For two decades, Bethia Idoko has kept faith with orphans in Little Saints Orphanage in Lagos. Each year, she would show up and show out, sharing as much love as her heart can give. With a proven track record in marketing, real estate, business and even tourism, her love however for philanthropy is heart warming and as genuine as they come. This year, with support from family, friends and some corporate bodies, she feted over 250 kids from the orphanage as well as 50 from the Tarkwa Bay community, while some got university scholarships. Chiemelie Ezeobi reports
Established on June 4, 1994 as one of the first licensed private orphanages in Nigeria, by Mrs. Dele George, Little Saints Orphanage has been a succor and strong support system for kids abandoned, abused or orphaned in the society.
Keying into this noble work done by the orphanage is a Nigerian with heart of gold, Bethia Idoko, who has kept sustained her commitment to the home for two decades.
Each Valentine’s Day, Bethia would troop to the Orphanage in Akowonjo, Egbeda with family and friends and host all the children there including those from in three other campuses. Call it an annual love affair and you won’t be mistaken.
Bethia Idoko is certainly not your average young lady. With a proven track record in marketing, philanthropy, real estate, business and even tourism, she is definitely not a stranger to hard work.
As Head of Business Development for Giditraffic, her love for travel is unprecedented as she has over 66 countries in her kitty internationally and 22 out of the 36 states of Nigeria. The English Language and Literature graduate from the University of Lagos also has also certificates on Marketing Management, Personal Productivity and Business Plan from the Lagos Business School.
Love for Philanthropy
One of the many things that stand her out is her love for philanthropy. Aside her personal philanthropy, she has been actively involved in many organisations volunteering both time and resources. Personal wise, she has consecutively organised a party every Valentine’s Day for the last 20 years at the Little Saints Orphanage Saints Orphanage.
According to her, it’s the least she can do to show some love and spend some really exciting time with the kids at the orphanage.
A Yearly Commitment
For Bethia Idoko, her interaction with the home all started as a one off thing sometime in 2004. It was supposed to be a small gathering to herald her birthday but when she stepped foot into the home, she went a giver but by the time the party was over, all she felt was gratitude for the opportunity to give because she also received love in leaps and bounds. That was it. The joy on the faces of the children sealed it for her and for 20 years, she kept coming back and even in her absence kept tabs on the kids, who have now become her kin.
This year, she did something out of the norm- instead of going to the orphanage home, she took the kids out of their comfort zones to Pearl Events Centre in Wole Olateju, Lekki Phase 1. Beyond that, she also invited 50 kids from that host community to partake in the joy and fun.
The kids were serenaded by party clowns, musicians, numerous games, painting in between the tasty meals and finger foods that they all gobbled down on. Beyond this, they all left with rich party bags containing different essentials.
The party was rounded off with poetry competition and three of the teenage girls from the homes crafted their poems after Bethia’s kind heart and how she has become such an inspiration to them. Although two persons were chosen for their craft, all three were unanimous on what Bethia stands for – Hope, Faith and Love.
Speaking on why she does this every year, she said: “First of all, Valentine’s Day comes every year and I see it as an opportunity to show love. Even though love should not be restricted to a particular day or only one day for that matter, but since the world picked a day, I decided to make use of the opportunity to do this every year.”
On why she has sustained it for this long, Bethia said: “I have sustained it for this 20 years because not only do the orphans really enjoy it and have a fun time, it makes them feel seen and loved that they are thought about by someone on a day the world set aside to celebrate love. It makes them feel included.
“People celebrate birthdays at the orphanage which I think is amazing and people also reach out on different occasions to them, but as far as I know, not a lot of people celebrate Valentine’s Day with the orphans. We do it more with family, partners , spouses and other love relationships which is also great, but who then celebrates with the orphans on a day picked out for love? And this is why I decided to do this with them every year so they know they are thought of, loved, and worthy of being celebrated with.
“This year, I extended it to other orphanages and communities because it is the 20th year I have been doing this and I wanted it to be much bigger and special. I took the party out of the orphanage I hold it at every year and got an event center, a much bigger space where I could accommodate more people. It was an amazing party we had.
“We transported almost 200 kids from the different branches of Little Saints Orphanage. Rev Dele George, who owns the orphanage, was extremely supportive in all the arrangements. We also got 50 kids from the Tarkwa Bay community as well, we got two boats to bring the kids and returned them in good time after the party. I also invited friends to come with their children to party with us all. In all, we had around 300 kids, and they all had the time of their lives.”
Sustaining Funding Despite Economic Downturn
When she initially started the event, she was funding it almost all alone until about six years ago when the good works started to speak for itself and she began to get more support from family and friends and even corporate sponsorships.
Sharing her thoughts on this she said: “In this economy, everything should be carefully thought about before taking any step, but I’m very blessed to have great family and friends, home and abroad that support me especially this year. So, I did not have to take all the financial responsibility alone. I had help from kind individuals. I guess when you show kindness, it comes back to you a million fold, because people were kind to me and trusted me with finances to do this party.
“Every little help goes a long way in helping and giving hope to a child, making a child feel seen and loved. These are some of the things that help kids become better adults. The orphanages do their best in taking great care of these kids, but as a society, we can do better in reaching out whenever we can.
“Like I mentioned earlier, I had a lot of help from kind people, friends, and family, and this goes a long way. My mother, Rev Deborah Idoko, who was out of the country at the time of the party did not relent in her efforts to help me coordinate in every area that she could remotely as this is the first year she has been absent. I can’t do this alone, and I don’t. Little drops of water make a mighty ocean.
“This year, two of the kids were given university scholarships by Emttol Consult Limited, and this just warmed my heart. Joe Aisien Ogbebor Foundation also supported me with a donation. In their words, they said “you need all the support you can get because you have done this for 19 years and this is the 20th year. You have earned our support” this made me cry.
“Imagine 10 people gave scholarships to 10 other children? This is how lives are changed and people touched and positively affected, and I think this should be our responsibility as a society. If we don’t, who will?”
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Every little help goes a long way in helping and giving hope to a child, making a child feel seen and loved. These are some of the things that help kids become better adults. The Orphanages do their best in taking great care of these kids, but as a society, we can do better in reaching out whenever we can
