Uchechukwu Nnaike A group, the Confraternity of Christian Mothers (CCM) of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Isolo, Lagos, recently rekindled some widows’ hope of survival, by empowering them with items to start up small scale businesses of their choice. The start-up items include: sewing machines, grinding machines, gas cylinders and burners, cooking sets, beauty products, foodstuffs and beverages, among others.
The empowerment scheme started since 2009, and has touched the lives of many widows. The coordinator of the empowerment scheme for 2024, Mother Esther Abua, said the annual initiative is intended to make widows in the church and its environs self-sufficient so as to take care of their children and other responsibilities, as well as to prevent them from seeking assistance in places where they might be taken advantage of. To determine the 40 beneficiaries of this year’s empowerment programme, she said that a screening committee was set up to assess the widows’ needs, their skills and choice of business, and the items and equipment to start up the businesses were bought.
Apart from donation of items, Abua said the group also invited an entrepreneur and motivational speaker to talk to the widows on how to grow their businesses and succeed in their chosen venture. She said successful widows were invited to talk to them about self-respect She said the committee sourced the funds from members of the church and raised about N6 million for the empowerment. The President of .