An Abuja-based nongovernmental organization, Helpline Foundation for the Needy has carried out skill acquisition training and distributed food items to 400 widows and other vulnerable groups.
Speaking at the occasion, the president of the foundation, Dr. Jummai Ahmad, revealed that the foundation has redesigned its programmes to focus more on skill acquisition training and empowerment rather than alms giving.
She therefore tasked government at all levels and relevant organisations to go beyond funfairs that characterized every festivity and use such occasions to empower the vulnerable in the society.
“It has been our philosophy and our slogan that “nobody is too poor to give and nothing is too small to give”. However, we at Helpline Foundation have decided to focus more on skill acquisition programmes and empowerment of the vulnerable.
“We should teach them how to catch fish rather than giving them fish. In other words, we should move beyond funfair to empowerment of the vulnerable in the society. And I think it is the right way to go,” she said.
In her remarks, the guest of honour and wife of FCT Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Pamela Ohaa, commended the president of the foundation for her poverty reduction initiatives, stressing that more of such kind spirited non-governmental organisations are needed in the country in the fight against poverty.
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