It has been a 10years journey touching the lives of Widows in Cross River State beginning in 2011. Please join us either in person or via Zoom as we celebrate the resilience and resourcefulness of these precious women in Calabar. We will truly love to have you present with us. Thank you as you stand with us to impact the lives of these women in one way or the other. Our God bless you as you partner with us to touch more lives. Imah Nsa Adegoke
The 2021 International Widows’ Day comes up today Wednesday, 23rd June 2021. The United Nations is again repeating its theme of ‘Invisible Women, Invisible Problems’ this year as it believes these group of women and the challenges they face have never received adequate attention with lawmakers in most countries when they consider policies for the welfare of their citizenry.
Nigeria is no exception as our widows face such great challenges and harrowing experiences just trying to live after the demise of their husbands. The highly educated or illiterate widow in Nigeria is not exempted from these challenges, more so those living in rural communities. This is despite the recent enactment of Laws in many States protecting the rights of women and widows in particular.
The Imah Nsa Adegoke Foundation since 2011, has been involved with uplifting the plight of widows in Cross River State, Nigeria. Working with the widows of the Good News Outreach Ministry, it has been our joy to train and provide food stuff for many of these women across several Local Government Areas of the State. We also spear headed a March of Widows to the State Assembly to ask for the passage of a Cross Rivers State Widows Protection Law in 2011 and we will continue to publicize the plight of these vulnerable women.
So, how can you be involved in alleviating the plight of a widow? In commemorating this year’s International Widows’ Day, The Imah Nsa Adegoke Foundation is launching two products for the sponsorship or partnership of persons who wish to alleviate the plight of widows and improve their lives and living standards.
- With just £25/N16,500 monthly, you can ‘Adopt-a-Widow’ to care for.
There are many widows inde0d who have no one to take care of them and in some cases, they also live with disabilities like blindness. Many of such ones are sometimes stigmatized in rural communities as witches and abandoned especially where they have been barren.
Your monthly donation will go towards providing basic food stuff for one month for the adopted widow. Donors will also be able to contact or speak to their adopted widows once a month when our staff go to visit them.
- For a one-time donation of £60/N40,000 a donor can ‘Sponsor-a-Widow’.
The stark reality facing many widows in rural Nigeria is either subsistence farming or hunger. They therefore require some training and an injection of small funds to transform their livelihoods from subsistence to profitable and sustainable small scale enterprises.
Placing the women into Cooperatives where they have similar businesses, and applying a minimal to no interest module, the Foundation is able to advance loans to these women for periods between three to six months. Repayments received are applied to other widows in the same rural community and within the group or Cooperative.