MDRF INTERVENTIONS FOR WIDOWS

Worried by the plight of the Nigerian widow, the MICHAEL DATO RELIEF Foundation, a non-governmental organization in Nigeria, has tailored its activities and programmes to promote the protection of Nigerian underprivileged widows and their vulnerable children, restoring immediate and lasting hope, confidence, and courage in their lives.

Established in 2017 by Deaconess Helen Kande Umar, the foundation has reached out to hundreds of underprivileged widows and children through skills acquisition training, health intervention, business start-ups and provision of clothing, nutrition and tuition fees for their children. MDRF organizes a yearly programme where several widows are provided food and other household items for the festive season. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Foundation reached out to over 50 widows providing food items to them to cushion the negative effects of the period of lockdown.

The MDRF is planning to build a skills acquisition centre in the Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory. This skills acquisition centre will give special considerations to the widows as they will be trained in diverse skills and vocations for free.

We call on all well-meaning Nigerians especially the federal and state ministries of women affairs to champion the programmes for the support and upliftment of the lives of disadvantaged widows in Nigeria.