In honour of the 2024 International Day of the Girl Child, Ebonyi State Governor’s wife, Mrs Mary-Maudline Nwifuru, has offered a monthly donation of N500,000 to visually impaired students at the State Special School, Opefia, in Izzi Local Government Area.
Mrs Nwifuru, who spoke on the theme “Girls’ Vision for the Future” in Abakaliki, stated that the monthly support fund is in addition to a one million naira cheque from her Better Health for Rural Women, Children, and Internally Displaced Persons Foundation, BERWO, to cover their food costs.
“I impacted the lives of the visually impaired by donating a monthly support fund of N500,000 in addition to a one million naira cheque from my foundation to cater to their feeding needs.
“This philanthropy aligns with my foundation’s pivotal objective, which aims to improve the lives of the internally displaced persons, downtrodden and needy in the rural areas.
“People with visual impairments face numerous challenges, especially relegation and dejection in society, and should be treated with absolute kindness.
“BERWO Foundation seeks to enhance the safety of blind students through the provision of emergency numbers to report possible cases of sexual and gender-based violence. The support would enhance and boost their sense of belonging and create an awareness in the environment that these special needs children have the protection of the state government,” she added.
She explained that the foundation will continue to foster an atmosphere in which children and other vulnerable people can enjoy equal access and rights, as well as benefit from socioeconomic gains resulting from the state’s developmental processes.
Similarly, she paid visits to the Nigeria Correction Service’s Abakaliki Custodian Centre, Mile Four Hospital Abakaliki, Community Based Rehabilitation Centre, Remand Home and Facilities, and Effata Orthopaedics Clinic to reaffirm the mandate of the current administration’s mantra, ‘The People’s Charter of Needs.
The visit was highlighted by the presentation of a carton containing 200 exercise books and other educational materials, bags of rice and garri, cartons of bath soap, and hospital facilities, all of which were to be handed to internally displaced persons and patients.
