STREET children who reside at Satus Dignus Child Rescue Initiative’s home in Ibadan, Oyo State, will now live more comfortably after Sunpay Energy Ltd, through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), provided the home with a five KVA solar system.
Incidentally, the encounter of children of the home with the founder of Sunpay Energy Ltd., Mr Adebayo Adebowale, was as a result of one of the activities in the home—chess.
The home, apart from encouraging the rescued children to further their education or acquire useful skills, also engages them in extra-curricular activities, particularly sports.
So in 2023, the children were in Lagos for an EcoBank-sponsored chess competition when they came in contact with Mr Adebowale, who was at the event on the last day.
While speaking during the inauguration of the solar system on Thursday, Mr Adebowale said he was impressed with the performance of the children at the chess competition that he began to make more enquiries about them and he got to know that they came all the way from Ibadan for the competition.
“I was so impressed with their performance and particularly going by their background, so I felt they could benefit from our Corporate Social Responsibility, which we tag, Solar for Social Good and Impact.
“The idea behind this is that we want to see how to assist the underprivileged with sustainable power, so when I saw the children, I just thought that we could do something to assist them. So we came here, did the audit and started thinking about how to raise the money. So for my 50th birthday, we were supposed to have an elaborate party, but I just thought that the project should be completed in order to impact the lives of children of the home.
“Therefore, with the 5 KVA solar system, they are sure of electricity in the home for several years; the battery can last up to 10 years, while the panels can last for 15 years, so this project will last them for a very long time,” Mr Adebowale said.
He, however, added that the company would keep seeking partnership with corporate organisations and other well-to-do individuals in the society to support the underprivileged who really need assistance in the area of power. He said: “When some companies want to give to the underprivileged, they focus on providing them with food items and other material items; these are good, no doubt, but they can think out of the box by partnering with Sunpay Energy to provide solar power, which is more sustainable, and which will serve the beneficiaries more.
“Today, children at Satus Dignus no longer need to use candles to read at night because they now have access to 24-hour electricity; this will also make their lives more comfortable, compared to if we had donated bags of rice or other food items.
“So in the future, we will keep working to reach out to corporate organisations that we can work together in the area of CSR to reach the underprivileged as far as solar power is concerned,” Mr Adebowale said.
While also speaking, a board member of the home, Ms Lola Aigoro, thanked Sunpay Energy Ltd and its founder, Mr Adebowale, for the gesture.
She said the donation would go a long way in positively affecting the home and the lives of the children and staff.
Another board member of the home, Dr (Mrs) Kemi Sadiku, said apart from rescuing street children, “we also do family tracing.
“We don’t just rescue the children and put them in our care; we first trace their families to understand what made the children leave home in the first place and through that, we have been able to mend many broken relationships between children and their parents.
“Some of the children have reasons for leaving home, and when we rescue them and contact their parents, we then provide the missing links that made them leave home. Today, through our support, we have some of our children who are in universities, while some are learning one skill or the other to make them productive,” Dr Sadiku said.
A community leader, Alhaji Salaudeen Abdulrauf, also thanked Mr Adebowale, saying the impact of the donation would be felt in the lives of the children.
Alhaji Abdulrauf said: “The gesture is what one can call being one’s brother’s keeper. The first thing is that Satus Dignus has taken the children away from the streets; these are children who could have been hijacked by criminals and used for criminal activities, then Mr Adebowale has made their home more comfortable by donating the solar power system.
“I understand that on several occasions, the home has challenges with children who don’t want to stay. Some of them, after getting here for a while, return to the streets, but with the solar system, which will make power available for them 24 hours a day, then this will further encourage them to stay in order to focus on their future.
“I want to appreciate Mr Adebowale, who did not wait for government, but through his own conviction, felt that he should impact the lives of these children by donating the solar system,” Alhaji Abdulrauf said.
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