Foundation Empowers Children of Migrants/Refugees

Maxim Uzoatu

Topgoodness School students in the Addo, Ajah neighbourhood of Lagos have benefited from a distribution of back-to-school educational supplies made possible by the non-profit Caring Hands Foundation.

The Foundation’s director, Jasmine Asekome, made the announcement during a community event in Lagos. Asekome explained that she made an effort to have an effect on the school so that the students could see that their current circumstances do not determine who they will become.

“We have supported over 300 children between Monday and today from an initial plan for 147 children. The school has branches in Addo, Badore, Ikorodu and Jakande.

“We supported 127 children in Ikorodu already with writing materials; we paid for the school fees of 20 children there as well. Then, we provided school shoes for 74 children and donated two laptops to the school to launch a new class for Computer Studies.

“In Addo, we paid for the school fees of 15 of them, gave 44 of them school shoes and writing materials for all 72 pupils. We also donated one laptop to the Addo school branch to launch the Computer Studies class,” she stated.

She explained that the Addo community is a coastal settlement primarily engaged in fishing activities, with its location adjacent to the shoreline. The community’s forebears are reported to have migrated from the Republic of Benin.

“The truth is that I have actually been a product of a community like this while growing up, knowing that I went to 10 different primary schools in my lifetime, from one village and one community to another.

”And for me, looking at where I am now and what I have been through, the environment and circumstances of my upbringing did not define me and did not stop me from achieving what I have achieved today,” Asekome said.

She saw the school’s outreach as a message from a survivor to a student.

The director highlighted that no one should let their surroundings prevent them from pursuing their dreams.

“You don’t have to be limited by where you are. You don’t have to feel like oh, because you are a product of a slum community then you cannot dream big.

“That was one of the things that just drove me to say okay, you know what, wherever they are I want to reach out to them.

“I want to keep pushing them and just giving them that hope that I am there. I’m there with them holding their hands to achieve them to achieve their dreams for basic education,” Asekome said.

She added that the organisation was ready to recruit volunteer teachers to supplement the paid staff at the institution.

She thanked the Open Society Foundation, which funded the intervention, and the East African nonprofit, Cohere, for their assistance.

She thanked those who have donated to the foundation so far and asked for more funding so that the school could hire more teachers.