PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

U.S. Mission Observes ‘Take Your Child to Work’ Day

Date: April 24, 2009
Venue: Abuja

Ambassador Sanders leafs through a book titled AMERICA, a gift given to the kids at the TYCWD event | Full size

For the children who participated in the U.S. Mission, Abuja "Take Your Child to Work” Day on April 24, it was a special opportunity to see where their parents go and what they do when they say goodbye in the morning.  "It was a lot of fun" said Seth Onyukwu, 9 who happily showed-off a “Travel Authorization” offering a free trip to Phoenix AZ, from the General Services Office (GSO), all part of the “goodies” of this one-day event.

Under the direction of Community Liaison Officer, Denise Graham, the day began with the swearing-in ceremony of the 25 children as official Employees-For-A-Day by Ambassador Robin Sanders.  After the swearing in, the children were introduced to the symbols of the Great Seal.  Ambassador Sanders identified and explained each of the symbols – the olive branch, the arrows, the pyramid and the constellation of thirteen stars which she said represents the original 13 states that formed the union.  Another fact that the children found interesting was that the face of the eagle on the Great Seal, located in the Oval Office of the White House, has been repositioned to the opposite direction on only one occasion in American history; during the hostilities of World War ll. A question and answer session following the Ambassador’s explanation proved that our children where quite observant.   The children learned many interesting facts from Ambassador Sanders’ presentation. Two of the children, Helena  Assefa , and Thomas Peck, won prizes for providing the most correct answers to the follow-up questions. 

Each child received a book bag, and a book entitled, AMERICA 24/7, a gift from Ambassador Sanders.  In addition each child was provided with a packet of materials to take home which allowed them to complete journals and presentations for their return to the classroom.

Putting the Kids to Work

To ensure the children receive a better understanding of what an average work day in the embassy entails, the CLO pre-assigned the children to different sections in the Mission.  In groups of five- eight children, they attended three, thirty minute sessions, visiting the Defense Attaché Office, the Health Unit, Political, Public Affairs Section (PAS), the General Services Office (GSO), and the Consular Section (CONS).  Moolom said his group had the best fun with a live Digital Video Conference (DVC) staged by PAS.  “We were able to conduct a live press interview on Public Diplomacy with Officer Mary-Lou Johnson Pizarro in Lagos!,” Thomas Peck said in excitement.  Zainab Hamza, countered this by saying that their visit to the Health Unit and the demonstration of an emergency evacuation exercise conducted inside the Health Unit ambulance was the best!

While the younger children appeared to be interested in nothing more than the fascination to see where their parents work, the ‘Take Your Child to Work’ program gave the older students the opportunity to visualize where their parents are when they are not with them and to understand what “going to work” actually means. 

Just before the break for lunch, the children attended a retirement ceremony for Chief Master Sergeant, Diane Hammer who has served in the U.S. Air Force for 32 years. 

The day’s activities ended with the children conducting interviews with their parents and creating journal entries for their classroom reports.

Take Your Child to Work Day is observed annually on the fourth Thursday in April.  Originally known as Take Your Daughter to Work Day, the idea started in response to the benefits of a college education.