Students who begin to call themselves Dreamers

In a secondary school in Lagos, Shelter Story Song Initiative piloted its first MJS Hangout and reached 34 students. Olamide Christianah Adeboye is building the organisation. She is a graduate student at Miva Open University. MJSI, My Juvenile Song Initiative, is the model it is developing, combining storytelling, mentorship, career guidance, play and community to support teenagers and young adults.

There is a handbook too. Alongside the pilot, the initiative partnered with a career guidance organisation to support 15 students in transition classes, and developed the Dreamers Club handbook that will guide its long-term work in schools.

“I started Shelter Story Song Initiative because I believe every child deserves a village, not just a classroom. I want to create spaces where young people can feel seen, find their voice, tell their stories, and begin to imagine lives bigger than the circumstances they were born into. We're still small and figuring things out as we go, but I've learned that you don't have to wait until you have everything figured out to begin building the kind of world you want to see.”

Olamide Christianah Adeboye

What she is most proud of, she says, is seeing students begin to call themselves "Dreamers", speak up more confidently, think about their futures differently, and realise that their stories matter.

She cares about this, she says, because she grew up understanding what it feels like to need spaces where you are seen and heard, where you are encouraged and reminded that your dreams are valid. "Too many young people are surviving when they should be flourishing."

"We're still very early," she says. The organisation has the framework, the curriculum, the handbook and the lessons from its pilot. The next step is launching a full Dreamers Club in a new school, connecting students with mentors, supporting their community projects, and hosting a Village Meeting where they can present their ideas to parents, to teachers and to their communities.