Strengthen 100 Vulnerable Households in Calabar

The Charles Edet Effiong Foundation, in its unwavering commitment to restoring hope and strengthening households in the southern region of Cross River State, continued its impactful initiatives during the fourth quarter of 2023. The focus persisted on empowering caregivers in the domains of Household Economic Strengthening (HES), Psychosocial Support (PSS), and Health Services.

1. Household Economic Strengthening: To fortify the economic status of households and ensure caregivers' self-sufficiency, the Foundation responded to the challenges posed by the continuous increase in the cost of living. Caregivers were equipped with financial education with the aid of the Child Optimized Financial Education Manual. The training centered on Module 2 of the Manual which addressed Savings. Key learnings included exploring various saving options based on risk, profit, ease, and capital involved. Saving for emergencies was emphasized, aiming to build resilience during shocks and ensuring families are well-cared for in times of crises.

2. Psychosocial Support: Recognizing the critical importance of mental health and psychosocial well-being in the face of societal hardships, the Foundation facilitated psychosocial counseling and mental health sessions for 30 female caregivers. These sessions, conducted through the caregivers' forum, spanned across the Calabar South, Calabar Municipality, and Akamkpa LGAs, addressing the unique challenges faced by each community. Caregivers were encouraged to indulge in more recreation and relaxing activities to relieve stress as well as network to help gather relevant skills and information in caring for children.

3. Health Initiatives: In line with the project's health objectives, the Foundation organized HIV Counseling and Testing services for 30 female-headed household caregivers and 50 children. All test results returned negative, providing relief and assurance to the beneficiaries. Additionally, 50 (20 males, 30 females) children were screened for Tuberculosis, with 18 children identified as presumptive cases. These children were promptly referred and escorted to health facilities for further diagnoses. Fortunately, none tested positive for TB. The Foundation also supported the treatment for minor ailments of 6 children 4 males, and 2 females) while also providing health education, sexual and reproductive health, and WASH messages to adolescents and caregivers during home visits.

4. Monitoring and Evaluation: To uphold the quality and impact of our implementations, the Foundation conducted field visits during the quarter. These visits allowed our team to assess project implementation, document success stories, and gather invaluable feedback from beneficiaries and community stakeholders. This ongoing monitoring and evaluation process remains pivotal for refining and improving future initiatives.

5. Next Steps: Despite funding constraints impacting the original plan of providing small grants to 50 caregivers for business support, the Foundation remains resolute in its commitment. Looking forward to the next quarter, plans include mobilizing additional funds to extend support to 50 vulnerable female caregivers. The success of these initiatives will hinge on fund availability and sustained collaboration with community partners.

In conclusion, The Charles Effiong Foundation remains grateful to all her donors whose support has helped us stay dedicated to our mission of empowering and uplifting communities. The fourth quarter showcased resilience and adaptability, emphasizing the Foundation's commitment to making a lasting impact on the lives of vulnerable children and their caregivers in Cross River State.

In the second quarter of the fiscal year 2023, the foundation restored hope once again to its beneficiaries and households in the southern of Cross River, Calabar by boosting the caring capacity of these caregivers to care for the children in their care. This was done in three domains –The Household Economic strengthening, Psychosocial Support, and the Healthy domain.

HOUSEHOLD ECONOMIC STRENGTHENING: Part of our last quarter's plan for this proceeding period, was to engage caregivers in intense entrepreneurship ventures, however, this plan was largely affected by the hike in the cost of living brought about by the implementation of the removal of fuel subsidy policy by the new administration. Howbeit, the foundation through its community partnership and resource mobilization efforts, provided a small seed grant to 30 female heads of households in Calabar. This effort was to cushion the adverse effect of the triple cost of fuel pump price, leading to an increased cost of transportation and other basic needs, which has affected the ability of these vulnerable households whose caregivers also double as the house of households, with an increased burden of care for themselves and for the children under their care. Seed grants were provided for these caregivers to boast their incomes and a greater part has been used up for transportation with little funds left for the business. Caregivers expressed appreciation and thanked the foundation for the prompt action, they made a commitment statement that the funds provided shall be used to boast their petty trades and also take care of their children.

PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT: Using the platform of the caregiver’s forum, it became necessary to provide caregivers with counseling support, during their group counseling, information on maintaining a good mental health status was provided in addition to an improved parent-child relationship as a way to maintain peace and reduce conflicts in the home.

HEALTHY:  As part of plans for this preceding quarter, the foundation also implemented its campaign on Menstrual Hygiene Week, through this campaign, resources were mobilized from networks, friends, and other individuals to reach 100 girls in 5 schools in Calabar, these resources include sanitary towels, snacks, resource persons that taught the girls how to make reusable pads, menstrual hygiene messages amongst others.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION: The team carried out field visits to assess and monitor the level of implementation, and to also document success stories and human interest stories, as well as to get feedback from the project beneficiaries and other community stakeholders on the projects implemented.

NEXT STEPS: In the next quarter, depending on the funds available, the foundation plans to mobilize more funds to provide seed grants to 50 vulnerable female entrepreneurs in order to increase their economic stability and their ability to cater for their children.  We continually appreciate your continuous support of vulnerable households in Calabar. With your support, we will continue to strive to restore hope to the most vulnerable of the society