Foundation urges govt, others to address widows’ plight, empowers women

In commemoration of International Widows Day, Tender Hearts Foundation in collaboration with Crime Victims Foundation has urged the government and well-meaning Nigerians to consider the plight of widows in the country.

The founder, Tender Hearts Foundation, Sally Othihiwa, who provided clothing and food supplies to women in Lagos, said the gesture was to commemorate International Widows Day established by the United Nations to address the poverty and injustice faced by millions of widows and their dependents.

Speaking with The Guardian, Othihiwa lamented the challenges widows face in Nigeria, urging the government and relevant stakeholders to consider their plight.

Othihiwa urged women to acquire skills and not entirely be dependent, as this would set them on the right footing in case of any eventuality.

She said: “We join the United Nations in recognising the International Widows Day and it is why we decided to give out clothing and food items to some widows. We started operations in 2018, but not as a full foundation.

“Also, I had the privilege of serving on the Island and through my work, I was able to interact with a lot of underprivileged people, especially women. I discovered that many of them couldn’t send their kids to school because they do not have the funds. When you don’t educate your child in school, the tendency of that child turning into a miscreant is very high.

“So, I decided to assist these women, many of whom are widows, to start a business. That is how the vision for this foundation started. We got registered in 2019 and since then, we have been able to give over 200 women grants to start and expand their businesses.

“Today, about 35 of them would be given gifts, which include clothing and foodstuff, and before the year runs out, we would be having more of such programmes.

“When we started, we gave grants to widows to start business, but we later realised that many of them had never run a business so it was difficult for them to make profit. Thus, we decided to give those already running small businesses to enable them expand.

“We have gotten assistance from some companies but we need more funding from the government, corporate organisations and good-spirited individuals because the work that needs to be done is huge.”

One of the facilitators, Gabiel Orban, who spoke at the event, said widows need to be educated on their constitutional rights to prevent anyone from taking advantage of them.

One of the beneficiaries, Mrs. Uju Okoye, thanked the foundation for the clothes and food, urging more organisations to come to the aid of widows.