A Non-Governmental Organisation(NGO), E-Ezer Foundation, has hosted children and the elderly of the Ile Ekolo community in Ibadan South West to a Christmas funfair to celebrate the end of the year with them.
The programme lead of the organisation, Helen Olayiwola, stated that E-Ezer Foundation is a brainchild of businesswoman and tech enthusiast, Adedamola Olasupo-Zeke, whose passion is to help the less privileged grow by supporting and empowering them.
Olayiwola said the major aim of the event tagged ‘A rural community outreach’ was to give the community people a reason to live and to put smiles on their faces. She added that over 300 children and 100 elderly and disadvantaged people were invited to benefit from the prizes, food items, and other items lined up for them.
“In the coming year, we will be helping youths and adults to rise through education, skills and other empowerment schemes,” Olayiwola said.
The CEO of Crest and Reeve, and scholar at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, Dr Feyi Ijimakinwa, was the guest speaker at the event.
Ijimakinwa advised parents of the children to while supporting them in their education, assist them to get skills and training that will help them in life.
He stressed that Ibadan is known for many first and great feats, and encouraged the children to be the best in the things they do. He admonished the children to listen to the advice of their parents if they must succeed in life.
“Don’t think where you are currently now is the last stage for you,” Ijimakinwa said. “Be bold to speak out and to stand out anywhere you found yourselves.”
The children were engaged in some games and activities such as face painting, music and dancing, bouncing castle, and spelling bees, among others.
Olayiwola said the contests were organised for the children to identify those who are intelligent and talented, and to help inspire them to achieve great things.
The dancing contest was for children aged six to ten years old. Fatima Reheem (ten years old) and Amidat Abdul, also ten years, won the contest and were given N3000 naira each.
The spelling bee context was for children between 10 and 16 years old. David Adeyemo (14 years old) and Ismat Sanusi (10 years old) won the contest and were given N4000 naira each.
The last contest, the intellectual ability to spell and use words in English, was for children in primary 4 and 5. Ololabi Alimi (10 years and in primary four) won the contest.
The leader of the community, Pastor Taiwo, on behalf of the foundation, gave the spelling bee and intellectual ability test winners N4000 each and encouraged them to do better in the future.
Dr Ijimakinwa gave the dancing and spelling bee winners cash prizes – N300 each to the dancing winners; and N5000 to the overall spelling bee winner (David Adeyemo), and N3000 for the runner-up (Ismat Sanusi).
Some of the parents of the contest winners spoke on how the funfair was a good idea at this time of the year to bring the community people together to have fun. They said they were happy that their children won the contests, and thanked the organisers and other people who gave cash prizes to their children.
The children were given gift items like school books, story books, stationery, noodles, biscuits, cakes, food and drinks.
The elderly and underserved people were each given food items worth N5000. The items were rice, a bottle of groundnut oil, a sachet of salt and seasoning cubes, a sachet of tomato pastes, and drinks.
Some of the elderly and underserved people, including Taiwo Bemidele, Alimat Sanisu, and Taiwo Akinkigbo thanked the foundation for remembering them at this time of the year. They prayed that the next year will be better for them and for the foundation.
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