The Succor for Orphans, Widows and the Disabled, SOWD, is a Non-Governmental Organization, NGO, that focuses on taking care of widows and the orphans in the society. In this interview with lagoscityreporters.com, Founder of the NGO, Mrs. Cecilia Ifeyinwa Ejinkeonye shares more light about the NGO, Its natures and some of the activities they have been engaged in, in the past and the forth-coming ones…Excerpts …

You run an NGO, what is the name, and what is the focus?

The name of my NGO is Succor for Orphans, Widows, and the Disabled [SOWD] Initiative.
Our focus is basically to reach out to our target audience, which are the Orphans, Widows, and the Disabled in our society, with a deep sense of love.

How long have you been established?

Well, we started with some passive activity with the sick in 2015 as Divine Task Project, but revolved into a fully registered Non – Profit Organization on October 27th, 2021. Ideally, we are one year in function.

Why did you float the NGO, and what are the objectives?

I and my great team floated the NGO because we share the same goal, which is to ensure that we contribute our quota into solving some of the needs of people, especially the vulnerable group in our society.

Our major objectives are:
1. Financial empowerment / literacy with sustainability
2. Education
3. Moral Support

What are the milestones you have achieved since setting up the NGO?

We know that setting up an NGO can be quite rigorous because of the technical and financial demands that it requires. However, SOWD Initiative has been able to carry out some activities with the support of its well-meaning members and external donors.

With the aid of a team member in January 2022, we have been able to reach out to 50 widows in Agbogazi – Nike Enugu. This project was funded by Atlas Corps Leadership Institute in Washington DC- The United States of America.

We have also reached out to “the People with Special Needs (the Disabled) with food and clothing materials over time at Modupe Cole Memorial, Akoka – Lagos and other places.

In August last year, we did an outreach to orphans as well in an orphanage here in Lagos State.

Share with us some of the challenges you are facing, running an NGO in Nigeria?

One of the major challenges as a start up-and-coming NGO in Nigeria is, first of all, getting a stress free tax exemption procedure. The government needs to define our position in helping society better. We are here to help and add value to the country through our genuine works.

You are presently planning a programme, tell us more about it?

Our upcoming programme is the widow empowerment programme. We intend to extend our hand of love to widows. There will be funding and moral support given to them. We will also have a follow-up programme on financial literacy for the sustainable outcome of the project.

How many beneficiaries are we looking at your NGO taking care of ?

The programme seeks to financially empower at least 50 widows who are at greatest need.

We want to be able to reach out to at least 500 beneficiaries yearly. We hope to do more as the years of our experience build.

When is this programme going to hold, where and for whom?

The program is scheduled to be held on Saturday, May 27th, 2023.

The location is St. Thomas Moore Hall, University of Lagos, UNILAG, Akoka – Yaba, Lagos.

It is an empowerment programme for Widows.

Why did you decide to hold it now?

We have decided to hold it at this time because it is our first programme for the year. We had to delay our plans this time due to the elections and our plans towards the programme.

So, what are the expectations?

We expect the program to be successful. We hope the widows find some sense of fulfilment through their journey with us and experience love.
At the end of the day, the women will gain financial and moral support that can propel them forward in their different endeavours.