The Story of Amokoko Community
Ilaje is located within Lagos, Africa’s largest ‘city’, which is situated on Nigeria’s southern coast. Ilaje is known for its perilous location, which is on the edge of an ocean bay and built on layers and layers of rubbish and sewage. The slum is amassed of makeshift shacks which are completely overcrowded. There are government schools in the area, but they cost money to attend, making them inaccessible for the most vulnerable children. Half-dressed children roam the streets during the day, working as peddlers to earn a small income. The ocean bay floods the community at most high tides, leaving residual sewage and rubbish-soaked water lying around homes, creating a high risk of getting diseases like malaria, cholera and typhoid. Aside from children, the community consists mostly of elderly and unemployed adults, many of whom are immigrants from neighbouring countries like Benin.
100 CHILDREN CURRENTLY SUPPORTED
9 CARE WORKERS Coordinated by Moji
BASIC SERVICES STARTED in 2018
14 km FROM the LAGOS LOCAL OFFICE
In early 2007, a pastor was transferred to take over a tiny church building in Ilaje. When he saw the community, he was shocked at the living conditions. Along with his wife, they challenged their congregation members, as well as others in the community, that something had to be done about the situation. It was then they began walking the streets as a team to seek out the most vulnerable among the children, widowed and sick. Eventually they formed an informal organisation that is today called the Eagles Wings Community Based Organisation (CBO) which includes the running of a community school.
At the time, the model only included caring for children of primary school age (around 6-12 years). After some time of building up Eagles Wings, after connecting with the local pastors, Hands at Work leaders decided it was time to expand the work in the slum of Ilaje in order to reach those children who landed outside this age group. It was then, in 2017, that 2 new Community Based organisations were birthed. First, Temitope CBO, a Care Point that cares for children from the ages of 0-5. As of 2021, 100 children are cared for at this Care Point. A year later, Amokoko came to life. This new Care Point focused on the second group of children, who range between the ages of 13 and 18. The work started when the Hands at Work team mobilised local Care Workers and started doing Holy Home Visits in order to identify the most vulnerable adolescent children living in the community. The first children invited to the Care Point were those who had graduated from the Eagles Wings Community School that were now in grades 7 and up. Next, they identified the children who were older siblings of the children attending the Eagles Wings and Temitope Care Points. Finally, the remainder of the children identified by the team were children whose immense vulnerability and desperate situations have forced them out of school into working situations. In 2018, 50 of the most vulnerable children began receiving a hot, nutritious meal daily and support with their education and basic health care needs from the loving Care Workers of Amokoko CBO. This number has since increased to 100 children.
Currently, the Amokoko CBO is being operated out of the local church which is a beautiful example of local community ownership. The pastor and his wife are supportive of what the Care Workers are doing, and frequently take time to pray for the children at the Care Point. A highlight for the Care Workers is the involvement of a community nurse, who has been helping to bring desperately needed medical treatment to the children.
Meet Richard
Twelve-year-old Richard* is living through the uncertainty of his mother’s health. His mother has been the sole provider for her family, but when she fell ill two years ago, things changed. Her health gradually declined and she had to be moved to another village to be closer to the health care she needed. Richard and his three siblings have been living with their grandmother, hoping their mother recovers.
Sister Moji could see the strain this put on Richard’s grandmother, and knew this family needed more support. Sister Moji invited Richard to come to the Care Point, where every day he could enjoy a meal, attend school, and have access to basic health care. This has reduced the burden on his grandmother, who is also being visited by the Care Workers every week. The relationships being built between this family and the Care Workers are bringing much-needed hope into an uncertain time.
The local Hands at Work team in Lagos currently supports three Community Based Organisations, which exist to care for the most vulnerable in their communities. The office provides training, networking, and encouragement to those Community Based Organisations like Amokoko. It also gives administrative support, including helping with funding proposals, monitoring and evaluation, bookkeeping and reporting to donors.
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Tanisha* has been living in Apatuku, a rural village outside the bustling city of Ibadan, for four years. Sent by her mother at the age of six to live with her grandmother, this move shifted Tanisha into a very vulnerable position, just like thousands of other girls across Nigeria. Her ailing grandmother cared for the young girl and appreciated her help as she was struggling to cook, clean, and do errands alone, but unfortunately was unable to send her to school. Together, they live in a small rented room, sharing a bed and the meager belongings the grandmother had collected. Tanisha, obedient and caring, worked hard to ensure she cared for her grandmother well, but inside she was deeply troubled. Tanisha desperately missed her mother and wanted nothing more than to go to school.