Widow's Empowerment Program

Agwa community is located in the Eastern Part of Nigeria. Eighty-five percent of the people are predominantly Catholics. The town has a total population of about 230,000 people with two catholic parishes, one public post primary school and, three private post-primary school. Women account for 60% of worshippers in the church while youths account for about 25% and adult men 15%. The major source of livelihood of the people is subsistence farming with crude farming tools that hardly produce enough for families. The average number in a household is 6. However, the community has some cultures and traditions that can be described as archaic. Most harrowing and senseless is the social exclusion of widows, especially young widows. They are subjected to several forms of insufferable conditions, denied community economic and other income generating activities. When a man dies, the wife is customarily accused of being responsible for the death no matter the cause of the death; as a result they are subjected to awful traditional rituals such as swearing with local deity, sleeping with the dead body before it is buried, forcing her to drink the dirty water used in cleaning the corpse and shaving of her hairs. The woman is automatically excluded from the communal farming process if she has no grown-up, male child. Consequently, bringing up their children becomes the phenomenal responsibilities of the woman solely This exclusion and other forms of isolation of these helpless widows expose them to risky behaviors to seek for an alternative source of livelihood. Many of them engage in prostitution, giving out their children for child labor and as house helps where many of the children are exploited and abused sexually. Some others women resort to stealing in other to feed their children. The consequence of all these are high level of HIV/AIDS infections; children delinquencies, increase in crime rate and youths restiveness, malnutrition of the children of these widows Based on these realities ,the Centre for HIV/AIDS and STD Research (CHISTRE),an indigenous non-governmental organization based in the community and led by an indigene of the community decided to intervene to reduce the vulnerability of these Widows to HIV/AIDS infections and other social vices by providing for them skill acquisition and income generating activities Your organization can be part of this process. We are reducing the HIV/AIDS infection through some of these creative programs and activities whilst provding life and care to the most vulnerable

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A Review of ”Agwa Socio-Cultural, Political And Economic Contemporary History: Challenges And Prospects”

