Mary from Nigeria: Everyday A Girl

By Adedamola Odofin

This is the story of Mary Sunday for #EverydayAGirl, as shared by Adedamola Odofin via UN Online Volunteers.

Mary is a 17 year old girl and the first born and only female of her family. She has three younger male siblings.

Mary lives with her parents in a rural environment in Nigeria called Gwarinpa.

Everyday, Mary wakes up 5:30am to help her mother cook and by 6:15am she starts the long trek to a community school where she schools in.

When Mary gets back from school, she helps out around the house by cleaning or washing the clothes of her younger ones.

Sometimes when free from playing with his peers, her younger brother Obiefuna, assists her in some of the chores.

Mary is a bright and intelligent strong girl and her future desire is to become a successful model and make enough money to take care of her family and to also prove those who shun such profession (modeling) wrong and shameful in her community.

ABOUT EDAG

The story of Everyday a Girl, tagged #EDAG, is a glance into the lives of ordinary women through a series of poignant photo stories. These series of images will visually express the roles, challenges, activities and duties that females in diverse communities face in their daily lives.

SAFIGI Outreach Foundation Ltd, a volunteer-run NGO registered in Zambia, implemented EDAG in order to place a strong emphasis on positively redefining the role of females in our society. This campaign highlights that gender equality and equity, woman empowerment, and safety for the girls is key to the world’s socio-economic development.