"Baking Her Dreams" into Reality: AYP Hub Helps Manyar Unlock Her Potential

At just 24 years old, Manyar Dogo is already shaping a future defined by resilience, passion, and purpose. A beneficiary of the Adolescent and Young People (AYP) Hub cohort 1 in 2024, her journey into catering, her long-held passion, began with a single act of encouragement. A church executive who recognized her talent and interest in baking shared an AYP program flier with her, urging her to apply.

Taking that step changed her life.

When the acceptance message came, Manyar described it as “one of the best news I received at that time.” It marked the beginning of a six-month life-changing journey, one that strengthened not only her technical skills but her confidence, discipline, and vision for her future. At the AYP Centre, Manyar embraced every learning opportunity. The financial literacy classes taught her how to budget, save, and manage resources, knowledge she says is shaping how she now runs her small but growing catering practice. The core catering training was equally impactful; she learned to bake different types of cakes and create pastries with professional finesse.

But her journey was not without challenges. There were moments she felt overwhelmed. Yet, each time, she reminded herself of whom she aspired to become.

“I remembered what I envisioned myself to be…and that pushed me to keep going on the AYP program.”

Manyar credits much of her progress to the patience, dedication, and hands-on support of her tutor at the CIHP AYP hub, whose mentorship she describes as “a major blessing” on her journey. Today, she continues to bake for clients and is gradually working toward setting up her own enterprise. To other adolescents and young people, her message is clear and inspiring:

“Identify your passion and go for it. Once you have the opportunity, grab it and go for it.”

Manyar’s journey embodies the heart of CIHP’s AYP mission to nurture potential, unlock talent, and empower young people with the skills and mindset to transform their lives and uplift their communities. Her perseverance paid off.

Upon completing the program, Manyar did not stop at what she had learned; she pushed further. She applied for a competitive scholarship with a catering school. Out of the many applicants, she emerged as a top-five winner, earning a spot in an Advanced Masterclass in Baking valued at over ₦1.5 million. This opportunity is accelerating her growth and sharpening the foundation she built at the AYP Centre, towards building a sustainable catering business.

The Centre for Integrated Health Programs (CIHP) is a multi-funded indigenous not-for-profit, non-governmental organization established in 2010 to promote better health outcomes for all Nigerians through sustainable partnerships and locally adapted, rigorously tested approaches by applying our collective learnings and experiences. .

CIHP - Centre for Integrated Health Programs: is a leading indigenous not-for-profit non-governmental organization, promoting better health outcomes for all Nigerians through the creation of sustainable systems and partnerships by applying our collective learnings and experiences.

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