The Adekunle Child Foundation

THE ADEKUNLE CHILD FOUNDATION MARKS CHILDREN’S DAY

THE ADEKUNLE CHILD FOUNDATION MARKS CHILDREN’S DAY
The Adekunle Child Foundation (TACF), a non-govenmental organisation visited the Vine Heritage Home in Kuje, Abuja on the 27th of May to celebrate the International Children’s Day with the home. TACF is based in Abuja.
Vine Heritage Homes is a rescue home in the Federal Capital Territory that serves as a refuge for rescued children put on the death row as a result of harmful cultural practices in several villages in the FCT. These include twins, triplets, albinos, children born with disability etc.
The proprietors of the Home, Pastor and Dr. Mrs Sola Stevens who received the TACF yeam have been rescuing children in the home for about 2 decades.
The TACF team brought gifts for the children including books, school bags and other items, with so much to eat and drink. Addressing the children, the Founder of The Adekunle Child Foundation, Mr. Femi Adekunle admonished the children to be of good behaviour while stressing the significance of Children’s Day.
There was so much fun as the children played, danced and engaged in lots of games.

BIZARRE! ABUJA COMMUNITIES WHERE TWINS, BABIES ARE KILLED

BIZARRE! ABUJA COMMUNITIES WHERE TWINS, BABIES ARE KILLED
It’s unlike me to do long write-ups on social media. I know how ineffective it is however beautiful your message is. But, kindly bear with me on this occasion and be patient to read through. This is a story that will melt the stoniest of hearts.
Sometime early in the year, I was gisting with Buchi and he mentioned to me something bizarre and unbelievable. Buchi by the way is one of my sons and a youth leader, passionate about anything he does. He told me that there is a village in the city where they kill new-born twins. My ears tingled as though there was a piercing inside my eardrums. It was like a bombshell, I couldn’t believe it. This is Abuja, the FCT, seat of the government of Nigeria. “I am serious daddy”, he said, “we were there on evangelism from campus”. I lost my peace and I decided I was going to visit. Unfortunately, this couldn’t materialise as a result of Covid-19. I therefore decided to visit on my birthday, again, there were #endsars protests everywhere. Against all odds, I eventually did with some of the indefatigable members of The Adekunle Child Foundation (TACF) team.
As we drove into the interiors of Kuje, a suburb of the FCT, made famous more for the prison the community hosts, but host also to Vine Heritage Homes , I kept thinking……
Meanwhile, I had over the phone spoken to Dr. Mrs. Stevens, university don who with her husband have been doing an amazing work, unsung, in the FCT of rescuing endangered, innocent babies. The first question I asked her was, “is this true”? She confirmed it is. So I kept thinking: after almost a century and a half that a Scottish missionary had dedicated her life to eradication of the killing of twins among the Efik in the South-East of Nigeria, is this happening in today’s Nigeria, the federal capital? But yes, it is, and this is 2020, 21st Century and it’s no fairy tale. I am privileged to have visited the epitaph of the legendary Mary Slessor in Duke Town, Calabar where she was buried. This fact, in addition to the fact that I am a father of twins, stressfully explains the emotions that engulfed me.
We met the rugged Pastor Sola Stevens who is the father of the home. His story was chilling as I fought back tears. His resilience and commitment to purpose is such as I hardly ever have seen. The story started in 1996 when his fiancée then, now his wife, was posted to a rural community in the FCT as a missionary. That was when she discovered the bizarre practice of human sacrifice of babies in the community. Their Mission posted Pastor Sola, then also a bachelor, to provide support. This was how they discovered that her initial discovery was only a tip of the iceberg for more horrid, frightful discoveries that were to be made – they discovered 68 other neighbouring communities with similar practice. Since then, the couple have been stuck in the area, sold out and sacrificed to the cause they have been divinely mandated to pursue.
Vine Heritage Homes is not just an orphanage, it is much more. Whilst we thought that only twins were being rescued, it is a haven for babies whose only ‘sin’ was to have been born unique. It is a refuge for twins, triplets, albinos, babies whose upper canines grew first, babies with some form of deformity including polio, and even babies whose mothers died while breastfeeding. Such babies were either fed with poisonous herbal roots, left in the wild to starve to death or buried alive with the mother. In those days when vehicles were scarce in those rural areas, Pastor Sola would travel 35 km on foot to and fro each trip, on rescue missions, sometimes on a daily basis. The children, all of who are sons and daughters of the Stevens, number over 120 and still counting. Though through their efforts they have been able to significantly reduce these practices, the newest member of the family is just 4 months old! Now in the home, is a school.
The Stevens have become a living sacrifice. They are an epitome of humanity, beacons of hope for babies whom demonic traditions of men and satanic heathen cultures have decreed have no reason to live. They are fulfilling the mandate of the Creator over these children.
The home needs support. TACF in its own little way sowed a seed, but we feel we can do more. In the event that your heart is touched to reach out to the home and these lovely children, kindly reach me through an inbox message or through WhatsApp 08055103512. Children’s clothes, shoes etc are welcome.
‘Femi Adekunle © 2020

