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Maryam Augie is the founder and Director of AYAHAY Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at improving the lives of underprivileged people in Nigeria through the provision of quality healthcare and education, as well as skills acquisition. She has been selected as one of the 15 women for the Tiffany Amber and Diamond Woman’s “Meet Nigeria’s Women Of Vision” campaign.

A nominee for the Future Awards in advocacy and activism in 2013, Maryam Augie has an undergraduate degree in International Business from the National American University, Sharjah (UAE), and an MBA from Ehsal University in Brussels. According to her, the name and inspiration for AYAHAY was born due to the loss of her good friend who lost her life in a fatal accident.

Maryam Augie truly is a Nigerian woman of vision. A young lady with focus on how to improve the lives of poor and disadvantaged Nigerians in the rural areas, her foundation has provided scholarships for children, boreholes for communities, healthcare for mothers and babies, grinding machines for women, amongst others.

AYAHAY’s areas of focus include:

Affordable Healthcare: Improving maternal health and reducing the prevalence of childhood diseases is a core focus of the organization’s objectives. For centuries, Nigeria has been plagued with maternal and child mortality which are primarily caused by childbirth and ailments such as measles, malaria, neonatal sepsis, etc. AYAHAY aims to tackle this through creation of awareness and assistance to the primary health care system in communities.

Providing Support For Affordable Education: Next to poverty and poor health in the issues affecting underprivileged people, is lack of access to basic, affordable education. Ayahay tackles this by providing scholarships for primary and secondary school students, as well as renovating existing schools.

Good Hygiene: A step very necessary to the achievement of good health. AYAHAY creates awareness on how to purify water domestically, promotes safe sanitary practices and provides clean water for communities. Boreholes have been dug for hundreds of people in the northern part of the country To date. Clean water and proper hygiene is necessary to reduce the prevalence and spread of diseases.

Empowerment.

Being an empowered and successful woman herself, Maryam Augie recognises the importance of giving people the necessary tools that will enable them take charge of their own lives. Using a medium like sports to discover and encourage talents and skills, AYAHAY engages the underprivileged and help them find a better future.

At first, this reads like a charter from the United Nation’s Millenium Development Goals. For an individual to dedicate their life to improving the lives of others, is such a laudable and selfless act that says a lot about the personality of Maryam Augie. The communities she has assisted, the lives saved and the hopes renewed are all a testament to the fact that giving back to the community is one of the best ways to build a nation we will all be proud of.

About the author: Amina Salau is a writer and editor running The Illuminated Pen. You can find her online at www.theilluminatedpen.com and on Twitter (@_Aminah)