Kehinde Adelaja Okorafor, the founder of Make Me Elegant Foundation and the CEO of Next Level Hair Manufacturers has begged people who own Non-Governmental Organizations to stop treating widows as handicapped people in the society.

Kehinde Adelaja Okorafor

In a recent Interview, Okoroafor while speaking on how she started another foundation that helps young widows between the ages of 22 to 40, stated that her main focus is looking out for the young widow by empowering and encouraging them to stand on their own and not treat them like beggars.

She explained that she hates the idea of always calling about widows to events and giving them rice and money.

She stated that though giving them rice is not totally a bad idea but those item cannot sustain them and their family for long.

“I don’t want to make my widows beggars. I don’t like that idea of just giving my widows food. Even the International Widows Day this year, I titled our programme of giving, ‘Hope In The Midst of Despair’. I told the young widows in my foundation that I want them to be the ones sharing gifts to people. When foundations organize seminars, they call widows and give them rice, some other food items and clothes which would last them few days. These items make widows feel they are vulnerable for them to become beggars. I don’t like it at all. I tell people that so many women, their husbands are not dead physically but their wives live like they are widows because their men do not support them. Does that make them handicap not to take care of their children? Absolutely No. if those women whose husbands are not supporting them are not begging and they are working hard, you too whose husband is no more should stand on your feet and work. I don’t even like them to dress shabbily. I don’t want these young widows to be begging widows. I empower them to be supporting widows; I want each of them to be a giving widow. I want them to stand on their feet and work. I don’t have money to give all of them, so I made provisions to train them. And I see results. Most of them have good businesses. Some make braided wigs. Some sell fairly used clothes and I encourage them by buying from them. I don’t allow them to wallow in self pity,” she said.

She further encouraged widows to stop whipping up sentiments with their situations.