Help for indigent pupils as HOFOWEM comes to rescue

They turned out in their numbers, drawn from 175,000 public primary schools in Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub and former capital city. The venue; Nana’s Arena event centre, Agindigbi, Ikeja, was filled to capacity, but that wouldn’t stop them from trooping in.
Some accompanied by parents, some by guardians and some by their school teachers, all with one aim in mind. Before the D-day, information had filtered to town that Hope for Women in Nigeria Initiative (HOFOWEM), a relatively young non-governmental organisation (NGO) powered by Bolanle Ambode, wife of the Lagos State governor, would be putting smiles on the faces of pupils following the resumption of schools from the long vacation.
Not many of the would-be beneficiaries knew the nature that the expected ‘smile’ would take. So they waited breathlessly.
It is not commonly heard that non-governmental organisations donate footwear to pupils. What is regularly reported is donation of books and other academic materials. Parents and guardians, no matter how poor, are left to shoulder the responsibility of providing uniforms, sandals and shoes.
To many indigent parents and guardians, they just want to see that the children leave home every morning, for school. It matters little whether they are properly. It is no surprise, therefore, to see pupils walk barefoot to school.
But this has its potential health risks, which are often ignored by the parents and the larger society. Such include but not limited to infection from contaminated soil, animal bites and stings, or injury.
For example, hookworm is common infection found in tropical and sub-tropical regions. It is contacted through hookworm larvae found in the soil in areas of poor sanitation where people defecate. The tiny larvae penetrate intact skin, and migrate to the lungs before settling in the gut. With repeated infections, severe hookworm anaemia can develop.
Also, strongyloidiasis is a threadworm infection common through warm, wet tropical and subtropical areas. Like hookworm, the larvae are excreted in human faeces. Infection occurs from skin penetration, usually in the feet with migration to the lungs and gut. But unlike hookworm, the larvae are able to mature in the human host to an invasive filariform, invade skin (cutaneous larva currens) and maintain infection indefinitely.
Similarly, unprotected feet are subject to cuts, scrapes or other breaks in the skin, which can lead to infection. There is also the risk of animal bites aside the danger of stepping on sharp objects like broken glasses and nails, which are commonplace in the Lagos environment.
Aside these health risks, there is also the social and psychological effect that tends to rob barefoot pupils of their pride, making them feel inferior to their neatly dressed peers in school.
Nothing, perhaps, explains this better than the lamentation of Victor Oyebade, a pupil of Ayangburem Primary School, Ikorodu, who is a proud beneficiary of the first lady’s donation.
“I told my parents I will not go back to my school without wearing sandals because other pupils are always laughing at me and I will be ashamed and be crying,” Oyebade said.
“Sometimes, I will leave the house and go and hide on the road till school will close for the day and also come back home. When I told my father to buy me shoes and books to go to school he said there is no money that things are difficult in the country. He said they have not paid his salaries for a long time. It is now that government has given me shoes and educational materials to study with that I can go back to my school and start learning,” young Oyebade told journalists at the event venue.
Also Kabiru Adbulahi, a pupil of Ketu Comprehensive School said his parents were considering sending him to learn a trade because they could not afford to buy educational kits for him.
“My parents said I would go and learn auto mechanic, but just then, his friend came and said that the Lagos State government would provide books and kits for pupils in the state. That is why I am here to collect mine. I have collected it and I really thank them for this help.”
The HOFOWEM’s initiative tagged, ‘Project Bright Steps’, focusing this time, on footwear for the school children, couldn’t therefore, have come at a better than now.
Indeed, gradually and steadily, the NGO, which also recently distributed maternity packs to pregnant women across the three senatorial districts in Lagos, is warming itself into the hearts of mothers and children.
Founder of HOFOWEM, Bolanle Ambode, driven by the belief that children deserve the best of care from the society, says the decision to touch the lives of the pupils, is borne out of innate desire to motivate the children and ensure their wellbeing.
According to her, “it is disheartening to see that many pupils in public primary schools lack shoes and stockings to wear to school, noting that the intervention by her NGO is aimed at addressing this heart-breaking development.
“Walking without shoes has led many children to get sick, lose their feet to bacterial infections and other life-threatening diseases. It is essential for these children to wear shoes. Wearing shoes is not a luxury, but a necessity.
“As a mother, I am deeply passionate about children. Some lucky ones have the necessary support, while others have very little support or nothing. HOFOWEM realises that many children do not have the opportunity to wear ordinary shoes. Yet, this is something that we take for granted.”
The first lady, who made symbolic presentation of the shoe/sock packs to a few of the pupils at the event venue, stated that properly equipping the children for school plays a great role in boosting their confidence level, morale, concentration and overall performance.
“A properly kitted pupil has higher chances of doing well in academic studies, because he/she is better motivated, more confident and has higher self-esteem, which translates to better academic performance,” she said.
She added that her pet project, HOFOWEM, is a product of a burning desire to touch lives and be a source of hope and relief for the less privileged in the society, recalling that such accounted for previous initiatives earlier this year which saw over 230 pregnant women receive baby essentials and lecture on healthy lifestyle, as well as the on-going scholarship scheme aimed at funding undergraduate programme of some brilliant students from public secondary schools in the state.
Zeroing in on the economic dimension of her foundation’s benevolence, Bolanle said aside the positive impact it will have on the education of the pupils, it will also encourage local production of shoes, thereby boosting the struggling Nigerian economy. She counselled parents and guardians against using their children and wards for street trading, alms begging and any form of child labour.
Oluranti Adebule, Lagos State deputy governor, who doubles as commissioner for education, said the NGO’s gesture tallies with the vision of the state government to make education accessible to all.
Adebule, who represented her boss, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, at the event, said the government only recently earmarked N10 billion for upgrade of infrastructure and others in public schools, just as she encouraged public spirited individuals and organisations to take a cue by lending a helping hand.
Oyefunke Adeleke, the chief executive officer of HOFOWEM, said the foundation’s main goal was to transform lives, adding that the distribution of shoes and socks was one of the ways of making positive difference, give hope, support and empower as many as possible.

JOSHUA BASSEY