From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
Nigerians has been urged to pay more attention to the act of giving as this will help in address the challenges of poverty and create opportunities for marginalised and vulnerable groups in society.
The Vice President of Sir Emeka Offor Foundation, SEOF, Mrs Adaora Offor, gave the advice yesterday during a paid visit at the National Hospital in Abuja, where the Foundation catered for patients by paying hospital bills for about fifteen (15) indigent and vulnerable patients.
Offor said the donations, which was coming at the Christmas Season, were to carry a message of love and care for the people in the spirit of the Yuletide.
“We are here to share love and remember. At Christmas people spend money and time buy clothes and shoes, this period is a time to save money to help because there are people who don’t have this opportunity. Some of these people are stuck here because they can not afford medical care. It is a very humbling experience. It makes you think and wonder what you spend your money on. I am grateful to my husband when he made this suggestions.
“Today’s event is made possible by the vision and thoughts of my husband who has always maintained that all men and women created by God need a touch of hope and love irrespective of their present circumstances.
“So for coming here today to save lives, I am really so grateful. For us this has been truly important. There are a lot of people whose situation can be better if only we can give them the optimum care. Our core values in the Foundation is to change lives. These donations are just modest and may not represent all the needs,” she said.
She said it challenges the collective sense of humanity to show empathy to all people of God whose circumstances may appear helpless.
According to her the aim of the Foundation is to address the challenges of poverty and create improving opportunities for marginalised and vulnerable groups in society.
“There is always hope in God and we encourage all inmates to see their present circumstance as a call for attitudinal change to become better citizens to our nation and humanity.
“We invite all other NGOs and well-meaning Nigerians to also remember these ones when love is shared this season,” she added.
Showing appreciation, Matron Helen Adah, In Charge of the Inpatient Paediatric at the National Hospital in Abuja, thanked SEOF for the initiative saying, “I appreciate this Foundation that has come to put smiles on the faces of these patients, it is not an easy an easy task but I ask the good Lord to replenish where this has come from as you have made this children and their parents smiled.”
Adah called on parents to be cautious and care givers to be educated on how to attend to children or their wards while advicing mothers to keep their surroundings clean so as to prevent situations that would warrant for excessive bills at hospitals which could be avoided by keeping simple clean habits.
“Parents should ensure and encourage their children to practice simple clean habits such as washing their hands before and after eating, using toilet, playing ecetera. Parents and care givers should teach their children simple hygiene, how to wash plates and keep them from houseflies and keep their clothes clean.
“Also there are other cases such as Hernia and cancers, we therefore advice parents to feed their children with the right diets, and if they see any cases of swelling in their children, the should report such at the hospital on time/ immediately because most times they come when the cases are really bad and out of hand and it is only God that can save at such times or situations,” she added.
Also some of the patients who received the kind gesture thanked the Foundation for coming to their aid.