Tunde Blessed SHONDE’s Birthday Goodwill Outreach to Abashola Village, Oyo State, Nigeria (West Africa)

PROJECT SUMMARY:  The birthday goodwill outreach held on august 15, 2020 at Abashola village, Oyo state, Nigeria (West Africa) with the aim of giving hope to the rural poor by providing relief materials to meet their basic needs. Our team arrived at the village around 11:45am and without further ado, we commenced the business of the day. The activity lasted about two and half hours and we exited Abashola at about 2:15 pm.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: 231 beneficiaries were recorded at the outreach. This includes 51 female adults, 42 male adults, 15 female youths, 21 male youths, and 102 children. The relief materials were packaged as follows:

Women: rice, beans, salt, matches, and groundnut oil

Men: bathing soap, bar soap, detergent, and toilet roll

Male youths: spaghetti, milk, toilet roll, and bathing soap

Female youths: spaghetti, milk, sanitary pads, and bathing soap

Children: noodles, biscuit, toothbrush, toothpaste and milk

PROJECT FEEDBACK: The outreach was a very successful one. It gave the team members the opportunity to harness their various skills such as; organization, communication, planning, e.t.c. The volunteers’ coordination and outreach execution was excellent. The community members cooperated well with the sitting arrangement in compliance with the Covid-19 social distancing orders.The assistance and hospitality given by our contact persons was awesome. Moreover, the transportation arrangement was hitch free and money was spent within the limit of the budget.

CHALLENGES: There are no major challenges encountered during the course of the outreach.

RECCOMENDATIONS: immediate effort should be taken to meet the pressing and urgent needs of the community, as revealed by the Focus group Discussion with the community members. This includes toilet facilities to cater for the growing population of the community. Efforts should also be made towards the establishment of a standard school system in the community.