Who We Are?

Our history comes from Joy recounting the hardships faced by her widowed mother and the inspiration that led her to start the organization.

“My grandmother was a widow. My mother was a widow. I have deep memories of what I saw them experience. My father died in 1998 leaving my mother with 7 children. The days were hard with no help coming from anywhere. My mom had to stay back at her job to do extra hours just so we could eat and go to school. With 3 Children in the University and 4 others coming up fast behind, life was nearly impossible. But God supplied grace.

Then again, I watched as a pastor friend of ours was lowered to the grave with 3 Children for his widow to cater for. Seeing that woman’s tears broke my heart. How was she going to cater for these three blessings with the ordinary teacher’s salary in our current Nigeria, as if that was nit bad enough, we came back from that burial and early hours of the morning, we got news that another pastor friend of ours had passed away leaving 5 children behind.

Then I made up my mind to use all I have to help widows. Marriage in traditional societies in Africa expects the wife to devote her time, skills and energies to taking care of her husband and her children. Whatever she does economically is by the side. Usually subsistent. So when her husband dies suddenly, its impact is devastating! There is no insurance. No safety nets. Nothing but many mouths to clothe, feed and train. Destitution is almost sure. I started by providing support for my four widowed friends. Seeing them go through hardship was heartbreaking. I proposed in my heart to support them with whatever I had for food and for school fees. From there, I saw the impact I could make with just a little more money.

In 2018, the Lord laid it in my heart to celebrate the end of the year with widows who had toiled tirelessly all year to provide for their families. As I obeyed that call, God not only blessed me with funds from family and friends but also blessed me with people who willingly served to make the call possible. We were able to celebrate with 50 women and provided them with food and other materials and cash gifts. The outpouring of thanks from the widows spurred us into doing more and by August 2019, 12 Baskets Helping Hands Initiative was born”.