About Us

Creating Meaningful Impact

NIGERWIVES NIGERIA is a registered non-governmental organization registered with Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria  – Reg. No. 5527.  Its membership is open to any foreign woman married or has been married to a Nigerian citizen and permanently resident in Nigeria.  Nigerwives Central Council manages the affairs of the National Association.  It has branches in almost all the States of the Federation and has been in existence for over forty years.

 
One of the aims of the Association is to establish or assist in social projects of benefit to the Nigerian community in the States where they reside.

Nigerwives Nigeria, Warri Branch was inaugurated on the 8th of April 2000.  It was officially launched on 17th February 2007 and has members from all over the world.  On 9th July 2005 the branch decided to embark on Project “Acchieve” – building of a Centre for challenged children as its charity project.

PROJECT ACCHIEVE

Aims and Objectives, History

It was observed that there are several infants and children in and around Warri with physical and functional limitations; and some of them, especially the intellectually disabled ones are kept hidden away by their families, as they are stigmatized by society. Learning disability in particular poses a big problem for parents, as they don’t know what to do with these children. Some enter regular schools and spend a few years without absorbing anything until they are sent out. As there are no therapy-centres or special school programs, precious time in the early development of the children is lost.

These disabilities limit to varying degrees their ability to cope with everyday life.  Moreover, the associated stigma negatively impacts on the quality of life of both child and family.

While many organizations and public spirited individuals contribute cash and kind to children and adults with health problems and disabilities, there is little coordinated effort geared towards addressing the problems of disabled infants and children and virtually none for their parents.

We are a group of foreign women, married to Nigerian men, registered as ‘Nigerwives Nigeria’ – a non-profit organization.  Our Branch in Warri decided in 2005 to build a Centre, where children with special needs can be taken care of.  

The Centre is designed to achieve the following:

1. To provide a place where parents can bring their disabled infants and children for assessment, daycare facilities, special activities such as play therapy, exercises and communicating skills, as well as basic education and speech therapy.

2. To implement programmes for disabled children, starting in infancy and early child-hood. These would utilize the period of maximum brain development and give the best chance of maximizing   a child's potential.

3. To arrange seminars and workshops.

4. To educate and encourage parents, carers and other stakeholders concerning family/home based oriented care.

5. To enlighten and sensitise the public, increasing social awareness and attracting donations as well as volunteers. 

The Project runs under the name ‘Acchieve’, which is an acronym for:       

Action for Children with Co-ordination, Hearing, Intellectual, Expressive, Visual, Educational disabilities.

With donations, including land and building plans, from philanthropic individuals and companies, we were able to start building.  In 2014, we had completed and furnished the first building and started operations. 

Presently, we have 30 children registered, ages 4 to 20, who are being taught individually in small groups by 5 special education teachers and one assistant and are being taken care of by 3 nannies from 8am to 2pm (older ones till 3pm) Mondays to Fridays. We have children with Autism, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Learning Disabilities, etc. Half of them have speech problems and are getting speech therapy. The older children, 13 and above, are also introduced to vocational skills like shoemaking, sewing, beading, hairdressing, etc.

The building is ‘full to capacity’ and by Dec. 2017, it became necessary to expand. 

Thanks to the generous support of friends and organisations, we could do the foundation of three additional buildings in Jan.2018, and were able to complete the decking of all three buildings in January 2021. 

Lack of funds however, made us not to continue until last month, when we started 

the next stage – Decking to Roofing, which will cost roughly 10 Mio.Naira. 

By the time we are able to complete the remaining buildings, we will have space for many more kids. In addition, we will have therapy rooms and a big hall for group activities, talks and seminars, etc. 

For building as well as for part of the monthly expenditures, we depend on donations. 

[Our monthly budget for salaries, electricity, repairs and sundries is presently on the average 600,000.-Naira. Added is ₦ 600,000.- cost of yearly rent for 2 flats for teachers. That is a total of  7.8 mio naira per year. Only half of this amount is covered by school fees, the rest has to be covered by donations, as we intentionally keep the fees comparable with regular schools.].

To complete and furnish the remaining buildings, we would need about 50 mio. Naira.

Updated 09 .11.22

Gratia Amadasun

Project Administrator