As a part of our Radical Advent Campaign, we want to share a story from Ago Okota, another community located within Lagos, Nigeria. Ally, Precious and Caleb are the youngest of eight children in their family. They lost both parents to a tragic car accident a few years ago. Since the accident, the children have not been able to afford their rent. One by one, they dropped out of school, unable to pay for their school fees, uniforms or books. A few of the older siblings had to move to stay with a relative while other siblings tried their best to find menial work to earn enough to feed their younger siblings. They were eventually forced out of their home for not paying their rent and ended up living in a slum in Ago-Okota community. Ally, Precious and Caleb would stay home while the older siblings would go out looking for ways to make enough money to afford even one meal a day.
Things started looking up when a couple of the older siblings, Martha and Florence, were told by one of their neighbors in the community about the 'We Care' community school, which supports and cares for orphaned and vulnerable children. The sisters visited the school to see if their three younger siblings could be enrolled. Several assessments were made by the Care Workers who realized these children were indeed incredibly vulnerable, and they were enrolled at the community school. Both Ally and Precious are now in primary school while Caleb is in nursery. The children receive one hot meal per day--their only meal--at the community school. They are so happy to be back in school, learning again and making new friends. Make this a Radical Advent by supporting Hands at Work in improving access to education for poor children like Ally, Precious, and Caleb! Please consider making a donation to our Christmas campaign here.