Pomp, fanfare as IWA debuts in Abuja, give proceeds to charity
Severally, Indian residents in Abuja and Nigerians interested in the Indian culture gather en mass at the India High Commission to commemorate the debut of the Indian Women Association in the Federal Capital Territory.
The event which took place at the India High Commission gave opportunities for many eateries, organizations and schools to showcase their expertise and commodities, with Media Trust being part of it all.
Many Indians came in their saris, to give colour to the event with some stalls preparing various Indian cuisines to tempt both their Nigerian guests and foreign partners to partake in the activities.
The India High Commissioner, Mr. Shri Reddy who gave a brief remark at the event noted that the IWA which has come to stay has succeeded in blending both the Indian culture and its cuisine with its Nigerian counterpart to bring colour to the event.
The IWA vice president, Meeta Saxena who spoke on the activities of the association said that it is a social, cultural and charitable organization using the well known Baisakhi Mela, (Rhythm of Joy) to raise funds for charity.
She said, “We just started off and our main aim is that we are a social and charitable organization, and we are also culturally oriented because we give a lot of cultural shows, and this is our first event in Abuja.
“This theme baisakhi mela is celebrated in a very vibrant way in all parts of India. This is the month that we celebrate it.We put up this whole presentation and have invited sisters of charities, who work in a village where the children and women and the people generally in that vicinity need help desperately.
“The person who leads that group is Sister Brenda, but the IWA is giving her a cheque of N200,000 today. This is the association’s first donation towards charity, and henceforth we will be doing a lot of charity to help the needy Nigerians here.”
She added that the association focuses on helping students, by paying the fees of bright students who cannot afford to, saying, “We acquire and supply artificial limps, we put up eye camps, and send children to India for heart surgeries or any other surgeries, and whenever they need help, we are there to help them.
“We donate to a lot of motherless babies home and we do a lot of talks for the women to empower them, and different programmes for us together.
“We are a non profitable organization, we don’t earn any money whatever money comes we spend it on our cultural shows and mainly in charity.”
The event which went late into the evening showcased various cultural dances from different parts of India, with children clad in various cultural attires and clothes to celebrate the festival vibrantly.