A women’s empowerment group in Abuja, Finewiners Network, has concluded plans for a medical outreach that will see its members donate medical supplies to Nyanya General Hospital in commemoration of Saturday’s International Women’s Day (IWD) celebration.
International Women’s Day (IWD), celebrated every March 8, is a global day celebrating women’s social, economic, cultural and political achievements. It also marks a call to action to accelerate women’s equality.
The group’s president, Emem Everest, said her members are celebrating the IWD at Nyanya General Hospital during which pre-natal and post-natal items, and neonatal items, would be donated and also pay the medical bills for some less privileged female patients.
Before now, the group’s president said its activities were limited to empowering market and petty traders to support their families but decided this year to also reach out to hospitals to support needy women patients.
“It is the first of its kind in our activities. Before now, we visited orphanages, and communities for outreach but decided to do something different this year. We will be going to Nyanya General Hospital to donate medication and other items needed in hospitals”, stated Emem.
“We also want to pay some hospital bills of women on admission or outpatients who are not financially buoyant. We will also give ante-natal and prenatal items to the hospital. We have started donating towards that event and our goal is to make some women happy in commemoration of International Women’s Day”.
The Network, which is in its second year and has grown from five friends of like minds to over 30 members between the ages of 35 and 40, focuses on sisterhood, to lift women to support their families.
The Network, championed by Emem who started with an NGO in 2019, is a business group where members pool resources to empower women, especially market and rural women.
“From the NGO days which have always been supported by my four friends with whom I started this Network, we have trained over 500 women. We train and support 50 women at a go and have been doing this since 2019” noted Emem who said her husband is her number one supporter.
Speaking on the idea behind the group, Emem who grew up in a communal environment in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state noted that her late father was always settling quarrels over money between husbands and wives and decided to be a blessing to her husband and the womenfolk, especially those who have nothing to do.
“My late father happened to be the family head at a time, and most of the time people do come to our compound to settle fights. And being the last born of the family, I had the opportunity of sitting down and hearing them all. And over time, I realised that the cause of the fights was money. And the issue is that either my aunties or cousins’ wives stay at home with nothing to do. The husbands were the only ones footing the bills and other responsibilities.
“And then I looked at my parents who were working and both, contributing and providing for the house. So rarely will you see them fight on issues concerning money. And since that time, as a child, I wanted to make my own money.
“And from the day I got married, I knew I had to support my husband and the house. And because I have kids and may not be able to do the 8 to 5 pm jobs and attend to the home front, I decided to do businesses I can do from the comfort of my home”.
She said Finewiners, besides being an empowerment group, is also business-oriented, making money for its members.
“We encourage members to contribute money which we pool and invest in different businesses. We do this because there are businesses, we do for which only one person can’t provide the seed money, but we can do by pooling resources together”.