By Olasunkanmi Onifade
The AMA Care and Shelter Initiative, an NGO, has empowered women and children at the Durumi Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp in Abuja, with livelihood tools, food and educational support.
Speaking during the outreach on Sunday, Founder of the initiative, Amb. Amina Albert, said the intervention was part of her long-standing commitment to supporting displaced persons, particularly women and children.
Albert said the outreach, which coincided with her birthday, was a personal decision to give back to the less privileged.
“I am always grateful to give back to the less fortunate. I come to this IDP camp regularly, and I thought there was no better way to celebrate my birthday than to do it in my own little way, by giving back and making them happy,” she said.
She explained that witnessing the struggles of women who could not fend for their children and children who lacked access to education, had continued to motivate her humanitarian work.
“When I see women and children who cannot afford basic needs or go to school, it touches my heart. That is why I keep coming back,” Albert said.
She noted that she had been a frequent visitor to the Durumi camp, adding that she visited every December and January to assess needs and provide support.
Speaking on the focus of the AMA Care and Shelter Initiative, Albert further noted that education remained a major pillar of the organisation’s interventions.
“Education is a privilege. Some children are already 10 steps ahead, simply because they have access to education. I believe every child deserves that privilege, as well as decent and comfortable shelter,” she said.
According to her, the initiative awarded 10 scholarships to children, during the outreach, alongside empowerment support for women and men in the camp.
Albert said the items distributed included sewing and grinding machines, barbing kits and cash support to enable beneficiaries, especially widows and skilled workers without tools, to earn sustainable livelihoods.
“There are tailors here who already have skills, but lack machines to practise their trade. There are widows with no means of support. This empowerment is to help them take care of their families,” she said.
She urged Nigerians to embrace kindness and collective responsibility, stressing that even small acts of generosity could transform lives.
“Hope starts with anyone. Even as little as N10,000 can make a difference. What seems small to you, can mean a lot to someone else,” Albert said.
Speaking on government’s support to the IDPs, she called for transparency and accountability in the distribution of relief materials.
“The government needs to ensure that whatever is brought to IDP camps, gets to the people who truly need it, without politicisation or diversion,” she said.
In her remarks, the Woman Leader, Durumi Area 1 IDP Camp, Mrs Liyatu Ayuba, described the outreach as unprecedented in the camp’s nearly 15 years of existence.
Ayuba, who also coordinates women leaders across the 18 IDP camps in the FCT, said the intervention went beyond promises to deliver tangible and impactful support.
“She brought tools that will help our men and women work and earn a living. She even feeds about 1,500 women and children daily using her personal resources,” she said.
Ayuba appealed to the government and well-meaning Nigerians to emulate the initiative by supporting programmes that promote dignity and self-reliance among displaced persons.
The outreach featured food distribution, presentation of livelihood tools and engagement with women and children at the camp.(NAN)
Edited by Chinyere Nwachukwu/Tosin Kolade