In 1955, Chinua Achebe in the famous book ”Things Fall Apart” told the story of the complex and dynamic and qualities of Igbos in Umuofia. Unknown to him, he was preparing a recipe for one of the greatest revolutions in the history of Ndigbo, Achebeism has since become a doctrine of historical, socio-political and economic action for the mass of the Igboland – to the rest of the world. This is the manner of men of social consccourtience. While others sleep and dither, they ponder the history, predicament and agonising problems of society and avidly search for practical and humane solutions. Hon. Raymond Anumaka, in a breath-taking, intellectually ravishing and scholarly dogged and ponderous study, has produced a work that may well acquire the rhetorical, polemical and philosophically explosive dimension of Achebe’s oracular exposition-”Things Fall Apart” Although historical and not entirely economic, Hon. Anumaka’s work may yet crystallise an economic perspective through which the development of Agwa clan, his main theme, may be attained. Hon. Anumaka is a socio-cultural historian, educator and farmer of great renown who has also had a successful sojourn in the political arena where he gained a meteoric rise to the position of an honourable member of the Imo State House of Assembly in the second republic. The author, in this monumental work – “Agwa Socio-Cultural, Political and Economic Contemporary History: Challenges and Prospects” – has given a deeply philosophical, poetic and practical expression to this constant and perennial craving of Agwa people for identity and a meaningful life, and relief for all for those thirsting for identity around the world. In this ten chaptered book, Hon. Anumaka tackles with intellectual zest, ruthlessness and audacity the old age history, culture, traditions, economy, religion, politics and the developmental evolution of the ten towns in Agwa clan. He traces the descent of Agwa clan to Akuma, the first son of Agwa who migrated from Ihiagwa in Owerri West LGA, and points out that Nekede and Ihiagwa share the same descent with Agwa. From Hon. Anumaka’s accounts in chapters one and two, one learns the peculiarity and complexity of Agwa clan before and after the arrival of the Europeans. He includes a detailed description of the justice codes and trial process, the social and family rituals, the marriage customs, food production and preparation process, the process for shared leadership for the communities, religious beliefs and practices, and the opportunities for virtually every man to climb the clan’s ladder of success through his own efforts. In chapter two, Hon. Anumaka attempts to blend the oracles, customs, traditions and natural law of Agwa clan. From the Owu festival, to ‘Iro Mmuo’ coupled with the elegant philosophical rationalism of the prestigious Nze na Ozo title, Hon. Anumaka distils and invokes a nostalgic feeling of the sacredness of the ‘ekwe nri’ and/or the shrill cry of ‘maranu ekwu o!’ often associated with the ‘iba n’ulo ukwu’ of Ndi Nze. To the author, to sustain the Nze na Ozo institution which is gradually going extinct, there is need to jettison fetish practices associated with the title to encourage Christians to embrace it more. After a vigorously courageous exploration of the doctrines of the ofo, the ala, the echele owu, the chief priests and an exhaustive treatment of the postulates of the early white missionaries, their new religion and the holy fiats of the Bible, Hon. Anumaka laboriously extracts from the interstices of Biblical injunctions and traditional religion a theory which posits that ”Christianity did not introduce to us the idea of knowing God but rather introduced a new method or channel of worshipping considered better.” For he submits further that “our forefathers knew God and worshipped him using the instrumentality of lesser gods and spirits”. To the author, while the Bible replaced the ofo, catechists replaced chief priests, church buildings took the place of shrines, and consequently, Agwa people ”lost their identity and were conquered spiritually”. He however concedes that ”the Whiteman also brought with him western education and better ways of doing things.” The author recounts with accustomed ease the agricultural products from Agwa clan. For the author, our yam species of agammiri, ji ocha, okwuworugbo, esonso, nkuokpu, and ogbaragada have remained distinct both in taste and demand throughout Igboland. The author however, bemoans the neglect of agriculture, insisting that before the discovery of oil, palm oil and palm kernel served as Nigeria’s export products produced from Igboland. He invites the entire Igboland to imbibe the policy of cutting down old palm trees and replacing same with new ones. The author endeavours to lay down a solution and calls on individuals, corporate