We talk a lot about how broken the system of education is in Nigeria. Especially primary education.
From children who sit outside on the bare ground to learn, to those who can't go to school because of poverty, hunger, gender, no teachers, etc.
For some years now, Community Outreach for Educational Change @coec_ng has been tackling these issues in a couple of rural schools. Earlier this year, I shared the #FedtoLearn project with you, and through your generosity, we fed rural school children daily, so they could learn.
Now, we wish to do more. Our desire is to set up a school in a rural area to bridge the gap for these children. It'll be equipped with competent teachers, modern technology, a feeding program, library, sick bay etc, to deliver quality education in line with 21st century demands.
If you could make a difference in one child's life, would you? If your answer is yes, then here's your chance.
@coec_ng has gotten a rundown school building in a rural village in Kaduna. We hope to refurbish it and set up for when schools reopen. We call it #TheSchoolProject
Our structure needs refurbishing in order to meet our target for full operations in September. Below are the details of the project:
Location: Samaru Kataf, Kaduna State
Target Date: September 2020
Budget: N10, 000, 000
Amount Raised: N471, 500
Amount Needed: N9,528,500
In the past, your donations, large and small, have made huge differences in the lives of these kids by providing them with a better education. We look forward to partnering with you on this project. #EducationForRuralCommunities #TheSchoolProject
I'm reminded of one wild, ongoing miracle God did for me a few years ago.
You see, at the time, things were really tough for me and my siblings. We drank garri every day. So much so that we began to purge . Then one night, we ran out of garri. That meant premium hunger.
Desperate, I checked the kitchen's top shelf to see if there was anything left. Luckily, I found a bowl of garri. It'd been there for so long, it was almost totally black with mold.
Because we were very hungry, I rinsed that garri like five times until it was lighter in colour.
Then I added water and the four of us drank it. As we ate, I wept. I asked the Lord if he was happy to see us eat such a meal. Hadn't he told us Matthew 6: 25-26, not to worry about basic things like food? Yet, see us see daily garri.
This is your reminder - that God is intentional about you.
Quick story.
We all know that in the Nigerian Constitution, cooking gas always runs out on Sunday. Well, ours behaved out of character and finished on Saturday evening, just as my sister was making stew.
She was so exhausted and couldn’t go refill it. Having just recovered from a nasty bout of malaria and feeling much better, I decided to go. I hefted the 12KG cylinder on my head, much to the amusement of one of my neighbours, stepped outside the gate, and hailed a bike.
After refilling, the young man at the station helped place the cylinder on my lap. It was HEAVY!
We were a scant minute from my gate when I realised that the bikes usually stop at the gate. Unless you’re carrying a big load. Then again, the gate is always closed.
When I was about seven years old, I represented my school at an event. As my father dropped me off at the venue, he asked me if the school was bringing me back home.
I said yes, that the school had arranged for a bus to take me home and he didn't need to come back for me.
When the event ended, I couldn't find any of my teachers. The only classmate I found, her parents came for her. Turns out, there was no bus; everyone had left on their own.
Despondent and terrified, I squatted down on the steps of Sacred Heart Cathedral and quietly began to cry.
How was I going to get home? My house was far away. I didn't know the way, being that I was a child who was chauffered everywhere. Why had I not just told my dad to come for me?
As I squatted there crying, I suddenly heard a familiar voice behind me. The voice of my father.
*pushes bedroom door open and stomps inside daughter's room*
"Your mother said she was going for only ten days. It's been four days and she's not yet back. If I talk now, they'll say I'm restricting her freedom."
"Daddy, it's only been four days!"
"Ehen? Four days, ten days, what's the difference? What's she going to do there that she can't finish in four days and come home? Must she stay the whole ten days?"
"Awwwwn...you're missing her."
"Me? Miss who? Mtscheeeww. A woman who has been married for so many years, yet is so comfortable abandoning her matrimonial home for what I don't know."
A few days ago, someone posted that they made okro soup with ₦1200 and there was a furore. A good number of people derided the author and said it wasn't possible. Now, I cannot tell you if it is impossible, but I can tell you about...
Mesuur, who lives in a lungu (ghetto) in one of Abuja's suburbs. She sells buns and occasionally, adds half a crate of Coca Cola to her merchandise. She couldn't make her rent this year and had to solicit for funds.
Her rent is ₦36,000.
A year.
Yes, for ₦3000 a month, she gets to live in a very lowly box that's made mostly of sand, with cement slapped on in patches. The ceiling is made of cartons and cardboard stitched together. Rats run across it and every so often, their droppings fall into her room...
A lady who lives in my friend's compound, lost her husband and his people showed up from the village two days later to collect everything from her.
As they began to harass her to bring the documents for the house, the car keys and cheque books, a neighbour overheard them.
He went and called three other men who were around in the compound and briefed them on what was happening. These men dressed up; one of them, a policeman who was off duty, put o his uniform. Together, they went to her door and knocked.
One of her brothers-in-law opened the door and told them to go away, that they were having a family meeting.
The three men ignored him and barged into the house. They said they were from the bank, that the late man owed millions in debt and they were there to pack his things.