Amb. Queen Worlu’s widow’s mite commendable

I wish to commend a scheme to immortalise late Amb. Queen Worlu’s spirit of giving to the vulnerable in the society. Through her foundation and with technical support from Helpline Foundation for the Needy, that recently empowered 30 vulnerable women mostly widows in rural communities of the FCT.

This commendable scheme was to immortalise the late Amb. Queen Worlu, who was a career diplomat and served this great country as an Ambassador in Sao Tome and Principe and was also a minister of the gospel who loved giving to the poor.

Before now, the foundation had embarked on schemes aimed at assisting the poor in the society. It had assisted a number of students in the School for the Blind, and paid hospital bills for patients in Asokoro General Hospital among others.

Thirty vulnerable women drawn from two existing clusters in Bwari and Gwagwalada area councils received the sum of N20,000 each to grow their small businesses.

Beneficiaries are not expected to pay back the loan to the foundation, but they are expected to return a little percentage at the end of every month to their team leader who will in turn empower another woman in that same cluster.

The revolving loan was for empowerment of women in rural communities and not to be channelled towards merry-making ventures. Since the launch of the revolving loan scheme by Helpline Foundation for the Needy five years ago, over 1000 rural women have benefited from the scheme, and the foundation has extended it to neighbouring states of Kogi and Nasarawa.

Mrs. Funmi Ajare, is COO, Helpline Foundation for the Needy