bodies, and governments at all levels to invest in the development of agriculture through technological development. The novelty of the proposition here is that mechanized agriculture would take youths off the street and crime, reduce unemployment and earn foreign exchange. To the author, the quest for education in Agwa started in 1963 when Ferdinand Obodo secured admission into the prestigious Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone. He goes on to give an account of the initial lack of enthusiasm on the part of Agwa people to keep the academic fire burning. He however rightly observes that lately, there is a new zeal and enthusiasm in seeking tertiary education by Agwa people which, for the author, ”is the road for the search for a new social-political and economic order in Agwa clan”. But the author adds a socio-cultural tincture when he submits that Agwa people no longer hold the belief that ”the best legacy one could bequeath to their children is a huge barn of yams and other food crops.” And as such, priests, professors, doctorate, master’s and bachelor’s degrees holders, from almost all fields of endeavour, now abound in Agwa. A very polemic question raised and to which concrete answers were attempted most vigorously is in chapter eight. The author raises the question. “Is it possible for the entire Agwa to develop without a central Union?”. The author takes heed to revered English jurist, Lord Denning’s dictum that a judge cannot simply fold his hands and blame the draftsman. So, he proffers an answer to the question he raised and concludes that “… a formidable central union in Agwa clan would galvanize and serve as a catalyst for the speedy development of the clan”. While Hon. Anumaka’s view may sound revolutionary and almost iconoclastic, it must be conceded that it is consistent with the sub theme of his book ”The Challenges and Prospects” of the Agwa clan. This is not out of place in a period of extreme arbitrariness and volatility in Agwa clan. More so, at a time when tangible government presence has continued to elude the clan owing to our diversified town unions and the tendency to disagree, and still continue to be disagreeable, as to the locus of prospective governmental projects. This divisiveness of ours gleefully oust dividends of democracy from Agwa, and successive governments are only too happy to wash their hands like Pontius Pilate. By and large, Hon. Anumaka’s standpoint is a standing and clamant challenge to the moral conscience of Agwa people. In chapter nine, Hon. Anumaka yet again delves deep into the realm of history, philosophy, truth, and exploration of space in an attempt to search for the underlying truth about autonomous community, ezeship institution. According to the author, from time immemorial up to 1978 – the inception of the reign of late Eze Stocken Okorie and late Eze Ejimmaduekwu, who ruled Obudi-Agwa and Uwaorie Autonomous Communities respectively, and then to the present era of HRH Eze (Dr.) I.O. Asor of Obudi Autonomous Community, HRH Eze Charles Ukwu (deceased) of Mgbala Autonomous Community, HRH Eze Chima Azubuike of Ubah Autonomous Community, HRH Eze Sylvester Onuegbu of Mbano Autonomous Community, and HRH Eze (Dr.) Saviour Utazi of Umuofeke Autonomous Community, the author observes that Agwa clan is privileged to have had progressive ”set of traditional rulers who have not lost focus of their primary roles as the custodians of customs and traditions of the people” and ”have made significant progress in the area of peacekeeping … in Agwa clan”. In the last chapter, the author makes a clarion call with a view to addressing security challenges in Agwa. For the author, ”security is pivotal to development, and the Agwa community should explore several means to see that insecurity is reduced even right from the immediate family circles” He therefore calls on well-meaning individuals, corporate bodies and the government ensure the establishment of a well-equipped and properly manned ultra-modern police division in Agwa. It must be stated that the genius of the Hon. Anumaka lies in his ability to neither make the book about himself nor a controversial rabble-rousing bugaboo. For he successfully and dexterously recreates the past and marries it with the present. The reader will find the work scholarly enormous. It ranges over all the broad spectrum of disciplines. The historian, the jurist, the philosopher, the religionists, the agriculturists, the economists, the astrologers will all find the book stimulating and educative. Despite a few typographical and syntax errors owing to the printer’s devil, Hon. Anumaka has provided not only the socio-political history of Agwa clan but a legacy of revolution in socio-political history and human thought. This article is written by Barr Maurice Canice Chukwu

