By Ufuoma E-Ashogbon | CEO/Project Leader
14 year old Caroline lives with her single mother, aunty, cousin and grandma in a single room shack on the slums of Ikota, in Lagos. We met her at a point where she was about to drop out of school, as her family could no longer keep up payment of her school fees. Her cousin had already been withdrawn from school for lack of funds to enable Caroline to continue. After our assessment, Caroline was one of the first ten children we enrolled into our programme in October 2014. She is one of the five children being sponsored by Shiv Lila Polymers Ltd.
Caroline continues to excel in school, and her grades have even improved. Her teachers have also noticed an improvement in her character, such that she had been made the Acting Prefect (Head Girl) of the School, to take the position fully next academic session, when she will be in SS3! Caroline is so caring and considerate of others. She's a born leader. She’s already a role model to the other FLA Kids, and she makes us so proud of our work.
Also, her little cousin, ten year old Blessing, has gained from our involvement with their family. She’s been coming out with Caroline to enjoy the many activities we plan for the children. In February, Blessing got spotted on our website, and she was finally taken off the waiting list, and is currently being sponsored to go to school as well! They are both very happy that we came along to rescue them from disadvantage to ADVANTAGE! We know that they are going to achieve greater heights and make their family and country proud.
11 year old Marvelous and 9 year old Miracle live with their mother and grandma in a small room rented accommodation at Ojo, Lagos. Their parents are separated. Tragedy struck for the family about three years ago, which meant that their mom lost her livelihood, and the kids had to be withdrawn from school. We learnt of their situation through the Child Protection Network, Lagos, and decided to add Marvelous to join our FLA Kids, after assessment, in June 2015, while Miracle was still 8 years old (not yet qualified for the programme).
Despite being out of school for about a year, Marvelous was able to perform well in school, and his grades have been much improved. Miracle is the newest addition to the FLA Kids, as she just got a sponsor this month, who will be supporting her to resume school, after more than two years away, and achieve her potential. The sponsorship of her two children has really helped their mother to deal with the aftermath of the tragedy and to get back on her feet and pick up her business once again. Marvelous is still in need of a sponsor, but as a fully enroled child, is benefiting from all our support!
12 year old Faith is an orphan. She and her three siblings live with their uncle and his family in a room and parlour accommodation in Ketu, Lagos. The small accommodation sleeps ten of them, and only the uncle and his wife are working to provide for all the children. Faith attends a government school, and is passionate about dancing. She entered our Talent Search Competition for a chance to be sponsored to achieve her dream as a professional dancer.
Faith was one of the top five who won and are now being sponsored with a five year scholarship with Fair Life Africa Foundation! She and two other winners, Ibukun and Victor, are now being sponsored by Stella Chinwem Ilodianya Educational Foundation through our programme!!! With our help, she is now a member of the Imagneto Dance Academy, run by the famous Kaffy (Kafayat Shafua). She is currently receiving twice weekly trainings to develop her skills in dance, and become the professional she has always dreamed of.
These are just some of the stories of the many children whose lives we’ve touched, and continue to impact positively, in our objective to empower people for a fairer life! We now have 22 children on academic scholarship and six on vocational. We have over a dozen other children who also benefit from our programmes, some with vocationas and others with academic support. Five of them were formerly part of our street child initiative. The children are one big family now, who meet often and engage in activities, and go on outings together. 31 of them came out on our recent trip to Terra Kulture in Victoria Island, Lagos, where they watched a play called "Ugonma" for Valentine’s Day.
You are invited to join us this Saturday, as we will be throwing an Easter party for all our kids at the FLA Home! We just love taking advantage of every opportunity to fill their lives with cheer. Their lives have been transformed, and they can no longer be called disadvantaged. Their future is bright, and they are motivated to be the difference, to be a blessing to their world.
We just want to say thank you for helping us to keep on doing this our noble work. May God bless you richly!
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