Friday, 29th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
Arts  

Grace Busari: Philanthropist, budding activist

Grace Busari is a smart, talented, confident nine-year-old, who loves to swim, dance, play chess and do cheerleading. Interestingly, she believes that the need...

Grace Busari is a smart, talented, confident nine-year-old, who loves to swim, dance, play chess and do cheerleading. Interestingly, she believes that the need to make impact on people and your environment begins with the individual.

Grace Busari launched Grace Teddies, a social enterprise creating range of African print teddy bears in aid of homeless and street children in Nigeria.

She was inspired to start Grace Teddies after she came to Lagos with her parents. As early as when she was five years old, Grace realised she was always upset, whenever she saw children begging on the streets. She would always asked her parents or other adults around how she could help such children.

So, on her ninth birthday, she decided to start a foundation, as well as launch the @graceteddies range. Grace Foundation’s vision is to send less privileged children to school from the proceeds she gets from selling Ankara/Adire Teddies. The reason for choosing Ankara and Adire fabrics was to celebrate her African culture.

Some of the recipients of her proceeds are children of the Dream Nurture Foundation.

Her mother, Steph Busari, helps Grace to run and manage her business. This has greatly helped her, as she is able to create balance between her education and business.

But aside having a futuristic vision for her Foundation, Grace also believes her business has global potential because of the uniqueness of the Teddies that are made with Ankara and Adire.

Her advice to other kids is that it is never too young to start. She believes the first step is having a realisable dream that one is passionate about. She would want other children to believe in themselves and ask help from their parents and others, whenever the need arises.

Grace’s dream is not limited to these two areas, however. She is also aspiring to be a singer and an activist to fight for human rights in the future.

• Credit @kidpreneurafricaofficial, kidpreneur Africa@kidpreneurs

0 Comments