Guests arrived. Food booths opened. Stage lit. Music flowed. Dance broke out. It was a fusion of cuisine, culture, camaraderie and charity as the sun set on Saturday, March 2. Rendezvous was Sun Federal Palace Hotel & Casino. From Asia to Africa, Antarctica to America, coteries of people swarmed in to share a glitzy and graceful space created by Small World, an international women’s organisation for charity, Bayo Akinloye reports
“Taiwan, number one! Taiwan, number one! Taiwan, number one! Taiwan, number one!” a small crowd in a booth chimed in unison with beaming faces in a bay displaying twisted pastry, peanut candy, white radish cookies, square cookies, Taiwanese pickled cucumber, vinegar pickles, stew and three cups chicken. Representative and Chief of Taiwan Mission in Nigeria, Andy Yiping Liu and his wife were present savouring the aroma, aura and fiesta. The TCCN exhibition stand was one of several partially enclosed food cubicles on the large field on the premises of the Sun Federal Palace Hotel & Casino. The food booth had the tag TCCN (Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce in Nigeria) just as many other cubicles featuring nationals from the United States, Canada, Chile, Armenia, China, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, France, Ethiopia, Ibero America, Community of Francophone Nations, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Palestine, Philippines, Syria, West Indies, Zambia, the UK and Ireland.
Amid the Taiwanese chants, people of various colours milled around several food booths in a kaleidoscope of global attire and conversations at the intersection of cuisine and cultures. Then, cadences of mellifluous music filled the atmosphere as performers gyrated on stage, with one nation after the other putting up breathtaking performances.
Guests arrived. Food booths opened. Stage lit. Music flowed. Dance broke out.
It was a fusion of cuisine, culture, camaraderie and charity as the sun set on Saturday, March 2. The rendezvous was at Sun Federal Palace Hotel & Casino. From Asia to Africa, Antarctica to America, coteries of people swarmed in to share a glitzy and graceful space created by Small World, an international women’s organisation for charity. Together, in the open space, taking in the fresh air, people across the globe swarmed to make things happen at the 2024 Small World event tagged ‘Better Together’. The night offered a blissful side of humanity.
The food, the frills
It was a night to test the versatility of the taste buds in bites and gulps. It was a small world as people of different races tried cuisines across continental divides.
“The journey of sampling delicious delicacies, with the display of rich and robust cultural performances. Small World started as a vision of a few individuals in the early 1990s and has blossomed to what it is today. This is what gave meaning to our theme for this year’s event, ‘Better Together’,” Small World’s chairwoman, Fatima Shehu, told the crowd.
She said, “Our guests, who choose to spend their evening with us, thereby contributing to making the event a success. The staff and workers of all those who have participated one way or the other, towards making this journey a success. To you all, I say a big thank you, for adding a meaning to our theme, ‘Better Together’. We invite you to relax and enjoy the fantastic show, courtesy of our participants.”
Perhaps the night’s event was a prelude to the organisation’s efforts to make things happen for dozens of charities that depend on voluntary donations. Small World pledged to support 27 Nigerian charities in 2024.
In the beginning
The idea of “our organisation started in 1993,” when various international women’s groups within Lagos started meeting regularly to discuss charities supported by each group, said the chairlady, hoping to “eliminate duplication of assistance and ensure that many needy charities within Lagos were adequately supported.”
Then, in 1995, several international women’s groups came together to discuss the possibility of jointly hosting an international night, deciding that the objective of such an evening would be not only to focus on the food, national customs, dances and music of each respective country but, more important, to raise money to support charity organisations.
“The idea of ‘It’s a Small World’ was born,” Shehu explained.
In 2023, Small World supported 24 charities. Since its inception, the “total amount raised and distributed to 298 various Nigerian charities is N626,480,000.” Many charities “have benefitted up to four times and more.”
Despite the current challenges, companies, organisations, and individuals continue to lend their support towards the noble cause of helping others. Shehu noted, “These sponsors and donors offer their services for free or at a discounted rate. Advertisers who, though promoting their businesses, contribute immensely in raising the much-needed funds to bring succour to the lives of those in need.”
The Small World’s chair commended “our hard-working committee members and staff, work tirelessly to put all this together” and “our wonderful country/group representatives’ contribution cannot be overemphasised, as they put a lot into making the event what it is, year after year.”
Small World, what?
While the joy of sampling delicious delicacies and displaying rich and robust cultural performances can bring people together, the organisation said it aims to provide opportunities “for rendering services to existing Nigerian charities and institutions by organising the annual fundraising event, ‘Small World’.
Small World consists of groups of women from all over the world. It has a board of trustees, an executive committee, and various standing committees that prepare its yearly event. The committees are changed yearly during the annual general meeting and report directly to the executive committee. The board of trustees is responsible for the smooth running of the organisation.
The organisation meets monthly to plan the annual event and the charity committee’s visits to the various charities Small World supports.
“To host our annual fundraising event, Small World, and support Nigerian charities with the proceeds raised from the event,” said the non-profit organisation. “Any national or international women’s group/club can participate in the event, which is fully voluntary.”
The beneficiaries
How does Small World decide on the benefiting charities?
“The criteria have been tested and changed to ensure a fair working system. Every participating group or country sponsoring a food booth proposes a charity within Nigeria,” the non-governmental organisation stated. They also give a second backup choice if the same charity is nominated by more than one group/country, preventing a charity from receiving a double allocation, which would be unfair to the other nominated charities.
“Each charity nominated receives the same amount. The executive committee reserves the right to appoint additional charities if the money raised during the event allows for this,” it said.
Besides the donations, Small World’s charity committee visits as many charities as possible to ensure their sincerity and needs, with the proposing or nominating groups “requested to monitor the disbursement of the allocation, and the charities are requested to give proper accounts” of the money spent.
“So far, we are happy with the control we have over the money disbursed, which gives us the strength and pleasure to continue this worthwhile project,” Shehu stressed, lauding donors for their continued support.
She stated, “Without the help, generosity, and support of so many people, companies, well-wishers, sponsors, and donors, who support us year after year, the International Women’s Organisation for Charity would not be able to put together a SMALL WORLD event of this proportion, and most importantly, raise so much money for so many deserving Nigerian charities.”
Among the charities supported is Bethesda Nursery, Primary and Secondary School, with TCCN as one of the donors.
This school in Ikota is under the umbrella of Bethesda Child Support Foundation, a non-profit organisation founded in 2001 by Nkoyo Rapu. Their mission is to mobilise the efforts of government, the private sector, and other development agencies to create quality educational opportunities in poor communities. This, in turn, will help break the generational cycle of poverty in their families.
Their vision is to create an empowering environment, enabling disadvantaged children to thrive, grow, and develop to their full potential. Over 1,000 students currently attend the five schools under the foundation’s umbrella, and since its inception, Bethesda and its partners have provided assistance to over 10,000 orphans and vulnerable children in Lagos and Ogun.
