The Untold, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Abuja says it is to empower and mentor about 500 orphans and vulnerable children who live on the streets in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Ms Prominent Monday-Odin, Founder, Untold, disclosed this on Wednesday at the Good Shepherd Orphanage Project in kwali Area Council, FCT, when she and her team visited several Orphanage homes to celebrate Christmas with the orphans.
She told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview that the empowerment would take place fully in 2019.
Monday-Odin said that Untold would offer various training programmes to over 50 of the orphans in preparing them for useful lives after leaving the orphanage homes.
“Untold will be training over 50 orphans in various skills and this will come up in the first quarter of 2019.
“The children are going to undergo training in various fields suitable for their environment and would be equipped afterwards.
“This will enable them to start up vocations in goods and service delivery, so that they can become self-employed and employers of labour in their various communities.
“The orphans will be trained in catering, hairdressing, soap making, bead making, event planning and many more,’’ she said.
Monday-Odin said that the training would enable them have means of livelihood that would boost them economically and prepare them for easy reintegration into the society.
She said that the goal was to use goals 1 and 2 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are “No poverty and zero hunger,’’ to transform the lives of the orphans and vulnerable children before 2030.
The Founder listed other areas of assistance by the NGO to include telling the stories of these orphans and vulnerable children using photos and documentaries.
“We will be using photos and documentaries to tell the stories of these children, before, during and after the project.
“We will be reaching out to at least over than 500 vulnerable and orphaned children in the project.
“We will produce the stories of about 40 with international standard film documentaries, the empowerment of 50 and the successful mentorship of 10,’’ Monday-Odin said.
She said that the project was to mark the 70th anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights, adopted by the United Nations on Dec. 10, 1948.
Monday-Odin noted that the universal declaration was rooted in the principle that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”.
She said that as such, it remained relevant for everyone to help in lending a voice to the improvement of the lives of orphans and vulnerable street children.
Monday-Odin, therefore, called on other NGOs and philanthropists in the society to assist in the project, to help the orphans acquire vocational skills.
The Untold is a project that empowers, mentors and tells the story behind the stories of both orphans and vulnerable children through documentary films and photography. (NAN)
