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Brown Chimezie
Ifeyinwa Bernice Egbosiuba is the Founder and President of Virtuous Widows Association
Recently, the association held International Widows’ Day Celebration in Awka, Anambra state where some of the widows were empowered with gas cookers, sewing machines and gas/ charcoal ovens to pursue small-scale businesses.
Mrs. Egbosiuba who is in the forefront of drawing attention to the plight of widows and ensuring their problems are addressed by abolishing all forms of discrimination against widows
She spoke to Daily Sun after the event.
Tell us about Virtuous Widows Association.
The association is about widows’ empowerment through skill acquisition and entrepreneurship training. The aim is to empower widows and their children by strengthening their socio-economic status and providing them with skills needed to live a sustainable and healthy life.
Recently you marked the international widows’ day. Is it an annual program?
Yes, International Widows’ Day is set aside by United Nation in 2011 to draw attention and address the poverty and injustices faced by millions of widows in many countries. Since the establishment of the widow’s day, our association has ensured that widows are celebrated annually.
The essence is to make them feel belonged and recognised in the society. Most widows feel abandoned after the exit of their husbands so we have find a way to make ourselves happy. We don’t miss the widow’s day celebration.
Some widows were empowered with some items on the international widow’s day. Is that a practice?
Virtuous Widows Association is all about empowerment apart from the event day. We also have skill acquisition programme which is organised annually in the 36 states and FCT. At the end of every skill acquisition programme, members are empowered with equipments and tools to enable them establish their businesses.
What inspired the establishment of your association?
It actually came from a personal experience as a widow. It was very bitter,. At that time, I felt suicide was the only option for me. I ran to jump into a river but God spoke to me and said I should go home and bring my sisters together so we can find comfort and encouragement in a common fold. That gave birth to the formation of the association. The work gives me peace and happiness.
I started the association in Lagos with 300 widows. Now, we have more than 20,000 members in the 36 states of the federation.
The foundation is designed to empower widows through skill acquisition, entrepreneurship training and others. We have lots of yearly program established to meet the needs of the members in areas of poverty eradication, health, violence and conflict related issues.
What are your yearly programs?
Virtuous Widows Association annual program include financial empowerment, skill acquisition, scholarship for widows children in Europe, medical outreach, seminars, mentoring, legal services for widow inmates, proposed site for widows home in Lagos. Apart from the widows’ day, there is an annual celebration of international literacy day and breast cancer day.
What are the challenges of running the NGO?
We have many challenges such as mobility, lack of funds, material for empowerment, lack of support from government and corporate bodies. We need adequate fund to execute our projects. Without funds our programs cannot be achieve because more members are joining the group. They came to find succor with the hope of getting empowered but when there is no funds it will be difficult for us to have a sustainable development. We also have medical outreach as part of our program.
Let talk about your medical outreach. Can you give us an insight into the medical outreach and how your members can benefit?
Part of the identified problems of widows is health. It is expensive to maintain a good health in our environment. Many widows find it difficult to access good health facilities. Since they are women we already identified their common health challenges such as high blood pressure, diabetes and others.
Our medical outreach is usually based on eye check and free glasses, breast cancer screening in partnership with health specialist. Twice in a year, we organise medical tests for blood sugar, cholesterol and free routine drugs are offered such as folic acid, vitamin C, B complex and others. Breast cancer screening is usually held on world breast cancer day to mark the event.
You talked about scholarship as part of your program. What type of scholarship do you run?
We run a scholarship that targets widows’ children and young widows who desire to go to school. Some widows got married early without education or any skill. We give them scholarship to get a certificate on hospital attendant training.
Some members’ children are out of school due to lack of fund. That is the reason behind the scholarship funds.
After empowering them, we realize that some of them can’t give their children quality education. We are in partnership with some private schools on scholarship. At the university level, some children are supported by the association to access scholarship in Europe. Recently a total number of 36 youths benefited from the scholarship.
How do you seek to abolish all forms of discrimination against widowhood in Nigeria?
Our goals include promoting widows’ rights through advocacy that will help to abolish all forms of discrimination against widows in Nigeria.
