Looking for a young woman that is passionate about girls’ education? Meet Martha Samuel. As an adolescent girl, Martha participated in Teenage Network’s Leadership Development program in 2018. Through the learning and skills acquired during the training, she conducted a mini-project, mobilizing learning resources for more than 100 children in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps Gwarimpa, Abuja.

The COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on education, especially in a low- and middle-income country like Nigeria. When schools officially reopened, students were required to maintain the safety protocol. To help with these, Martha provided facemasks and hand sanitizers to 60 girls to facilitate their resumption.

In 2024, out of the several applications, Martha was selected for the Malala Fund Global Girls’ Fellowship program. She was awarded a minigrant with which she renovated Government Secondary School Kagini library and supported 30 secondary school girls who had challenges with reading. As a result of her intervention, the girls moved from lack of phonemic awareness reading stage to fluency.