TACF SAYS NO TO RAPE

TACF SAYS NO TO RAPE
The screaming news feature on May 7, 2017 in The Punch looked incredibly bizarre and unbelievable: “Aisha Buhari, Sanusi visit raped 6-month old baby in Kano”, it read. Reading through, it was sadly real! A 6-month old baby had been savagely brutalized by a maniacally possessed lunatic.
A lot of unanswered questions raced through one’s mind. How indecently was this baby dressed? Was it the diapers wrapped round her, or her bib that were so sexy as to seduce a grown-up man? What kind of obscenity could a pristine 6-month old baby have displayed that would warrant an adult to lay his cursed, lecherous fingers on her?
We say this because it has become fashionable to provide nonsensical alibis for rapists, one that blames the victim for “indecent dressing” and/or “unwarranted seduction”. It is tantamount to excusing a burglar because the door was not properly locked. For such a depraved criminal in The Punch news feature, even a life imprisonment is a slap on the wrist – whether he is insane or balanced, such a man does not deserve to live.
While it is good to let ladies know how to avoid being raped, men should be told to embrace the virtue of responsibility. Ladies are to protected and not violated. For every girl, every woman raped, the entire nation is raped.
We demand justice for Vera Uwa Omozuwa.

TACF CELEBRATES WOMANHOOD

TACF CELEBRATES WOMANHOOD
Womanhood is a gift from God to man. And the world took time out to celebrate women. To all women out there as the world remembers you, a happy International Women’s Day. TACF specially celebrates its women. Amazons who tirelessly give to humanity.

TACF WINS AWARD FROM PwC

TACF WINS AWARD FROM PwC
Messrs PricewaterhouseCoopers, leading multinational audit and consulting firm recently as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), made a cash donation of N1m to The Adekunle Child Foundation (TACF) in recognition of its activities towards alleviating the plight of vulnerable children. On the 14th of December, 2019, PwC organised an event tagged the PwC 5-for-5 Charity Walk at which the presentation was made. The event took place simultaneously in 2 locations – Lagos and Abuja. The event was given coverage by the press. https://www.thisdaylive.com/…/19/pwc-empowers-five-ngos/
TACF is full of gratitude to the Management and Staff of PwC. The cash award will go a long way in enabling TACF scale up its activities and impact more women and children. The Lagos and Abuja events were captured in colorful pictures by the Press Crew of TACF.

One of our 5-point agenda is self-actualisation – helping vulnerable children to discover their purpose.

