Day widows smiled
By OLA AGBAJE
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
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•Mrs
Uche Obi (left) with resource persons at the occasion
Photo by Sun News Publishing |
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It was a rare moment of joy for widows in Orumba North Local
Government, Anambra State recently when a Lagos-based Chief
Executive Officer decided to put smile on their faces.
Through her pet project, Widow Hope Centre (WHC), the Managing
Director of Courier Masters Limited (CML), Mrs Uche Obi met
the widows in the area in Ajali town where she gave them support
by donating gifts ranging from clothing materials to pharmaceutical
products.
During the event, pharmaceutical products worth hundreds of
thousands of naira, clothing materials, sewing machines, grinding
machines, among others, were freely distributed to the appreciative
single women.
In addition, special lectures and training by experts in various
fields were also given to the widows in order to prepare them
to cope effectively with the challenges of widowhood.
The training and lectures were designed to help the women
to be self-reliant and less susceptible to the pressures which
their unpleasant situation has foisted on them.
According to Obi, WHC was set up to empower widows through
special training "to help create awareness among the
widows thereby helping them to discover themselves. Each widow
will develop self-actualisation and sense of independence.
"Many widows in our society have been facing hardship
not only because of the loss of their husbands but also because
of rejection by their husband’s family. Most of them
are abandoned with the task of taking care of the children.
"This widowhood has reduced most of them to a state of
hopelessness and squalor."
Highlighting the goals of the foundation, Obi said, everything
humanly possible would be done to make the affected women
self-employed through the provision of micro-credit scheme,
sewing machines, clothing, household utensils, drugs, food
items, wheel chairs, crutches among others.
"We are averse to the prevalence of poverty, destitution
and lack in their midst. We hope our activities will complement
the effort of government in the area of poverty eradication
as the core agenda of the reform programme.
"In the past, we have reached out to not less than 250
widows in our community. Our sole commitment is poverty reduction
among our widows," she said.
Apart from economic empowerment, Obi said the widows will
be taught how to be conscious of maintaining good health while
awareness will be created among them on the prevalence and
danger of such deadly diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria,
tuberculosis and veneral infections.
Said she, "prevention is better than cure, we are going
to address preventive measures as well as make provision within
our resources for treatment. We hope in the near future, to
bring in a mobile hospital to do check-up to administer drugs
to our teeming widows."
Speaking at the occasion, Dr Monago Ifeoma who was among the
resource persons, noted that widows are most vulnerable to
HIV/AIDS infection because of their economic situation.
In her contribution, Mrs Ngozi Orubele who spoke on the topic
"empowerment of widows," advised the widows against
indulging in self-pity but rather stand and face the challenges
of widowhood squarely.
According to Orubele, acquisition of education is key to empowerment
of widows.
"Education is very important because it is the hallmark
of life. It is the opposite of ignorance, illiteracy and unletteredness,
education is the key to development, responsibility, creative
engagement, serious commitment, personal growth and self-actualisation.
"A widow who is educated finds it easier to overcome
her situation and extricate herself from the blind illiterate
situation, culture and customs imposed on them. She is equally
less exploited by members of the family."
She urged participants to accept the reality of widowhood
as part of challenges of life while calling on the parents
to prepare their daughter early in life against uncertainty
of the future.
On her part, Mrs Comfort Onyekwena examined the pathetic condition
of widows in Igboland.
According to her, through hostile culture and tradition, widows
in the South-East geo-political zone are often subjected to
a chain of torments, punishments, debasement and subjugation.
She expressed hope for a better future for widows as organisations
such as National Council of Woman Society (NCWS), Nigerian
Association of Women Lawyers, among others are now assisting
widows to get justice especially, over inheritance dispute.
Among the corporate organisations that supported WHC in the
provision of drugs for the widows include: Jawa Pharmaceuticals
Limited and Neimeth Plc.
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