Alhaja Zeenat Kalejaye is a motivational speaker; an Arabic teacher, a mentor; and the chief Executive Officer of Zeekay Vocational Training Center, (ZEEVOTRAC), Ikorodu, Lagos and the founder of Al-Ghiyath Islamic Foundation, a non-governmental organisation that upgrades the lives of the less privileged. Kalejaye didn’t dabble into all these in a day, the love she has for humanitarian and philanthropic services spurred her into establishing what she is known for today. According to her the organization has annual programme where they organize different activities for the populace. “We organise free health programme for people every May 1st. I give a lot of kudos to the Association of Muslim Doctors in Lagos, we have been on this health programme together for seven years, they come with over 40 doctors, they consult, give out drugs, give out free eye glasses. Also, during Ramadan, there is a programme we tagged, “Fasting without stress”, where we dole out gift items to people, to make them see the beauty of Islam. Islam is not about terrorism or hatred. It is about creating unity and peace in the society.” Speaking further, she said, “Another activity we engage in is the Ileya funfair. Islam is all about fun. Our invited guests listened to lectures, sermon and they dance to any music, but moderation has to be the keyword. “We also carry out empowerment programme for the needy in the society. We train beneficiaries free of charge and at the end of the training; we give them the equipment needed to set up their business.” She submitted that Real Mind Builders, (RMB), is a subsidiary of Al-Ghiyath Foundation and it is a mentoring and counselling programme meant to build Muslim ladies to be a potential leader, a good ambassador of Islam and someone the family would be proud of. Speaking about what inspires her to have such programme; Kalejaye explained that, “People always bring their female children to me for mentoring. They live in my house, we all live together as a family. They go to school from my home and when they come back from school, they go to the Arabic school in the evening. I pass on morals and religious virtues to them. I train the daughters to the extent that they get married in my house. “One thing I had achieved from the mentoring programme is that when you are training people, you are indirectly training yourself. You learn a lot of things from them because they have different characters, different background, different homes, different parents and different ideologies,” she added. Commenting about the event that led her to establish the vocational training center, the graduate of Arabic studies said her love for creativity and the belief she has in entrepreneurship made her establish the training center. In her words, “I trained as a fashion designer at Singer Fashion School, Mushin. I thought there is dignity in labour and I should practice what I have learnt so far. I love creativity and putting something unique together. This made me start a vocational training school about five years ago because I love humanitarian work and I like to give back to the society. I believe if every one of us engages ourselves in one thing or the other, we would stop complaining about the government not doing anything.” Kalejaye further revealed that the ability she has for public speaking could be traced back to when she was in Arabic school. She said, “When I was in Arabic school, I selected some girls randomly in class to hear their views about topical issues and I would serve as a moderator. Although, I was the head girl then, nobody asked me to do all these. I didn’t know I was grooming myself for the future, .” Reacting to the notion that Islam does not allow female to address people in the public, Kalejaye strongly disagrees with such view, adding “moderation should be the keyword, after all there are instances where the wife of the Prophet taught people about Islam and the Prophet supported her. “I have been speaking publicly for almost twenty one years and it has been part of me, it is a divine call. There are some issues concerning women that men cannot talk about. Women would find it interesting to find their female counterparts talk to them about those issues because they would feel free to pour out their mind. When I first started, people condemned me to the extent that I decided not to deliver lectures again, but I later changed my mind because I get invitations to deliver lectures from time to time.” Kalejaye stated, “Because I am a female doesn’t mean I can’t deliver lectures, but I have to be very careful with the way I talk. Moderation is the key. Allah didn’t say we shouldn’t unwind, depression kills a lot. Speaking publicly is not a crime, but a plus to us. Many lives have been changed in the course of listening to my motivational talks. I was invited as a moderator during a Ramadan programme and a woman accepted Islam”, she added. However, she advised Muslims women who have interest in motivational speaking to follow her footsteps. “You have to cross your mind because it has a lot of challenges. You have to learn more so as to update yourself. You have to be self reliant before you go into it.” Apart from all the outlined activities Kalejaye is into, another thing she has passion for is teaching. She has a Madrasah, (Arabic school), where she teaches pure Arabic. She however revealed that she employed more hands to help her deliver the duties. How does she manage all the activities she is involved in? She responded, “I would say it is God. When it is God’s will, the strength will come. With God on my side, everything is possible because I can’t do it alone. I form a committee for all my programmes and I delegate their duties while I supervise to avoid any lapses, “she noted.