NGO Lends Support To Tarkwa Bay Evictees

While numerous concerned Nigerians and organisations have come to the aid of the children and families forcefully evicted from their homes in Tarkwa Bay, Agbabo and Ebute Eko communities through donation of relief materials following the mass demolition of their communities by the Nigerian Navy in January, a nonprofit organisation is rallying Nigerians to take the support for these evictees beyond mere donations.

The Young Bookworms, a nonprofit that is at the forefront of supporting the education of children from low-income families was at Agala Village on Saturday, February 1, to donate relief materials to these displaced children and their families.

After careful enumeration, they donated a minimum of Garri, Rice or Pasta, Cooking Oil, Milk, Noodles and Sachet water to 219 families from the three demolished communities.

Speaking during the first outreach to support these displaced families, the Programs Manager for the Young Bookworm initiative, Ms ‘Lola James, a Public Health Professional, explained that the donation is in line with the nonprofit’s commitment to ensure the children have access to basic nutrition that can guarantee to an extent, their concentration in class when the NGO eventually sets up a temporary learning centre for them in the coming weeks.

“Hunger is a huge distraction for these children and no child is able to think of books on an empty stomach,” Ms James said.

She also stressed that the intervention from organizations and individuals came at an auspicious time when the families from these affected areas were in a state of confusion having been displaced from their abode.

James, who could not hold back her excitement with the support received from organizations and well-meaning Nigerians, stated that the relief materials would go a long way to ameliorate the suffering of the Tarkwa Bay evictees.

“I was really encouraged and reassured of how compassionate Nigerians are at their core. I was so touched by the level of support we got this first month when we launched the initiative to support these families. There was even a student who donated N500. This tells you that he would have given more if he could,” she said.

She therefore expressed appreciation to various individuals and organizations for giving their support singling out the contributions of seven corporate organisations who gave their support to ensure the success of the outreach among which include Noah’s Ark Communication Limited, Integrated Indigo Limited, Friesland Campina WAMCO, Nestle and Dufil Prima Foods.

James explained that the organization’s relationship with Tarkwa Bay had started two years ago when they started out by donating educational materials to the four Mushroom schools in the community and subsequently awarded scholarships to the pupils.

Just before the demolitions happened, we were already working with another NGO called World Connect to design a social enterprise project that will enable mothers pay for their children’s school fees after we noticed the high dropout rates due to poverty.

The nonprofit currently run eight different programs in three other adopted low-income primary schools across Lagos all year round, including Makoko, Ebute-Metta and Akoka.

She disclosed that plans are already in top gear to secure a monthly partnership with other interested organisations and individuals that would ensure the donation of Food, water, medical supplies and basic necessities to the displaced children and their parents ahead of the forthcoming outreach slated for Saturday March 7, 2020.

According to her, the NGO has enumerated these evictees and given each displaced family residing in the bushes in Agala a tag with unique codes for proper accountability to the well-meaning Nigerians and organizations who donate these relief materials.

“We are with these evictees for the long haul. Our 5-pronged approach is to take basic amenities to them monthly, build a temporary structure that will serve as school for the children, provide bore hole for the community, construct low-cost housing for the families and empower the mothers so that they don’t continue to depend on donations. Until they are able to somewhat settle down in the new community they are now forced to call home, we do not plan to abandon them,” James assured.

The Young Bookworms (YBWorms) is a non-profit organisation that aims to develop the social, emotional and mental capability of the African child.

Through book reading, interactive and engaging leisure activities, the organisation is helping children in low-income primary schools value the pursuit of knowledge.