Educate and Train 100 Disadvantaged Children

A wise man once said, "If you are in the little things, you will be faithful with much...  And if you are not faithful with the small things, who will trust you with more?" - (Luke 16:10-12).  We couldn't agree more.  As an organisation, we endeavour to keep good, accurate and transperent accounts, because we know that if we are faithful at this level, when we are entrusted with more, we will not be ashamed.

We also realise that we are still in the days of small beginnings, even though we celebrated our seventh year this January.  We do not yet boast of great numbers or great achievements, but we remain faithful in the small things that will overtime make a significant impact.  Our work is not glamourous, but through our faithfulness over two dozen under-privileged children currently enrolled in our Disadvantage to Advantage Initiative, get to have a good education, and four others are supported with their artistic vocational studies.

We celebrate little things like being able to settle their school fees, exam fees and equip them with study materials.  Our social workers continue to carry out assessments on new children referred to us to see if any qualify to join our waiting list.  In the last six months, five children were taken off our waiting list and are now being sponsored in their education.  Ayomide is the newest, and was enrolled in January.

Our social workers also visit the children at school and call their homes often to check that they are doing well.  One of our children's parents had a medical emergency in January and, even though we hadn't finished settling fees, we gave the urgent support needed.  Thankfully, that same day, the funds needed to balance school fees and other expenses came in unexpectedly!  Even that small blessing was a cause for jubilation!

Some of our children are doing better than others.  One of them, Christopher, has now been graduated from our programme.  He has completed his Secondary schooling with the support of Shiv Lila Polymers, his sponsors.  He passed his WAEC exams well the first time.  He is now doing a Diploma course in Economics, and his parents are in a better position to take care of their family!  We are happy that we were there when they needed us.  We are also re-assessing other children in receipt of sponsorship, to see if we can make room for those who have been on our waiting list for years, as we are blessed to have faithful sponsors, who believe in our work with these less fortunate children.

At Christmas time, we took our children on an outing to the Piccadilly Suites, where they had a small party by the pool and swam.  It was a change from the Christmas parties we normally have at our centre, and they had a really good time.  CSR-in-Action also joined us to make the event more special.  We wrote about it on our blog: Thank You For A Merry Christmas.

We are now preparing for Valentine's Day, and will be hosting another Brunch for the children, which is always a chance for them to come together, have fun and hopefully meet their sponsors too.  This year, our children will also be exchanging gifts that they bought or made for themselves.  The children who give the most thoughtful gifts will also receive gifts from us.  If you are around, do join us in Lagos, at our office in Lekki on Saturday, the 17th of February.

We are so thankful to have your support.  It keeps us encouraged and motivated.  God bless you and help you to be faithful in the little things that count too.

Links:

• Official Website
• Official Blog
• Official Page