HIV/AIDS and Disability

Deaf, blind women are always stigmatized by the community around us because of disability, they abuse them and call them “/Muzibe/Kasiru, as someone difficult to communicate to, Oboko got a man who has always pregnant her and neglected her because of the influence of the community. He always comes at night, pregnant her and leaves her with the responsibility of feeding five children which she got even without seeing the man; his work is to produce and leave her with the burden without help.” Muzibe is a derogatory word connoting someone who is blind and can’t see anything while “Kasiru” carries a meaning of someone who is stupid and useless. Now Oboko masaka has five children that cannot even find their father, they are not in school and no hope of going to school or feeding. Their mother is very ill now and the hopes of the children are hanging in balance https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/buy-toys-for-children-in-orphanage/x/10228112

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THE STORY OF HOW I STARTED A HIV/AIDS LIBRARY PROJECT IN MY COMMUNITY THAT TURNED THINGS AROUND.

In the year 2001, in the remote community of Mgbala Agwa with a population of about 350,000 people, there was high rate of death, especially youths. In one particular month 15 people died. In the first quarter of 2001, over 35 people have died. It was like an outbreak of a strange disease, the community was confused and frightened. The elders begin consultation with the gods, they were placating ancestral gods, making rituals and accusing people of being responsible for the deaths. But that could not solve the problem. I came back from the city on Easter Sunday of that year. I visited some of the sick people around, and noticed a very similar progression and manifestation in many of the sick people; I know that HIV has crept into my community with a ferocious attack. The lifestyle of youths in my community was no good to write for a second reader. As poor as the community is, yet the young boys and young girls are very fertile in reproduction. Every young boy in the community of about 16 years either has a child or has a child in the making. Young girls are proud of having children in their parent's house without marriage, thus young girls from 14 years old are either a mother or they are pregnant. Unprotected sex was very common in the community. The reason is not far-fetched. The economy of the community is very poor, and they find succor in making babies as alternative to joblessness and idleness. Now back to the sickness, when I notice that HIV/AIDS was responsible for the many deaths, I started a campaign to inform the community about the disease. I was mocked and taunted by the male. They said I was trying to expose their promiscuous life, and as well propagate white men’s agenda to them. The Agenda was that White men introduced HIV as a killer disease to reduce the population of Africa. I was frustrated, but I never relented. I came back to re-strategise, this time I involved the youths. I started a local community youth organization called Mgbala Agwa Youth Forum.(It was this youth forum that gave birth to Centre for HIV/AIDS and STD Research -CHISTRE) The idea was to educate the youths on HIV/AIDS, and they will in turn join in spreading the message of HIV.However,there was a big challenge, My own knowledge about HIV was inadequate to carry the education, it was not enough to educate the youths properly, especially with all the myths and misinformation. I thought of how to obtain some literatures and newsletters about the virus to increase my knowledge and understanding of the HIVIDS epidemic. I went back to the city where there are internet services. I started research on how to get volunteers to help us with materials on HIV, and that was how I got in-touch with Netaid. Netaid was then a UNDP supported online volunteering program, before it was later changed to United Nation Online Volunteer UNV.I contacted them, and requested that they allow me use their website to get volunteers to research for HIV/AIDS newsletters, fliers, posters and Books donation to help educate the rural youths on HIV. My application was accepted and I registered with the online program. The first online volunteer that applied was Yasemin Gunay (Please see a report on Yasemin's contribution) See the internet link http://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en/vol/stories/online_volunteers_of_2003.html#10 After one month of engaging online volunteers, books, poster, fliers, and CD ROMs started pouring in. The world was so generous; we collected over 600 books and other materials in just one month. With these materials, I opened a Library in the community Primary Health Care centre. Members of the youth organization begin to read the materials and as they gain more knowledge about HIV/AIDS; they started from their own immediate families to pass HIV/AIDS information. Gradually the message of HIV/AIDS became popular in the community. People begin to get adequate information about the epidemic, and there was sweeping change in the sexual lifestyle of the people. Unwanted pregnancies reduced, because we introduced the use of condom, we also talked about abstinence in schools. In one year, I have collected over 1500 books far beyond my imagination, and beyond the scope of the youth organization. I decided to expand the scope of the library. It was within this period that I called some community members to support me in registering Centre for HIV/AIDS and STD Research as a National NGO with board members, and structures created to make the service more effective and organized. We also started other HIV intervention programs. The Library now became the center of attraction for young people, some came to look at pictures, some came to watch films, and some even come to make research. Students from Universities begin to patronize the library. It gained a national status, and our organization and I received several awards from students unions, community and others organizations. There was one particular CD ROM that made huge impact, “The clinical manifestation of HIV".The pictorial presentation in the CD was so scary, that people begin to get scared of sex.The rate of teenage pregnancy dropped. Suddenly, people begin to ask us several question on how they can protect themselves, and those infected wanted to know how they can get medical supports. The youth organization became very popular in the community and communities within. There was rush by youths to become member of the forum, and to be part of the activities. We also received donations of condoms with which we began safer sex campaign; we distributed condoms to adults, and refer infected people to hospitals to seek medical helps. In September 2002, we had already referred 50 positive people to bigger hospitals .We distributed 2500 Ansell brand of condoms in three months. Attendance to the Library has increased to 40 visitors daily. In 2003, Yasemin Gunya, the Volunteer that organized other online volunteer for the collection of the books was awarded one of the best online volunteer of the year by the united nation Volunteer. (See Link. http://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en/vol/stories/online_volunteers_of_2003.html#10 This further increased the visibility of our organization to the international community. Yasemin a student from Turkey became a celebrity in her country. The UN award changed her and she became part of our youth’s organization in diaspora.In all these, we have never seen any of the volunteers face to face, but we communicate through emails. They ask me questions and seek for information regularly. That was the power of informational technology. I became more interested in the system. I appeared in several TV program in my state, where I talked so much about the ICT program. Many organizations from Nigeria begin to register with the UNV, and lives in the communities were touched. In 2003, because of the impact of the Library and amount of books generated from the project. United Nation Development Program UNDP decided to send in two external evaluator to evaluate the impact of the project.Mr Jacob Silberberg (Phone +6174138659) from America, a photo journalist and Tony Iyare, a correspondent with Newyork Times newspaper were sent to our community to evaluate the project. They spent three days in the community asking questions, taking photographs and visiting clinic and traditional birth attendant’s homes. Please see their report in a UNDP Choices magazine published in December 2003. See internet link. http://mirror.undp.org/somalia/december2003.pdf Apart from the Book donations, I posted two other assignments on the united nation website. Another assignment was ‘online volunteers to design a website for us’.Again, a volunteer from United State of America, Stephen Brent, applied with many other volunteers, but Stephen workplan was more attractive. We engaged him. He designed a professionally made website for us in 2005.He also won one of the best online volunteer of the year 2005 It was through the website, that we got a partnership from Sweden, which attracted a $20,000 funding. Please read more about this on the website www.mgbala-agwa.org,(now down because we could not pay for the hosting)