One of our 5-point agenda is self-actualisation – helping vulnerable children to discover their purpose.
Esau and Jacob are identical twins, students of GSS Yangoji. They are on TACF scholarship. Their team is participating in an FCT soccer competition for schools. Yesterday, they played against GSS Garki and won 3-2, qualifying for the quarter finals

TACF COMMEMORATES THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE GIRL CHILD 2019

TACF COMMEMORATES THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE GIRL CHILD 2019
In 2014, Wasila Tasi’u, 14-year old child bride was arraigned for the murder of her 35-year old ‘husband’. The outcry of the international and human rights communities led to her acquittal in 2015.
Out-of-school girls in Nigeria are about 7.92m, equivalent of the combined population of Sierra Leone, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau. Nigeria is home to the highest number of child brides in Africa, according to UNICEF.
Globally, October 11 of every year is declared as the International Day of the Girl Child, to celebrate every female child. At The Adekunle Child Foundation (TACF), we use the occasion to draw attention to their cause by commemorating the event every year. We held the event this year at the Junior Secondary School, Garki Abuja. Theme for this year is “GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable”.
Thanks to the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Sisters, Wives & Mothers (SWiM) and the press.
Thanks to Author Francis Ajilore who made available copies of his highly motivational piece, “MAKE THE MOST OF IT”, for donation to the girls.
The girl child is indeed vulnerable. Let’s spare a thought for her.

TACF/SWIM’s Beryl Girls Club of JSS, Garki Abuja

It was a great pleasure to host Brenda Effiom of Brencare Foundation to talk to the TACF/SWIM’s Beryl Girls Club of JSS, Garki Abuja
about Menstrual Health Hygiene. And to the awesome ladies who sacrificed their time to impact the girls – Nike Adekunle, Olayemi Olukoju Akanmode and Chimdinma Emma Odunze, a big thank you. The girls had fun and are so grateful, already asking you guys to come back. Indeed, “Girls are pearls, ladies are rubies, mothers are moulders, and women are wonderful” – Ifeanyi Onuoha

International Day of the Girl Child

International Day of the Girl Child – October 11
EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING OF THE GIRL CHILD AS HUMAN RIGHT
This time last year, it was the International Day of the Girl Child and THE ADEKUNLE CHILD FOUNDATION (TACF) commemorated it with a lecture organised for girls of a public Junior Secondary School in the city of Abuja. We partnered with the pragmatic African Women Lawyers’ Association (AWLA) and Sisters, Wives and Mothers (SWiM), a women-led NGO on the cutting edge. Theme for 2017 was Power of the Adolescent Girl: Vision for 2030. The event was such an eye opener. The girls were given an opportunity to open up to the women on their various issues. And they did! Many of them were going through various abuses – sexual molestation, indecent assault, domestic abuse etc, the festering sores of which were concealed under their flowing, faded uniforms.
Educational Psychologists have since the mid 20th century, identified 3 main domains of learning i.e. the cognitive (mental skills), the affective (feelings, emotional) and the psychomotor (physical skills). Educational curricula globally are generally defective in that they place the least emphasis on the affective. The educational system shoves loads and tons of literature and formulas down the throats of poor students who are psychologically detached from the classroom as a result of unhealed emotional wounds, and no one cares. From statistics, the girl is more vulnerable. Worse still, they are rated brilliant or dull at the end of the term, with a cognitive-only-assessment that is based on so warped a scorecard.
At TACF, we are of the opinion that an educational system that parades a curriculum that is imbalanced and less than foursquare, is an infringement of the child’s human right. With our experience from last year’s event, we are determined to provide an intervention and make a difference. It is therefore our resolve to launch a Girls’ Club at one of the Junior Secondary Schools in Abuja. It will be a platform where the girls will be provided with therapy, counselling, empowerment, motivation and many more, a platform where they will socialise, heal and learn.
Is this what government should do? yes it is. Shall we wait for the government? No we won’t. At TACF, this is our gift to them on the International Day of the Girl Child 2018.
 
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Scholarship for Samson and Charity

Samson and Charity are intelligent twins whose parents, after completing their Senior Secondary School, were unable to pay for their JAMB ans SSCE Examinations.
TACF’s attention was brought to their plight and we paid for their JAMB and SSCE Examinations. We look forward to their University Education.