The volunteers at The Sapphires Development Initiative led by Miss Joy Akano and co-supported by Miss Stella Afolabi reached out to one of the orphanage homes in Osun State. A report from UNICEF (2017) says that at least 2.7 million children live in orphanages globally. The truth, however, is that this figure cannot be ascertained because many countries are simply not counting them. It could as well be ten times the UNICEF estimate. Likewise some studies shows that children from orphanage homes are 500 times more likely to commit suicide. They are also more likely to abandon their own children to an orphanage. This is as a result of inadequate show of love and unhealthy self-esteem.
The outreach which held on the 20th of March, 2020. One of our aim was to show love and help boost the self-esteem of the children. We also helped teach them about having positive values and how they can help build their society when they grow up instead of becoming a nuisance or criminals just because society has written them off.
At our arrival, most of the children looked isolated and gloomy. The moment the caregivers told the children about what TSDI came to do, their moods changed and their joy was evident. We could see how happy they were to have us around. During the interactions with them, we noticed the sense of belonging and motivation in them, and we were glad to see that a lot of them could open up to us. We were also able to teach them a lot about being hopeful despite the situation they find themselves in. We taught them about the importance of being positive, having the right attitude and a healthy self-esteem.
At TSDI, everyone’s mental, physical, and social health matters a lot because both young and old are the members of the society; a society we want to impact positively. Hence, starting with the little ones is after all a tiny drop of water in the ocean.
We are relentless however, as we keep showing love and building lives, because one of our tenets is good health and wellbeing.
In the end, we promised to visit them soon after donating some foodstuffs like cartoons of noodles, spaghetti, cartons of biscuits, some toiletries like toilet rolls, pampers, slippers and some other necessities.
