By Bisi Oladele, Ibadan
A missionary from the United States of America (USA), Issabela O’Brien, has begun the construction of one-room apartments for women, children and men abused by their spouses, parents or other people.
She started the first set of the buildings on Akanran Road, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, last week.
O’Brien revealed her plan to build 1,700 homes across Nigeria to cater for abused persons.
For a start, she told The Nation that she would build between 30 and 40 buildings within the next 18 months to accommodate abused victims being identified in Ibadan and neighbouring communities.
She added that the construction would be undertaken in phases based on availability of resources, victims and organisational structures for effectiveness.
O’Brien, who is always accompanied to Nigeria for mission work by her father, Brian Dermyer, said she embarked on the project because of the ugly experience her mother went through in the hand of her former husband.
She said: “When I was younger, my mother was stuck in an abusive relationship. It got worse by the day. The man was cheating on her. Eventually, they got a divorce. All she had to go through to get her mindset out of that experience led me to this. So I want women to know that they can find a way out. I believe that they need both spiritual and physical victory.”
The project is in partnership with the Solomon Temple Community Farm, located beside the victims’ homes.
The farm will employ them, while they will also cultivate a four-acre piece of land already acquired for them.
Their income from employment on the farm and proceeds from sale of their farm produce will help keep them busy and happy while they find the way forward in life.
O’Brien said she chose Nigeria for the project because of the influence of the owner of Solomon Temple Community Farm, Pastor Solomon Adeagbo, a member of his church in Michigan, Detroit. She said Adeagbo is like her grandfather.
The missionary said she uses her personal savings and financial support from family and friends for the project.
The homes, according to her, will serve as a stop-gap for the victims to allow them get stable physically and spiritually while they find the best way to move on with their lives.
In addition to the small communities being built, the three missionaries said they have been digging borehole in communities in Oyo State to enable inhabitants access free potable water. The communities that have benefited from their gesture, they said, include Olorunsogo, Oke-Iye at Akuukutan, Igbo Oloyin and Alaba Meji.
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