• Members of Re Gen and Hands at Work Foundation in a group photograph with pupils and staff of Eagle Wings School, Araromi, Ilaje, Bariga on Wednesday after celebrating Valentine’s Day with the pupils
Valentine is a period of showing love and care to people, this was exemplified by two Non Governmental Organisations; Re Gen Development Foundation and Hands at Work, as they celebrated the day with Eagle Wings School, Araromi, Ilaje, Bariga, Lagos State by donating chairs and tables and a classroom wall to the school.
In her welcome address, Tosin Ibrahim, founder of Re Gen Development Foundation that supports children in the areas of mental health, education, and personal development urged the Lagos State Government, well-meaning Nigerians, and corporate organisations to come to the aid of the school.
“We are here today to show the world what can happen when people come together to support the less privileged, especially in this sort of community. We want people to come and help Hands at Work, and help the teachers in this community because and the school still needs help.
“ We appeal to both the state government and corporate organisations to assist us in some of our projects that we hope to carry out in the school like provision of solar energy, we want to help to floor the compound because there is gravel on the floor and it is dangerous because sometimes, the children do fall on the floor.
On the vision behind Re Gen’s partnership with Wings Gate School, Ibrahim said, “We want to make sure that we support children especially those that are less privileged to be able to have education and we know that even if we say education is important, the condition in their community is also important and their families too. So, we pay a lot of attention to the mental health of the children, creating happiness, and making sure that they feel loved and that they continue to advance in their careers.
“What we want to do is to bridge the gap between the advantaged and the disadvantaged children. The dream is to see a Bariga community where the children are exposed as children in other parts of Lagos and other parts of the country.
Jackie Okinda, a representative of Hands at Work, a Christian non-profit organisation which helped to build the school noted that they target communities that are less privileged in the society.
She said, “What we have here is a community school where we allow the children to get free education, free uniform, books, shoes and a meal a day, so that they can be able to be at school without any change. It’s a concept where they come at various age, we call them zero to five, we bring them into school where they are able to get education to grade six and then the school enables them to continue with secondary education.”
On her part, Deaconess Alarape Bunmi Joseph, Head Mistress of the school said that it has been God who has been helping them manage the school.
In her words, “We are under God’s grace through the help of these NGOs that came to help vulnerable children and orphans in the community of Araromi, in Ilaje, Bariga, Lagos State by educating them. Education is the most essential thing anyone can give and through Hands at Work, they are giving the children the opportunity to get educated.
“ We are pleading with the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu to assist us, there are several other things that we still need to do to make these children have a conducive academic environment.