By Gloria Emmanuel The Rock of Ages Empowerment Foundation is currently working on a project aimed at providing housing units for widows in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
This is even as 200 widows who had completed training in the various skills acquisition projects of the foundation received N20, 000 each to start small scale businesses, while over two thousand widows received free medical treatment, a bag of rice each and other materials to celebrate Christmas.
The Founder of the foundation, Evangelist Ignatius Newman Ezeigbo disclosed this during the organisation’s empowerment and Christmas celebration programme for widows in the Federal Capital Territory and its environs weekend in Abuja.
He said the housing units will accommodate some of the widows who either do not have a place of their own or live under dehumanising conditions.
Newman said the foundation is also working on a programme aimed at expanding its policy of sponsoring widows’ children at primary and secondary school levels.
While calling on the federal government to enact a law that will help protect the rights of widows in the country, he said over 6,000 widows have benefited from the various skills acquisition programmes of the foundation valued at 23 million naira to date , besides free medical treatments, food items and other projects initiated by the foundation.
According to him, “The afore mentioned foundation came into being as a result of my passion and overwhelming desire to give succour to widows in different parts of the country.
“I am always highly elated and my heart feels the kind of joy that knows no bounds whenever I am able to create leeway for these widows who are going through various misfortunes, struggling to eke out a living to wriggle out of terrible, pathetic and dehumanising situations and circumstances of life. The foundation is an avenue for giving hope to the hopeless.
“My greatest joy is to always see these women happy, and whenever they are happy, I am fulfilled. For me, it is a rare privilege and delight to put smile on the faces of these precious women whenever I am in a position to do so especially, in this present economic situation of the country”.
A beneficiary of the Foundation’s previous empowerment programmes, Judith Dzungwe said she invested her empowerment money and materials in poultry farming and has been using the proceeds from the business in training her children in the university.
Earlier, the Abuja Coordinator of the foundation, Blessing Orji said previously they just give the widows money to go and start businesses but since this year they always train them in one skill or the other before giving them start off capital.
She said during the International Widows Day on June 23rd this year about 200 widows from Abuja were trained on tailoring while 400 were trained on catering adding that those who learnt tailoring were empowered with sewing machines , half of the caterers received empowerment materials while the remaining half received theirs at the weekend.
She called on Nigerians to assist widows around them saying one does not really need much to help them as little as N10,000 can make a difference in the business and life of a widow.
