Friday 17 October 2014

LOOK A LITTLE BIT CLOSER! Locate a widow and the children around you, offer some help.


There is a saying in my place that "when they carry another’s corpse, it’s as if they are carrying a log of wood".
When it hits or affects you, you will understand. If you have lost someone before, what I am saying will sure resonate with you.

I am challenging you today to make a personal decision to help the widows and their children. There is something I always say ‘ it is not how much you have that matters, but how much life you have affected positively with what you have’.

I attended Mass in a catholic church in Accra, Ghana recently and was so excited the way the widows’ rite was performed in church. Before it started, the priest announced that no traditional rite should be performed on the widow after what he is about to perform the widows rite under the Catholic faith.

Very simple , but profound !

She was prayed upon, blessed and her mourning clothes blessed as well. She was dressed with a wooden cross necklace that she is expected to wear throughout her ‘chosen’ mourning period for her husband. Once the morning period is over, she is expected to return the cross to the church.
The symbolic separation was her being accompanied to the sanctuary , then after the mass, the Priest went with the mass servers, prayed for her and was let out to go home.
Can our churches begin to do this and take our place as true believers? Be an instrument to fulfill the scripture?
I personally find this amazing  !

The truth is that most widows are so afraid, that they cannot even express what tradition (in the name of culture) has made them go through and are still going through.
Now is the time. The Bible said that, he that the Son of Man has set free is free indeed.

Look around you; help stop these barbaric acts that are happening in the Nigeria and all over the world.
This little of mine, I am gonna let it shine – a popular song we know and sing.

Now is the time to let it shine. …
Locate that widow, offer some help. Find out what they need, take up the laundry bill, pick up the school fees of one of the kids as some of them are unable to continue their education, pay for the cleaners to clean the house for them, pay a caterer to make some dishes and deliver to them, make out time and pray for them, organize birthday parties for their little ones, share encouragement words to them, pray for them , ask a widow the business she is passionate and interested in , start a business for her / them ….the list is endless

Yes you can, and you can start today to make a positive impact.


CBA
She never planned to become a widow!

Wednesday 15 October 2014

Have you ever thought about the Widows? what they go through? and their most vulnerable children?

Hello readers,
The subject of my post is a food for thought.

Really, Have you ever thought about the Widows? what they go through? and their most vulnerable children?

I sit and and I ponder what the widows go through ....hmmmm

The typical scenario is people hear of the sudden death or expected (if very ill) of this man ( husband, father, brother, uncle, mentor etc..) , then everyone rally around the woman and the affected family. Condolence flows from North, South, East &West .

The burial is set and the funeral ceremony planned and handled. Then everyone disperses.

Have we thought of what the widow feels, how vulnerable the family turns?
For some cultures, it's unimaginable what they make the widows go through.....hmmm.

I will be sharing with you some of these as we move on...
The question is ...

  • How do you want to be of help?
  • How do you intend to offer HOPE to this family?
  • How can you support their children?
  • How can you  lend support & influence to end these wicked acts in the name of tradition?

CBA
What is CBA FOUNDATION?
The CBA Foundation , registered under the Corporate Affairs Commission of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ( CAC/IT/N0 71962) is a registered charity working with widows & most vulnerable children in Nigeria.
We work to support widows, offer them HOPE through various initiatives, free their most vulnerable children from lives of pain, abuse, poverty and darkness.
Some widows are abandoned by families, stripped off their belongings with no source of livelihood. Living on the streets, widows & children are exposed to horrendous physical and sexual abuse. For the kids, those who survive are left to fend for themselves, with no promise of a safe future. They are forced to work from as young as five years of age to earn money for food and so cannot go to school. CBA Foundation, works to free them from child labour.
CBA Foundation is focused on projects with the sole intention to reach out to those most forgotten; offering protection, healthcare, nutrition, education, rehabilitation and a family for life.

OUR TEAM
CBA Foundation is made up of 9 board of trustees

Background:
Set up to  give hope and support to the widows and their most vulnerable children. CBA Foundation is a registered Nigeria charity with office in Lagos. We work with partners - Individuals & corporate organizations to offer jobs, vocational skills and rescue thousands of children from the streets and slums. We work to enable them to have a better future.
To date, through feeding alone, CBA has reached out to almost 500 homes.

Mission:
Offer the holistic care, development and protection of human rights of the state of widowhood & severely underprivileged children in Nigeria.

Aim:
Support the development of underprivileged sections of society; through partnership, support and capacity building.

Vision:
Build a world where it should never be a taboo to be a widow & where it should never hurt to be a widows’ child.

Governance:
The CBA Foundation is committed to the highest levels of international best practice in governance.
We recognize our responsibility to donors, sponsors and fundraisers who support CBA FOUNDATION. We equally recognize our responsibility to those whom we support and therefore insist on transparent operations in all activities.
Committed to safeguarding children, CBA Foundation implements best practice guidelines, including child protection training and staff capacity building for all those who work directly with children and vulnerable adults (widows).