When you are passionate about a cause, your thoughts and energy effortlessly blossom when you set goals for it. One of my passions is supporting STEM (and CS) education and its appreciation, particularly aimed at closing the obvious gender and minority gaps. In 2018 I had the opportunity to enlist the support of friends in the United States, UK, Canada and Nigeria to run a successful Book Drive, which I am very proud of.
A year ago today (World Book Day), I set this in motion! It was a day of mixed emotions, workday went great but I received news from my realtor that a home we had confidence in closing, was going to a different buyer. I was downcast, yet I tried my best to remain positive. With a tug on my heart by my daughter’s request to go to the YMCA, I drove there. As I sometimes did when at the YMCA, I dropped her in the Childcare playroom then settled in to have 'me-time'. This day I chose to do a quick social media connect with friends and family, then perhaps work some more and read. While on Facebook, I saw a post that indicated the day - April 23rd, 2018, was World Book Day!
Cool! I thought.
It came to mind - the idea to organize a Science Book Drive for Girls (and boys). Not unfounded because I have the hope of authoring such books and I had been following the statistics around participation of girls in Sciences, seen the Hidden Figures movie, read some comments from elderly women who had majored in the sciences back in the day e.t.c. I had reflected on our experiences and realities and felt the need to take action. Taking action was one of my motto for the year anyway.
Drawing from recent events at the time, I drafted a quick message to introduce my purpose and plan for the Book Drive, which I later expanded into a speech at my Toastmasters Club (Speak-Up) a few days later. I set up my first Facebook Fundraiser page to support it. I was enveloped by positive vibes as I learned more about the fundraising platform, with eagerness as I researched books with female representation (writers, lead characters), with delight as typed out my story, and with a sense urgency as I got closer and closer to the end of the draft. As soon as I was about to hit ‘post’ to publish it, a wave of negative emotions came rushing in; fear of not raising any money, doubt of my ability to create the time to see this through given my already tight schedule, and so on. I redirected my energy and thought of the good that could come out of this, if successful. I also reminded myself of one of my favorite quotes -‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained’. My entire life's story can be summed into those words. I am a risk-taker, albeit mostly a researching, calculated one. Occasionally, I, like the Nike slogan, ‘Just Do It’ - especially in areas of my passion. Also, knowing how busy I am, I decided not to rush this, I will take this slow, following through with my plans steadily.
Post!
Off it went into 'Zuckerville'. I invited my friends who I thought would be interested. Then magically, the funds started to trickle in. Ayooluwa E. Ibiloye was the first generous donor. As expected, some of my friends were somewhat careful about transactions over Facebook and the tax implications, so they reached out directly. I was so grateful for the response. This experiment was turning out to be more than anticipated.
| Donation ($) | |
| Speak Up Toastmasters | 60 |
| Mike C. | 50 |
| Silverline A. | 20 |
| Taofik S. | 30 |
| Stephanie S. | 20 |
| Stripe FB Donations (@5/31) | 353.58 |
| Stripe FB Donations (@6/11) | 19.18 |
| Total | 552.76 |
| Amount ($) | |
| Book Order7/14/18 | 643.55 |
| Post to Houston (9/29/18) | 29.70 |
| Post to Houston (11-10-18) | 52.00 |
| Total | 725.25 |
| My Contribution | 172.49 |
Special thanks to my Big Brother-Friend Idris A. Bello (and his associates), who helped ensure the books arrived in Lagos from Houston.
List of Books
- Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty
- Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty
- Swimming With Sharks: The Daring Discoveries of Eugenie Clark by Heather Lang
- The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer L. Holm
- Finding Wonders: Three Girls Who Changed Science by Jeannine Atkins
- Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky
- Radioactive! How Irène Curie and Lise Meitner Revolutionized Science and Changed the World by Winifred Conkling
- Wonder Women: 25 Innovators, Inventors, and Trailblazers Who Changed History by Sam Maggs
- 3:59 by Gretchen McNeil
- Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
- In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom by Qanta A. Ahmed
- Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
There were 60books in all, 12books in a set of 5. One of the sets was donated in my local community in the North Carolina, US while four sets were sent to Nigeria (rationale for this was access- no libraries/bookshops I know of in Nigeria had these on their shelves).
Beneficiaries
North Carolina, US (1 set of 12)
Western Alamance Middle School
Hillside NT High School
Lagos, Nigeria (4 Sets of 12)
United For Kids Foundation
Slum2School Center
HealthySTEM
Subtle School
I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to do this and the support I received. I have other ideas for the next Drive, possibly Science DIY kits in the short term. My long term goal -perhaps could be shorter with needed collaboration and sponsorship, is to build Science Centers across the country and Africa to encourage interest in, appreciation of and application of STEM-CS. Stay tuned friends...
Never let doubts deny you the opportunity to make an impact. Seize opportunities, dare and take actions! Blessings!
Gratitude.
(c) Bilqees 2019