Job Osazuwa
To ameliorate the plight of the underprivileged, Eternal Sisters Association, United States North chapter, a body established under the Eternal Sacred Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim, has put smiles on the faces of children in two orphanage homes in Lagos and Ogun states.
The group presented a new 7.6 KVA generator to Compassionate Orphanage Home, Greenland Estate, Igando, Lagos. It also donated a new 2.5 KVA generator to Great Faith Orphanage Home, Ogijo, Ogun State. Apart from the generators, cash donations were also given to the homes.
Sighting the generator as it was being rolled into the premises, the coordinators of Compassionate Home beamed with pleasure. They said the gift came at the right time when the home was in dire need of a power generating set due to the incessant power outage in the area.
It was gathered that the children could hardly sleep at night, especially during the dry season. The children were often left with heat rashes all over their body.
While presenting the gift on behalf of the body, one of its leaders in Nigeria, Mrs. Josephine Nkiruka-Ebo, said the joy of the group was realising that the generator would make life better for the children.
She said the group’s seven areas of focus were: care for orphanage children, maternal child health, women and children’s wellbeing, widows’ empowerment, provision of homes for the homeless, higher education scholarship scheme, and peace and conflict resolution.
She said association was founded in 1991 to promote the cause of humanity, especially for the downtrodden.
“Our only expected reward is to put smiles on faces. Whatever we do is to ensure that a life is positively affected. We are not doing it to seek elective positions or to get contract or any favour from anybody. No matter how small, touching a life is our priority,” she said.
While praying for children at the centre, Nkiruka-Ebo pledged to continue to support the home.
She added that, “We are humbled to be part of this project. Not that we are very rich but we are out to make a change. We also know that the government cannot solve all the problems in Nigeria.”
The director of Compassionate Home, Rev. Gabriel Oyediji, thanked his guests for the gesture, even as he said he almost missed the gift.
While apologising to his visitors for his initial scepticism when they made the first move at the donation, he explained that more than 80 per cent of telephone calls to the home were either from fraudsters or people making dubious demands.
“While we are struggling for how to solve the children’s schooling, health, feeding and clothing challenges, people keep calling us to make all kinds of demands. Now we have to screen people very well before accepting whatever proposal being brought to us.
“It is sad that we do many things in the church, but omit charity. Jesus Christ placed charity as top priority. The widows, orphans and the poor are neglected by those who are in the position to help. People leave the church on Sunday only to go and seek help from unbelievers.
“We thank God because, from this home, we have six of our children in the university who are about to graduate. There are about 30 others who are in secondary school. When it became extremely difficult for us to pay their school fees, we sourced funds to build a school for them. We did that because, anytime I saw these children being beaten and sent home from school due to owing school fees, I shed tears,” Oyediji said.
At Great Faith Orphanage Home, the matron, Mrs. Lateef Lydia Aroyewun, thanked her benefactors for locating the centre despite being established in a remote area. When Aroyewun called out the orphans to appreciate the visitors for the present, some of the guests, including Nkiruka, could not but shed tears, as they watched some toddlers among them giggling away innocently.