Ugo Chime started Sprouters, an initiative that empowers young Nigerian girls who aspire to become writers through online mentorship under experienced Nigerian female authors.
When did the idea for SPROUTERS start? I was writing this book back in 2009 when I was pregnant, finished it in 2010. And I thought to myself, ah the hard part is over. Now, time to edit. I edited, to the best of my abilities. Then, found an editor to help me smooth off the rough edges, assuming that it was just a minor work here and there. I was utterly shocked well, stupefied comes closer to describing my feelings, but let’s stick to shocked when the draft was returned with several red marks. And that was just the beginning of the countless red marks that followed that manuscript many more are ahead, I tell you. You could say this was my first experience really writing. Not just writing for my own pleasures, but writing for people to read. People will not be afraid to say, “this is rubbish.” That’s where I learnt that writing goes beyond talent. There’s a skill to be acquired. And I remember thinking, “if i had only realized this earlier. When I wasn’t holding down a demanding job, having a two year old screaming every second, having a husband that demands my attention. How much more i could have accomplished.” And knowing how many writers had helped me along the way till I got to the point I am now, I thought I could return the favour by coaching others who, by reason of their age or other restrictions, may not have the opportunity to learn how to write better.
Why just girls? The idea of SPROUTERS is to help other who otherwise wouldn’t be able to get this help for themselves. And in Nigeria, you have to admit that a teenage girl will have lots of household chores keeping her from attending literary events by herself. So, her opportunities will be limited to someone being free to chaperone her, or her parents being liberal enough to let her pursue her passion. I remember being a teenager, and meeting this boy who also writes and I thought, “hey, here is someone that can help me” but my parents, understandably, said no. If a teenage boy is friends with a girl, his parents would be concerned. On the other hand, if it’s a teenage girl, the parents would be alarmed. Because SPROUTERS is an online program, where parents are free to monitor what their girls are up to, those restrictions our mentees would have otherwise encountered are removed. But, we are not ruling our mentoring boys. We hope to introduce that in the future.
How does it work? Through one-on-one bimonthly online mentoring, young Nigerian girls resident in Nigeria, who have a passion for creative writing, are trained on the techniques and insights for great writing in all genres by published Nigerian women writers. Mentors and protégés individually meet online twice a month (the specific dates are to be agreed upon between the mentors and protégés). The mentorship program is designed for the mentors to give the protégés assignments on each meeting, alternating between writing and reading exercises.
How do you balance family life, SPROUTERS and your day job? How does anyone balance multiple functions? You do what you can, and ask for help when you can’t. I work 8am to 5pm week days. Living in Lagos, that translates to leaving the house at 5.30am, and returning home at 8pm. I try to squeeze as much writing, or writing-related matters during my hours at work. Of course, I’m being paid to be productive, so office work comes first. I make food when i get home (when I’m too tired, my husband steps in and feeds himself and our son), and try to sleep as early as possible. Weekends, I cram every aspect of my life into those forty-eight hours: Cooking, mothering, wife-ing, writing, and occasionally attending to official emergencies. I practically cry every Sunday evening, because I don’t know where the hours went.
Why do you think that mentoring is the way to go? What is the significance of mentoring in creativity in writing? Honestly, I believe mentoring has always been happening between writers. I remember how Eghosa Imasuen really took time out to reply my email, call me on the phone, chat with me, just to coach me on what writing is about. It may not have had the name ‘mentoring’ tagged to it, but it was certainly what he was doing. Helon Habila also read a chapter of my manuscript, and gave his opinions. That is mentoring. Chika Unigwe gave me the contact of her agent. That is mentoring. Ahmed Maiwada read the entire manuscript, and gave me very constructive suggestions on what to fix. I mean, if these don’t describe mentoring, I don’t know what do. The only thing I’m doing differently with SPROUTERS is that we are focusing on teenage girls. We are not waiting for them to come to us and say, “Please, I desperately need your help.” It’s the other way round. Mentoring works, I think, beyond the other methods of impacting literary knowledge in that it’s personal. The mentor is specific to where the mentee lacks. It’s like a specialist going directly to where the problem is and fixing it. Of course, it is time consuming and hence does not often happen on a large scale. But, it is extremely beneficial.
What writing project are you working on now? Presently, I am still editing the manuscript I mentioned. It’s a tedious, long process, but with each editor, the book gets better. So, yes I am willing to let it mature like fine wine. I have another book project on, but to tell you the truth, I haven’t written past the first chapter. I’m finding it harder to write a second book than a first. All the mistakes I made with the first (corrected so far) are haunting me. I’m not writing as freely and blissfully ignorant as I did the first, but I believe you need to get the story out of your system. I’m working for landmines everywhere, and it’s affecting my flow. But, I’ll overcome, as usual.
How has it been, working with women and girls? Same as working with men and boys. Everyone deserves their respect, and people get angry if you don’t treat them fairly.
Asides helping their writing, do you think that this mentorship relationship can be beneficial for the young girls? If yes, how? SPROUTERS is also aimed at directing the girls towards great literary works of fiction and encourage them to understudy these writings, raising awareness of domestic and global issues affecting women and girls, and encourage the protégés to write about these issues that are holding them down or had held down any woman they know, introducing them to a wide range of writing genres, assisting them on their path to publication by editing their works (where a any of the mentees wish to enter for competitions, her mentor will help her edit the work before submission), featuring exceptional writings in online literary sites, and producing a circle of writers who will help each other along the way to building a writing career. While writing is a solitary mission, no good writer ever creates a work of repute alone.
What are the challenges? Surprisingly, one of the major challenge has been getting the girls signed on. While we have received a good number of applications, it definitely wasn’t up to the number we were projecting. I believe this is where publicity comes in. The more people hear about us, the more applications will follow.
What's the best writing advice you ever received? “A writer writes”
What role do you think that internet plays in the development of writers, especially younger writers? Immense roles. Of the nine mentors SPROUTERS has presently, i have only met three of them. Of those three, two I met once. All my communication with them has been online. Same goes for the people I said mentored me in their own ways. Also, Eghosa, I have only seen twice, both times very short meetings. Imagine there weren’t such a thing as the internet? I would still be writing my ‘elementary school’ stories: rubbish upon rubbish.
What keeps you going? Once I was asking myself if this project was really going to make any difference. Shouldn’t i just forget about it? I have my hands full as it is, why add more? But, I reminded myself that the only people who have successes are those who keep pushing till the door opens. If I continue pressing on, there is a chance I will succeed. If I give up, however, that chance is gone.
What is your advice to young girls interested in writing? WRITE
Where do you see SPROUTERS in five years? In every country.
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