MATUMAINI Initiative donates welfare materials to women in LASUTH
By Chima Azubuike
The Executive Director of Matumaini Initiative; Adewale Onagbesan, says his organisation has donated welfare materials to women at the Obstetrics and Gynecology section of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.
Our correspondent reports that Matumaini Initiative which draws its name from Swahili, means Hope. However, the group steadily provides succour to underprivileged in the society.
According to Onagbesan, the items were donated with the support garnered from family, friends, relatives, well-wishers, and volunteers with the Initiative, adding that “we reached out to women at the Obstetrics and Gynaecology section of the Institute of Mother and Child Health (AYINKE House) at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos on Friday, April 7, 2023.”
The Matumaini boss added, “We donated welfare materials, toiletries and other care packages. What stood out for me was the overwhelming joy from the financial support we offered to pay off the medical bills of some women, so they could be discharged and reunite with their families.”
He disclosed that the gesture emphasis the need for the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal three, which aspires to ensure health and well-being for all.
“Again, I’m reminded that ‘no one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another’. Here, the charge by Martin Luther King Jr. comes to mind; ‘what are you doing for others?’. This hospital outreach is significant in the fact that it is a great contribution to the actualisation of SDG 3, and we executed it on World Heath Day, and we are encouraged by our show of love and kindness to people with different medical conditions,” Onagbesan added.
While recalling his previous interventions which have been geared towards reducing pain, addressing poverty and undeserved lack in the society especially among children and women, Onagbesan expressed optimism that Matumaini would continue to meet the yearnings.
Onagbesan said, “Since my last outreach to the Nigerian Custodial Centre (Ikoyi Prison), I have had a huge burden within me to reach out to Women with medical conditions, and the end goal is to give hope to them through our kindness. Understanding that ‘you have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you’ was the greatest force that inspired reaching out to these women.
“In 2020, I reached out to school children in Lagos and engaged them in a career counselling program. To consolidate this in 2021, I reached out to differently able school children at Modupe Cole Home for the physically challenged and families living in the Makoko slum community where we distributed welfare materials. Also, in 2022, I reached out to inmates at Ikoyi Prison (Nigeria Correctional Centre) where we donated welfare materials and sanitary pads. We also sponsored 50 inmates for the 2022 JAMB UTME exam and trained over 50 inmates in 21st-century TECH and Employability skills, facilitated by Eyitayo Ogunmola (CEO, UTIVA) and the team at ARISTOKRAT Consulting. With these accomplishments, it was evident that there is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.”
Revealing his organisation’s most recent efforts, in bringing succour to the recent train/lag bus crash the ED said, “As part of our focus at MATUMAINI, and in the spirit of Easter, we paid a courtesy visit to the Special Adviser on Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations, Lagos State – Hon. Mobolaji Ogunlende, through whom we extended our deepest condolences to the AINA family, who lost their precious daughter to the tragic Train/Bus Accident in Lagos on March 9, 2023. We also donated a welfare package to the family through Hon. Ogunlende, and we pray that God will continue to strengthen them.”
Onagbesan commended his support base for believing in the course of his organisation, stressing that with their efforts the load had become lighter, “We want to extend our special appreciation to the Commissioner for Agriculture, Lagos State – Hon. Ms Ruth Abisola Olusanya, for her kindness and generous support, as well as the Special Adviser on Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations, Lagos State – Hon. Mobolaji Ogunlende, for his encouragement and invaluable support,” he stated.
