NGO sponsors 7000 children to school in Nasarawa, Benue

An NGO, Jireh Doo Foundation, says it is sponsoring the education of 7,000 orphans and vulnerable children in various schools in Benue and Nasarawa states.

The National Coordinator of the foundation, Mrs Josephine Habba, announced the development in Makurdi on Friday during a news conference to mark its 10th anniversary.

“We have enrolled 7,000 vulnerable children in various schools and offer healthcare services, psychological and financial support to them where necessary.

“We have successfully counselled and tested 30,500 persons for HIV/AIDS and reached 24,000 people with various interventions in all areas of life.

“Our primary aim is to bridge the gap between the urban and rural communities through the establishment of schools for the less privileged in our society,' she said.

Habba said that most of the beneficiaries of its projects were those whose parents had died of HIV/AIDS.

The coordinator said the foundation took over the sponsorship of the children's education to give them a new lease of life and reintegrate them into the society.

She said that majority of the children were already being stigmatised by their relatives and the society owing to the circumstances in which their parents died.

Habba urged the public to stop stigmatising those living with the condition.

She said the foundation had also organised workshops and programmes on capacity building for widows and youths to encourage them to become self-reliant.

She appealed to the public to accept the persons living with HIV/AIDS in the society, saying that it would prevent further spread of the life-threatening virus.

The coordinator also urged the federal and state governments to complement the efforts of the NGO to rehabilitate persons affected by the infection.

“The road has been very rough; lack of funds has reduced our activities. We are seriously in need of operational vehicles to facilitate our mobility, and so many other challenges,' Habba said.

Earlier, the Chairperson of the event's central planning committee, Lady Gladys Shaahu, commended the media for educating the public on the activities of NGOs in the country.

Shaahu said the media was behind the success recorded by all the NGOs, urging them to continue to support the civil society groups and NGOs to achieve their aims.