The Sisters in Deen Foundation (SIDF) has held Capacity Development Day to strengthen the widows and orphans. The event, themed, “Empowering Orphans and Widows Through Sustainable Development Goals” took place at Baytu Sakeenah Orphanage, Ogba, Lagos.
President of SIDF, Dr Nurat Akinlabi-Babalola, said the capacity building was a form of empowerment to strengthen the foundation’s activities in supporting the vulnerable in the society.
“After careful evaluation of the work we do, we realised the need to empower these children because there are innovators and leaders among them. They need that support to grow. So, in order to do this, we can’t do this work without capacity building. We have to build their capacity…This is one of our social interventions for vulnerable children.”
Speaking at the event, a retired Justice of the High Court, Sherifat Solebo, advocated reduction in social vices through balanced parenting and work life. She said: “as much as money is important in the upbringing of children, parental guidance and availability to monitor children’s upbringing go a long way in raising children that are beneficial to the society.”
Referencing the Qur’an, she said God has decreed that a man will be financially responsible for needs of the home while the woman is to take care of the children to be better members of the society without prejudice to the eligibility of a woman to work.
She also lauded the recent steps taken by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, to upgrade technical education, adding that not everyone is wired to excel academically; those who can’t excel academically can be good artisans of international standards through standard vocational training.
The Chairperson of the Nigeria Association of Social Workers (Lagos State Chapter), Mrs Modupeola Saheed-Adebambo, said, “overcoming fears, building resilience and having significant supports from adults” are inevitable to building responsible future adults from the vulnerable children of today.
She added that not having supportive adults in the lives of vulnerable children makes them exposed to undesirable elements in the society that could influenced them negatively. She added that making mistakes is inevitable.
“We also need to let them know that it is okay for them to make mistakes. But what do they do after they have realised that it was a mistake? It is very important that they own their mistakes. We take steps towards correcting those mistakes and learn lessons from those mistakes so that they do not make those same mistakes in the future,” She said. A Psychotherapist, Dr Fatai Olajobi, urged the children not to allow their current state to hinder them from becoming whatever they desire in life. He said: “You can be anything you want to be. What you are now should not determine what you will eventually be. Despite being orphans or deprived kids, they can be anything they want to be. They can be presidents, lawyers, doctors, farmers, journalists, accountants, and architects among others.”
He added that pain was an energizer of success and great people in life went through pains to achieve the successes attributed to them today.
“There is no great person in life that you will see that has not gone through some kind of pain. No pain, no gain. You see that a lot of rich kids are not able to get as rich as their parents,” he said.
