The Healing Heart Foundation, an NGO in partnership with Advocacy For Widow’s Empowerment (ADWEF) and Cee-Hope, says no fewer than 500 widows have benefited from its grants and distribution of food items.
Mrs Sophy Mbanisi, Founder, Healing Heart Foundation, disclosed this on Friday during a programme tagged: “A Day with the Widows”, organised to commemorate the “International Widows Day” in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the International Widows Day, marked every June 23, is dedicated to women who suffer exploitation, deprivation, persecution as a result of their husbands’ demise.
Mbanisi said that the NGO on yearly basis, through its programmes, matches its commitments with actions, as the NGO moved the celebration to this day to enable it accommodate its month-end meeting.
According to her, the NGO works with widows, the indigent women and schools where there are poor families who may not have the capacity to cater for the educational needs of their children.
She said this was by addressing critical issues being faced by the widows by catering for the needs and encouraging them to live and fulfill their destiny in life after the demise of their husbands.
She added that skills acquisition and empowerment programme were often organised for the widows where they learn different skills and minimal capital were given to them to start off petty businesses that were not too capital- intensive.
“If your husband died, that is not the end of the world for you.
“You can still have a purpose to fulfill in life; all you need do is to be focused and rely on God.
“For today’s programme, we are marking the International Windows Day, which formerly takes place on June 23. But to enable us celebrate it alongside with our monthly meeting, we moved it to today.
“We will be distributing food items comprising packs Spaghetti, Macaroni, Semolina among others to not less than 300 windows today” Mbanisi said.
Mbanisi, however, called on well-meaning Nigerians, philanthropists, organisations and churches to extend their helping hands to the widows and needy in the society.
According to her, just as one can adopt a child, you can also adopt a widow, catering for her and providing for her daily needs.
Mrs Bolanle Olarewaju, Managing Partner, ADWEF, urged the Lagos State Government to intensify efforts to follow-up with the widows after having empowered them to ensure judicious utilisation of the funds/grants.
Olarewaju said that many widows had diverted the empowerment funds and grants they received to other things due to lack of follow-up and monitoring.
She commended the state government for all it had been doing for the widows and urged the government to do more to put joy on the faces of the widows across the state.
“Many widows have four to six children. Most of these children are the destitute and miscreants on the street due to lack of money to provide for their basic needs and education requirements.
“Let the government do more by providing sponsorship and scholarship to these children to enable them fulfill their potential in life,” Olarewaju added. (NAN)
