Hey everyone it’s your neighborhood doc…lol I watched Shazam yesterday and I’ve been in a superhero mood since then haha.
So this post is about heroes, but not the kind that wear capes, more like the “regular people” that go out of their way to make other people’s lives that bit better.
My long time friend, Dolapo Adelakun, who’s a biomedical scientist by training but works in Investment Banking in London, has had this burning passion for children since I’ve met her way back in school in 2003. She reached out to me some time ago and was like “I really want to do an outreach for children, but I don’t know how, I see you do these sort of things, can we work together?” And there and then an idea was born.
We struggled with logistical issues for a while but eventually I just asked my former secondary school classmates on the group, which led to Ope linking us with Dreams From the Slum Initiative, an NGO Based in Ajegunle, that provides education to children of lower social-economical backgrounds. And just like that, planning commenced! We aimed to cater for 50 children and so we asked them what the pressing needs of the children was at the time, which included rubber slippers, stationery sets, toothbrushes and toothpaste and 20 of them could not afford to pay their school fees – which was just N5000 per year.
We took up the challenge, set a date, and shared the requested materials with the public and donations came in from various private individuals and organizations; if you ever need proof that humanity still cares for itself, this is it!
With the donated funds we were able to get them slippers, stationery sets, toothbrushes and toothpastes, we even were able to buy cute school bags for the under 5s, and we ensured they all went home with a warm meal.
Whilst we were with them, we played games, got to know each other, and got to talk about their dreams and how they can get there. We were sure to emphasize that no one’s dreams were too big and we encouraged them to be the best versions of themselves, no matter what anyone else has to say.
It was a beautiful experience that I would suggest everyone should have, we didn’t have much, but with the little we shared that day, those children were immensely grateful.
I must thank our B.E.A.M Entertainment, and our many other donors who prefer to remain unnamed for their kind support; thank you for being the reason those children have better personal hygiene and a reminder that they can achieve their dreams. Thanks to you all, we were able to provide for 17 out of the 20 children with outstanding school fees. We look forward to being able to do more for these children.
Till next time,
Dr. ETP xo
