Women
THE wife of Governor of Anambra State, Ebelechukwu Obiano, has urged widows to embrace skills acquisition programmes of the state government and some Non-Governmental Organisations, NGO, in order to grow stronger and better.
Mrs. Obiano, founder of an NGO, `Caring Family Enhancement Initiative, CAFE, made the appeal during the ceremony to mark the International Widows Day in Awka.
She noted that the government and the NGOs are helping widows to outlive social isolation, economic challenges and grief. “Widows should avail themselves of CAFE empowerment trainings and seek relevant information about their health and happenings around them,’’ she said.
She commended founder of Virtuous Widows Association for bringing widows together to commemorate the day.
The First Lady observed that widowhood is a reality that can happen to anyone and urged them to avoid “feeling sorry for self”, which according to her, “can downrightly be self-destructive, make overcoming adversities difficult, if not impossible and can keep you stuck”.
“The opportunity for widows is better now. In years past widows went through many debasing practices in many cultures, including ours.
“It is now left for you to detach yourselves from self-pity and face the challenges of life,’’ she said.
The Governor’s wife, who was represented at the event by Senior Special Assistant to Governor on Social Re-Orientation, Mitchelle Onugbolu, reminded them that the end of a husband’s life was not the end their own lives.
“No doubt the loss of a husband is usually traumatic for women, especially young widows, but do not let people be too sympathetic and too empathetic of you.’’
The key speaker at the event and managing director, National Light Newspaper, Chuka Nnabuife, said that widows were faced with enormous challenges in providing for themselves and their children.
Nnabuife went philosophical, when he described widows as “spiritual beings that God will need to trust more because of their afflictions’’.
He urged them to keep themselves holy and continue in supplication to God, day and night.
“God will keep your children alive, sustain yourselves in prayers, have strong faith in God; do not engage in hostility with any other person, but most importantly, believe in God as widowhood is not a sin, neither the end of life,’’ he said.
The convener and founder of Virtuous Widows Association, Ifeyinwa Egbosiuba, said that the NGO had existed over the past eight years with the sole objective of enriching the lives of widows through empowerment and skills acquisition.
She solicited for more advocacy and collaboration with government to give widows new lease of life, through empowerment, budgetary allocations for their self-upliftment and family.
– Jun. 26, 2020 @ 11:55 GMT |
Tags: Anambra First Lady tasks widows on skills acquisition
