In commemoration of the International Day of the girl-child, Hope for African Girls Initiative (HAGi), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), in collaboration with the Nigerian Writers Award (NWA), has donated 1,000 pairs of sandals to indigent school children under a project tagged: Footsteps to a better tomorrow.
Some of the schools are Suleiman Muslim School in Offa, Bimpe Primary School, Offa, Ajoke Nursery and Primary School in Ipe, Muslim Community School, Ipe, Community Primary School in Ago Baba Osi, and Community Primary School in Ipe.
HAGi’s coordinator Jennifer Umeh said the gesture was to ensure that pupils did not walk bare foot to school.
“The goal of the project is to take their shame away and kit them with good footwear,” she said.
Before embarking on the project, Jennifer, a student of the Federal Polytechnic, Offa (OFFA POLY), said the children were at the risk of injury and exposure to diseases that may arise from bacteria-infested wounds. She said the need to protect the children from diseases informed the project.
She said: “Children going to school barefooted are common in this part of the country. We felt the urge to help them and protect them from diseases and injuries that may discourage them from achieving their future aims.”
Jennifer said the gesture would have been impossible without the partnership of NWA and beneficiary schools’ authorities, which bought into the idea to support the project.
Modest Diko, NWA coordinator, said: “We decided to visit remote areas, because rural dwellers are the people who need this kind of gesture most. We bought and donated the foot wares with the hope that the society will realise the dangers which comes with sending children to school in bare foot. We hope this effort brings such practice to end.
“We believe children are future. If we truly care and believe in them, we need to support them by providing materials they need to keep them focused. We all would cry happy tears when we see them achieving their dreams.”
The organisers thanked donors and volunteers who supported the project for their generosity, saying the exercise was a work in progress.
