Hands at Work in Africa

Nigeria

Nigeria is Africa’s largest nation. Its people are renowned continent-wide for their drive and energy. Regularly named among the world’s three most corrupt nations and officially one of the world’s top-five petroleum producers, Nigeria bears a mix of lavishly wealthy businessmen alongside millions of poor citizens living in urban slums and undeveloped rural regions. The country is religiously divided with a Muslim majority (50%) mostly living in the north and the Christian population (40%) residing in the south. Though its overall adult HIV-prevalence rate is just above 3%, Nigeria holds the world’s third largest population of HIV-positive people.

In 2006 Hands at Work in Africa began working in the ultra-dense city of Lagos (population estimated at 16 million) in the south, as well as in the Muslim desert region of Kano in the north through partnership with local community organizations. The work has since rapidly multiplied. In 2008 Lagos alone saw Christians in six slum areas begin caring for the poorest of the poor. Work has also begun in rural areas surrounding the ancient southern city of Ibadan, and is planned for the central Nigeria region.

Not Alone

Nestled deep within the chaos of Ilaje, a vast slum in Lagos, Nigeria, a baby girl has just become more vulnerable. Margaret Shomogun, just twelve days old, has lost her mother, who died during childbirth. Margaret’s mother left behind a husband and four older children. There is no time for grieving; Margaret’s father must now figure out how to care for his five children without his wife.

A brick layer by trade, Mr. Shomogun’s work takes him away for days at a time to complete building jobs—when he can find work, that is. Already struggling to feed and educate his children, Mr. Shomogun’s loss is overwhelming. But his story was heard by Ilaje Home-Based Care. Now two of his children attend the community school each morning and have a safe place to spend afternoons doing homework or playing, giving their father a chance to spend time at work to provide for his family.

The home-based care knows its role following this horrible tragedy: to partner with the Shomogun family to alleviate some of the many stresses they face. This means ensuring that the children have enough to eat, checking on the health of the family, especially baby Margaret, and offering encouragement to the family. Though nothing can alleviate the loss of a mother and wife, at least now the Shomoguns don’t have to fight this
battle alone.