Ibezim Chike is the founder of the Mil-vison Foundation which helps children who are out of school. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, he talks about his work, the challenges, achievements and the overall impact on the communities where they work.
What motivated you to start the foundation?
I have always loved to put smiles on the faces of people wherever I find myself.
The thought of the foundation was inspired one day when I was about boarding a tricycle. Then I noticed a set of four kids struggling to get in. Funnily enough, all four where trying to make do of one seat. I watched to see how they planned to achieve this arrangement but the driver quickly asked them to alight. I could see the disappointment and rejection on their innocent faces.
I decided to intervene by paying for the ride. Behold, I could see the excitement on their faces.
I began to wonder, if these kids who are in school can be this happy that their fare was paid for, what about those that have never even been to school? And that was how it all began. I was waiting to get as much funds as possible before starting. However, I discovered that the best time to start was now.
What are some of the things that you have done?
In the past one year, we have been able to enrol 31 indigent children in school. These kids were given a 100% scholarship which include their fees, school uniforms, school books, school bags and other upkeeps. We have also setup a mentor-mentee programme. This is to help the kids build their social skills and ensure that they are fine. We have also embarked on an Edu1k project. This is aimed at putting 1000 kids in school this year.
How do you identify your targets?
To identify our targets, we carry out a needs assessment on communities. Based on the community with the most need, we carry out our background checks to select orphans, indigent /disadvantaged children. We also work with the village heads in our selections.
What are some of the challenges doing this?
It’s not really been easy journeying from one distant community to another which really tells on the amount being spent. Most times, we rent a vehicle for our outreach. Also, the schools these children are being placed have so many pupils but few teachers which you can consider a problem, thereby bringing up the need for the government to invest more in this sector. It’s also difficult to communicate with the kids at first since most have not been to school, thereby the need for a translator always comes up. We’ve also not received much support from the general public, although, we hope that changes soon.
What were you doing before this?
I am an entrepreneur and that will not change. Before starting this foundation, I had already co-founded two start-ups (Next2you & Helang Ride) and was working as a software developer in an IT firm before exiting. From both my experiences in these two, I can assuredly tell you that there’s nothing more fulfilling than the smiles that we have been able to put on the faces of these kids.
Tell us about one or two memorable moments doing this
Since we started, in a day, you can have so many memorable moments. The children are lovely and I really do have high prospects for these kids. The first was one of the days during the kids enrolment at Tungan-Maje. We came to the school to find some eager kids awaiting to start school with so much laughter all around. I thought to myself, this is really incredible. They’ve always wanted to go to school but they couldn’t. Now they can! The second was on the enrolment day when one of our kids came to me and was looking sad all through. He wasn’t hungry nor sick and I was determined to see him smile. Later on, our PRO, Ekas, was able to get him smile a little. When we gave him his school items, he wasn’t smiling, it was a laughter fest. He was restless and chatty with all his friends. I saw that and knew we were doing something wonderful.
What are some of the changes that you would like to see with children out of school?
The most important lesson I have learnt is that most children not in school want to be in school and should be given an opportunity to do so. I believe that every indigent child deserves to get free and quality education which still leads back to the government establishing policies and spending more on education in the country. The primary school education is the most important for any child growing up and the system shouldn’t be left in tatters. Many children are creative and should be in an environment that will build their creativity and skills. Now, on the long run, we are already thinking of how we can build schools and development centres in rural areas that can really help these kids achieve what they want to achieve.
How many children have you touched?
We have 31 kids in school. All of our kids are in Tungan-Maje, FCT, and learning with their mates. I treasure the zeal and attitude the kids have towards learning. I treasure the excitement I see on their faces whenever we are around. I treasure the greatness I see in these kids and I know and believe that we will help them achieve what they want to.
Tell us about the people that you admire
My role models are billionaire entrepreneurs like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffet who have excelled in their various areas and committed more than half of their wealth to helping the world fight issues such as poverty, education, climate change, health, power and so many others. Without their input, I doubt many areas in the world would have seen any significant change.
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