The Chief Executive Officer of Regalo Hope Foundation, Chinenye Ebele Onuorah has won the Education category of the 40 under 40 Africa awards orgnaised in Accra, Ghana.
Organizers of the award said Onuorah won the of the award because within three years her NGO brought back to school 380 children who have been sent out for the inability of their parents to pay the school fees.
Her NGO also has mentoring clubs in 10 schools in Lagos with 624 children benefitting from the training provided by the club.
According to her, I wasn’t really thinking about winning an award either at home or abroad. I just have passion for helping the youths to find their bearing and chart a course for decent living. So it was a pleasant surprise to me when I was contacted by the award organizers who informed me I have won the award. No cash prize for the award but it gives winners access to high profile persons all around Africa.
The advocate of youth development and women empowerment, while recollecting how it all started said the first activity she embarked upon was during her mandatory National youth service in Orungbe Bawop, Cross River State.
“The first thing I noticed was that the community health centre was dirty and poorly equipped so I decided to do something about this. Then I sent proposals to corporate bodies in Lagos Calabar and Abuja. Luckily we got favourable response to our proposals.
“Then I involved other youth corpers. I also added my personal savings. That was how I bought mattresses, bunks, chairs for the health centre. Encouraged by success attained in the first activity I embarked on my second project in the same Orungbe Bawop community. I worked on how to bring back to school children who have been sent out of school due the inability of their parents to pay school fees. Again we got favourable responses to proposals sent to corporate bodies and philanthropists. Eventually we paid the school fees of over 100 children and they all happily returned to school.”
She however completed her National youth service and continued in her passion as a youth and women empowerment advocate. Recently she sent out proposals asking corporate bodies to buy more computers for indigent children from public primary and secondary schools who have been coming to the centre for computer training a situation which had made existing computers at the centre grossly inadequate compared with the large number of the students who need financial assistance to acquire ICT training.
The centre also gives widows and challenged women funds to start petty trading in addition to encouraging them to develop a positive attitude to life.
