilling purpose because a winepress, as the name suggests, is a place for processing grapes for wine and not for threshing wheat!
He was in the wrong place using the wrong tools and probably not getting any substantial results.
He was said to be hiding away from the Midianites who were the oppressors of Israel at that time i.e. the state of the nation had placed him in a position of fear.
He was forced to use the wrong tools; the state of the nation was literally robbing him of his God given potential. This is what is observed with school age children roaming the streets, especially those who are supposed to be in secondary school.
When they are on the streets instead of in their classrooms, they are in the wrong place and potentially developing the wrong skills for a fulfilling life.
It is important to note that Gideon’s story changed as soon as he assumed his God-given role and this is what we must inspire our youth to do.