Mary Ekah
29 June 2009
Lagos — As poverty continue to ravage the society, various organisations and foundations have continued to create projects to serve the less privileged--orphans and motherless children. Mary Ekah writes about a foundation that has touched the lives of this section of the society
Ijeh Jonah lost his mother when he was just three years old and was left to be nurtured by an aged father who is a farmer. But this did not augur well with Jonah who more or less lived the life of a double orphan as the father was never able to provide money at all for Jonah's up keep. Consequently, the peasant farmer could not assist his poor son go through primary school much less higher school.
Life for Jonah was really hectic but for the fact that he was so passionate about education, the poor chap managed to scale through primary and secondary school through self help. And with a little help from relatives, he was able to sit for Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination and came out in flying colours.
There was the challenge of money to pay his way through school. Through one or two appeals from here and there, Jonah managed to pull through the university till the second year when things got out of hand as he had exhausted all avenues for funds for his education. It was just when he took the decision to stay back from school that luck smiled on him. This life line eventually came from the Dave Enechukwu Foundation. Right from there, life took a new turn as the foundation was able to provide for all his academic needs in the university till he graduated last year.
Today, Jonah from Isoko in Delta State is 37 years old and owes the foundation a lot of gratitude. Jonah, a 2008 History and Statistics Studies graduate from the University of Lagos, said the Dave Enechukwu Foundation has assisted him tremendously in the sense that since 2006 it has provided immense financial support to him all through his studies in the university by paying for his fees and other fundamental needs. The foundation, over the year has also assisted Jonah in providing heath care for him whenever he was sick.
"I got in contact with the foundation in July 2006, when I was in year two. Right from then, the foundation took up responsibility of my education through offer of scholarship. The foundation provided everything I needed until I graduated last year," an excited Jonah told THISDAY recently at a reception organised by the organisation for the less privileged children in Surulere, Lagos.
The moral and financial strength given by the foundation to the young chap, did not just sustain him till his graduation from school, but was also a boost to his ego and confidence in his school work.
Touched by the gesture of the Dave Enechukwu Foundation, Jonah could not but advise Nigerians to follow the foot step of the foundation by having the hearts to help the helpless and hopeless in the society.
"It is not just about money, what the foundation gave to me was not a million dollar, but it was a fundamental assistance that I needed at that particular time to raise me from my low level to the level that I am today. So Nigerians should help the needy because God value such help a lot," said Jonah who is at the moment doing his NYSC in Kogi State.
Nsikak Mathew who had lost her father some years ago and was left with a petty trader mother who could hardly make ends meet is another beneficiary of the foundation. "When I lost my dad, things were hard for us and my mother did not have the money to pay our school fees in the private school. I felt so bad when I was transferred to public school. I didn't really like the public school compared to the private school that I have been all my life," she told THISDAY. But now things are not as bad as they were before the foundation took' up the responsibility of Nsikak's education.
"Dave Enechukwu Foundation is helping so much in that it provides funds for my fees and text books at school," noted Nsikak who is presently in SS1, while her siblings are in the primary school.
Set up in 2002 to immortalise the former THISDAY Newspaper Deputy Editor, Mr. Dave Enechukwu, who died on May 27, 2001, Dave Enechukwu Foundation cares for less privileged in the society generally. The foundation has so far the catered for over hundred children within and outside the Surulere environs in Lagos.
Speaking during the children's party organised recently for orphans and the less privileged children in Surulere Lagos, the Executive Director of the Foundation, Mrs. Meg Aipoh said the foundation was created to serve humanity in general with special attention on the helpless members of the society, particularly orphans and motherless children. Effort is also channeled at gifted persons who may not have the wherewithal to realising their dreams through grants of scholarship awards to persons in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions.
The Foundation further seeks to inculcate to members of the public an attitude of drive for excellence by their Excellence Award to deserving persons. Furthermore, it is greatly committed to human and societal development by organising seminars/symposia where seasoned entrepreneurs and top management experts are in attendance to empower the younger and future generations.
The foundation, the boss said, has achieved a lot in the last seven years of its existence. This was evidence in the number of children who were present at the children's day party organised to mark this year's Children Day.
Aipoh said that it has not been easy catering for all the children as the Foundation has been a self-founding in the past years. "It is difficult to get support in this society of ours because a lot of people you approach turn you down as they believe that they cannot get any financial reward from you.
"Some time it is so frustrating that you just sit down and wonder whether what you are doing is really appreciated in the society. There was a day I almost cried wondering if I was doing something wrong, because by the time people toss you up and down making promises that would never be fulfilled and then avoid your calls, you get so worked up," she said.
Despite all the challenges and discouragements, Aipoh is stimulated further by the passion to help the less privileged in the society. "If you have the passion to do it, you can't really help but move on, no matter the challenges you face," she noted.
Aipoh's husband is a medical doctor and most times, when the beneficiaries are sick, the husband offers free medical treatment as part of his contribution to the foundation. Even though she faces a lot of challenges in achieving her aims, she said she does not have any regrets but would remain happy as long as she sees smiles on the faces of the less privileged.
Apart from the assistance offered by her husband, Dr. Emanuel Aipoh and her brother Pat Enechukwu, the foundation's executive director said, have been very supportive. She however noted that everything has not been about money as other people have supported in their own little ways. She said even the journalists have been very supportive too, noting that "even in death, they still show love to my late brother."
The foundation does not have a home for the children, but merely cater for the children through their care giver and schools. Apart from the Children's Day party, which aims at making the less privileged kids also feel like other children who have the opportunity of being taken out to choice eatery, the foundation also operate a kids' club where it gathers the children on a regular basis to give them a good treat as well as some psycho-social support.
Aipoh who described his late brother a very good writer who was popular among his peers, said it gives her great joy to have a foundation that touches peoples' lives in her late brother's name. Government, she said need to do a lot for orphans and vulnerable children. "These children are suffering because their care givers cannot really provide for them. So government has a lot to do through credible non-governmental organisations that are really working to see that these children are happy.
"Even though the Federal Ministry of Women's Affair through the Lagos State Women's Affair gave us a little support last year, we still need a lot of support from other government agencies and parastatals. We need funding to really cater for these children because they are really in great lack and if we are being funded, it would be easier for us to meet their need timely," she further emphasised.
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