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From Praise Gbubene-Abraham, Succour To The Hopeless

By Olawunmi Ojo
04 April 2015   |   3:22 am
The three-day mission restored sight to some who had lost their sights, gave free eye care to those experiencing some forms of unease in their eyes, gave some medicare such as deworming to pupils and students of Fryo Nursery, Primary and Secondary schools, and distributed food palliatives, donated by Dangote Group and Kenvee Nigeria Limited, to some of the residents. Specifically, the free eye care, which included several eye surgeries and distribution of eye glasses, had over 300 community members as beneficiaries.
Mrs. Gbubene-Abraham (left) with two other beneficiaries after their surgeries

Mrs. Gbubene-Abraham (left) with two other beneficiaries after their surgeries

Escravos Ugborodo Women Empowerment (EWEF), and Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation in Coastal Region Communities (CROWEF), which are sister not-for-profit and non-government organizations (NGOs) recently visited some riverine communities in Delta State on a charity mission. The mission, carried out in partnership with African Cataract and Eye Foundation (ACEF), Agbowu Medical Centre and some other health experts, gave succour to residents of communities in Warri South-West council.

The three-day mission restored sight to some who had lost their sights, gave free eye care to those experiencing some forms of unease in their eyes, gave some medicare such as deworming to pupils and students of Fryo Nursery, Primary and Secondary schools, and distributed food palliatives, donated by Dangote Group and Kenvee Nigeria Limited, to some of the residents. Specifically, the free eye care, which included several eye surgeries and distribution of eye glasses, had over 300 community members as beneficiaries.

According to the President, EWEF/CROWEF, Mrs. Praise Gbubene-Abraham, the recent charity missions, which cost millions of naira, in addition to support received from various partners, were a result of health needs assessment of the various communities done earlier by the EWEF/CROWEF team.

EWEF and CROWEF have been carrying out these missions for close to eight years on a sustained basis with a view to giving hope to the hopeless and succour to the needy. Mrs. Praise Gbubene-Abraham, the President of both organizations, explained that she established the groups after listening to the cries of Niger-Delta rural youths and the women in the creeks who are surrounded by water, yet have none to drink. “The NGOs are here to give them comfort. To the long suffering people of the Niger Delta, there is hope, because help has finally come,” she said.

Speaking years back at the inauguration, Gbubene-Abraham told residents and indigenes who thronged the Mom’s Civic Centre, Airport Road, Warri, Delta State, that the essence of the NGOs were to provide assistance to their communities on various fronts, as they barely survived through the mercy of God.

She lamented that the five communities that make up Ugborodo community were in dire need of government assistance. In her view, oil exploration and mismanagement has brought the people of Niger Delta untold hardship. “Lots of people were rendered homeless after the communal clashes between neighbouring communities. It was after the crisis that rocked Ijaw and the Itsekiri that Chevron had to protect their tankfarm and investment.
They fenced Ugborodo community off and never allowed them to come in and do their businesses. The situation was such that the economic lifestyle of the people was now in misery as they had lost their means of livelihood. These are people who do not have land for farming and could no longer fish”

She had then surmised that though some educated Ugborodo indigenes could hunt and get menial jobs from oil companies around, the majority illiterate rural dwellers who cannot go to oil companies to look for jobs needed urgent help. And this she has been doing ever since through various outreaches with EWEF/CROWEF having embarked on numerous successful missions into some of the communities.

Some of the group’s services have also included empowerment programmes and development projects; programmes that promote and respect women’s right and gender equality, and programmes that co-ordinate skill acquisition, microcredit, health services and give quality education.

Speaking on some of the activities the groups have carried out, Gbubene-Abraham said some of the communities were without clinics when first visited. Women still delivered the local way through the help of traditional healers. As a result, EWEF/CROWEF came up with an arrangement with doctors from Warri and other environs to bring medicare to the regions. “Twice every month, we chatter boats to ferry us across the water so these doctors can run tests on these women. We get ophthalmologists to run test on their eyes. These doctors also run various tests varying from breast cancer to diabetics and other ailments.

“We also looked at these communities and saw that the level of poverty was appalling. There is barely food for the indigenes to eat. So we took it upon ourselves to gather foodstuff from different sponsors and take to them.

“As part of efforts to empower or provide jobs, we have started building a factory for making pure water where indigenes can be employed to run the plant,” she explained.

In sustaining the lofty ideals of both groups in the communities however, EWEF/CROWEF have enjoyed support and some level of funding from different companies and sponsors. But with various projects on the cards, they still need more funds. To this end, Gbubene-Abraham appeals to well meaning Nigerians to give their monetary support no matter how little. ‘This could help in saving the lives of people who have being given no reason to hope for tomorrow,” she surmised.

To reverse the fortunes of the underprivileged in those communities, she urged government to spread development beyond the urban areas to the rural areas. She also called on the Itsekiris in Diaspora to return home and develop their fatherland. “Churches, corporate bodies, individuals, oil exploration and servicing companies operating in the region should also join the vanguard of change by becoming more committed to their corporate social responsibility,” she said.

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