Join us and help make a difference in the lives of our children
Our founders set out on a journey to our first target community, Kibo. located in the suburbs of Zaria Kaduna state.
We heard of an orphanage there where none of the children goes to school. We were baffled, disheartened and determined to find the root cause of the problem.
Due to the high rate of insecurity concerning orphans in the area, the children are restricted to the four walls of the orphanage.
The orphans are prone to kidnap, molestation and often times used for rituals.
These kids don’t have people around them that love and care for them, making them an easy target for the perpetrators of these evil acts.
In trying to protect the children, they were in turn deprived of their basic right of going to school, we were saddened by the situation.
We applaud the government for taking drastic measures to protect the kids but don’t you think that they should’ve provided a suitable substitute for them. Isn’t their education worth it?
We expressed our concerns to the then caretaker of the orphanage ‘Mal. Tijjani’ and he assured us that a lesson teacher comes by to the orphanage to teach the kids.
Mal. Tijjani further told us that even though the kids are getting some form of education they still struggle to meet up with the educational standards.
At the time, getting them a better tutor was the best solution but seeing as we’re just starting (having limited resources), we decided to put the project on hold.
Before going to the orphanage our initial aim was to enrol the orphans in a nearby school
On our quest to find a school for the orphans, we stumbled upon UBE primary school kofar Kibo
Upon entering the school, we could see that the school was in a really bad state. The school was fenceless, had no furniture in its classes, no functioning toilet, the roof was damaged etc. It was evident that it wasn’t a conducive environment for learning.
We were opportune to meet with the principal, Mal. Binta where she welcomed us with open arms
She discussed with us the problems and challenges the school had been facing and out of all the problems she listed, the lack of a fence was by far their most challenging.
‘No fence means no security’ she said. ‘We have cases of missing pupils, vandalism, break-ins etc. The school environment has become a passage for the residence in the community hence we can’t control the people coming in and out, this graves a big threat to the school.’
Most of the children wander off during break time; some play around the community, some go to a nearby lake while some go back home. These children are prone to a lot of vices.
‘Just recently’ she said, ‘we had a meeting with the education board in the state about the safety of students.’ The kids are getting kidnap and raped. Girls and boys. The numbers are off the charts.
The school has come up with different strategies to lessen the casualties but non can be as effective and efficient as building a fence.
We left the school that day with an aching heart but with a hopeful mind. we couldn’t just leave, we had to do something. The meaning of our name is hope and hope we were determined to give.
Members of the FLO team went back to the UBE Primary School to further discuss with the principal how the foundation could be of help.
We had a meeting with the S.B.M.C Chairman Dr Sadiq, the principal and other heads in the school. The meeting was fruitful.
We got permission to conduct a proper needs assessment and this was the bases of our projects
Build a fence project
The Toilet project
“Learning is fun” project
The foundation held a survey at Kofar Kibo/Tukur-Tukur communities Zaria, Kaduna. The survey was based on finding out the number of out of school children in those communities and their reasons.
It was a 3day door to door activity that granted us insight into the situation and current state of education in those communities.???
We were armed with our questioners and ready for answers. The experience was an ad. We interviewed some of the children and their guardians.
Some of the questions asked were; do you encourage/ want your kids to go to school? What is your take on western education?
Most of the residence gave their full cooperation whilst some you could say were indifferent.
From the survey conducted and the data gathered it was found that almost all the children go to school. The problem was discovered to be the schools themselves i.e. the education their getting and the environment they’re in.
Join us and help make a difference in the lives of our children
If you have any questions concerning our foundation, please feel to contact us.
Email: info@flofoundation.ng
Phone: +234 812 044 5513
