In furtherance of its mission to spread hope and joy among the less privileged members of society, especially during the Yuletide season, the Helpline Social Support Initiative, for over two decades, has distributed assorted food items, clothes, and other relief materials to widows and vulnerable women in Abuja.
Some of the items distributed included rice, salt, vegetable oil, wrappers, and other condiments to enable the beneficiaries to have a memorable Yuletide celebration.
At the Helpline Initiative’s End of Year Outreach, powered by its donors over the weekend, the beneficiaries, numbering in the hundreds, were also empowered with entrepreneurial talks on improving their businesses and training in hat-making (turban) to help them become economically empowered members of their respective communities.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, the president of the Helpline Social Support Initiative, Dr Jumai Ahmadu, noted that the outreach programme was filled with love, as the organisation, in collaboration with its donor partners, was able to touch lives and provide hope for the beneficiaries drawn from across the FCT and beyond to enjoy the season.
Ahmadu, who thanked partners, volunteers, family, and friends for standing by the Helpline Initiative over the past 21 years, said that their unwavering support has been instrumental in its mission, making it possible for the initiative to impact society positively.
She added: “Every act of kindness counts, and together, we’re creating lasting change in our community.”
“At Helpline, we identified the need to impact people positively, and we always ensure that our partners are carried along in everything that we do. We bring them to help us teach the women entrepreneurial skills, which is what has resulted in all the products you have seen here.”
“We are training and encouraging them to ensure that they are able to make their products something they can export, as the platform is already there to enable people to earn foreign currencies, thus contributing to our national growth.”
“It doesn’t matter where they are right now; they have the capacity to do so, as all they need is the support.”
According to her, for the widows, apart from such outreach programs, the Initiative focuses on developing their skills because it doesn’t believe in just giving them fish but teaching them how to fish. That way, they will be able to have a source of livelihood.
“We bring them out periodically for experts to talk to them about their mental health because they are going through a lot. They need people who can talk to them as often as possible to make them believe that they can make it.”
“We need to encourage them to look after their children well, and you can only do that by giving them skills that will make them empowered, self-sustained, and at the same time help the other widows who are vulnerable within their respective communities. And we have been doing that so far.”
“We have a non-profit revolving loan scheme. They become the monitors of those among them who have taken this loan, and by the end of the month, when they come together, they bring what was supposed to be their profit in the form of contributions for the next woman to take.”
“And from a cluster of 20 women in Bwari, we now have up to 200 of them since the scheme started. This is one of our selling points, and our strong project that has made these women as happy as they are today,” she stressed.
Responding, Cluster Leader of Women of Progress, Bwari, Mrs Ubah Terdoo, who described the Helpline outreach program and loan scheme as an economic game changer, said it has boosted their petty businesses, thereby reducing their financial burden in society.
“We were just 8 women when we started the initiative with Helpline in 2018, but now we are more than 200 women.”
“From proceeds of entrepreneurial ventures, we are able to pay school fees, accommodation, and feed our families, as well as boost our businesses.”
“So, it is not every time we will be looking or begging for money to fend for ourselves or our families. This has helped so much to reduce financial tension for us,” she stated.
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