Glorious Vessels Foundation lifts hearts of downtrodden in Lagos

For Esther Michael and her four out-of- school children, Saturday, May 23 is one day they won’t forget in a hurry. This was when a not for profit organisation, Glorious Vessels Foundation, an arm of Hope Now, visited their Iyana Ipaja community in Lagos, not only to feed but also assist the less privileged.

Esther’s family were not the only ones to be lifted out of misery. The destitute in the area were identified and given food packs and promised stipends that would transform their fortunes.

One of the organisers of the event, Pastor Rock Oluwasina, said the parent foundation, Hope Now is doing similar things in countries like India, the United States and other places where the founder, Peniel has identified people with need.

“We are in other countries and doing the same thing we are doing in Nigeria. It has been able to help children go to school and till now we are still sponsoring those children,” Oluwasina said.

According to him, those identified with serious needs will be contacted, their children enrolled in school and their parents would be supported with money to start something so they can cater for their families.

Oluwasina said the organisation is also providing monthly feeding to the children it is sending to school.

“What we have done now is to get the contacts of these people and later come to investigate. Do they really have a home? What school are the children going to? The money will be paid directly to the school and not to the parents to make sure that the children are actually going to school,” he said.

He said even though Glorious Vessels and its parent body, Hope Now, would like to partner with government agencies, the plan is not immediately in the works.

Just as the event was rounding off, members of the organization were approached voluntarily by 10 year old Mohammed and her 13 year old sister, Faisat, also out of school children who asked that officials of the Glorious Vessels Foundation speak with their mother who sent them to hawk sachet water so she could send them to school.

Now Joseph, 13, Favour 9, John and 10 months old Timothy, all children of Esther can have rock solid hope of a better future.

The foundation, which was founded by Ruckey Peniel, an internationally renowned lawyer, pastor and motivational speaker and which recently put smiles on the faces of widows of victims of the insurgency in Nigeria’s northeast, has on its board eminent Nigerians like Chief Olusegun Odegbami, a former Nigerian international and one-time captain of the Green Eagles, Mr. Emeka Mba, former Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), and Barrister Godwin Dudu-Orumen, Chairman, Edo State Sports Commission.