Wednesday, 30 December 2020 / Published in Community Development, Posts, Scholarship, Women Empowerment

Every 2nd of October is dedicated as International Day of Non-Violence and World Smile Day. International days are occasions to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. The existence of international days predates the establishment of the United Nations, but the UN has embraced them as a powerful advocacy tool. The international Day of Non-Violence is observed on 2nd of October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandi, leader of the Indian Independence movement and pioneer of the philosophy and strategy of non-violence. The 2020 theme for the International Day of Peace is ‘’Shaping Peace Together’’. Celebrate the day by spreading compassion, kindness and hope in the face of the pandemic. Stand together with the UN against attempts to use the virus to promote discrimination or hatred. The purpose of this Article is to create Awareness about Violence, Different forms of Violence, prevention of Violence and how to create peace through Non-violence.

  • WHO Defines Violence as the use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in Injury, death, psychological harm, mal development or deprivation.
  • Nonviolent action is a technique by which people who reject passivity and submission and who see struggle as essential can wage conflict without violence.
  • The principle of non-violence- also known as non-violent resistance- rejects the use of physical violence in order to achieve social or political change.
  • We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make strong progress towards it.
  • There are three main categories of non-violence action:
    1. Protest and persuasion, including marches and vigils;
    2. Non-cooperation; and
    3. Non-violent intervention such as blockades and occupations.
  • In order to create a peaceful world, we must learn to practice nonviolence with one another in our day-to-day interactions by embracing the following:
    1. Harmony: choosing not to engage in any form of gossip today contributes to harmony.
    2. Friendliness
    3. Respect
    4. Generosity
    5. Listening
    6. Forgiveness
    7. Amends
    8. Praising

How to Achieve Peace through Nonviolence:

Become a champion of love and harmony by committing yourself to grow peace through nonviolence and build a better world by embracing the following:

  • Promote diplomacy and meditation as means for resolving conflicts between the oppressed and oppressors. Practice your own diplomatic skills to convince others of your position.
  • Advocate social justice, fair economic systems, democratic principles, understanding, respect, and tolerance between peoples.
  • Oppose cultural violence and media violence through participation in boycotts, and local. State and national campaigns.
  • Resist injustice through nonviolent demonstrations.
  • Demonstrate peaceful acts of kindness daily.
  • Foster peace education to promote the values, attitudes, and behaviors of nonviolence, conflict resolution, dialogue, and consensus building.
  • Begin the process to achieve peace through nonviolence by first developing inner peace using meditation, prayer, and mindfulness.

In conclusion always remember that little or no progress can be achieved in an atmosphere of chaos, contribute your quota to the social and economic growth of the society you belong to by embracing nonviolent approach to achieve social or political change and rejects the use of physical violence.

Tuesday, 22 December 2020 / Published in Education Development, Scholarship, Women Empowerment

Nigeria faces poverty paradox as her people are still faced with poverty despite enormous resources and wealth. Nigeria is the 27th poorest country in the world as about 70% of her population live on less $1 per day. Most of these population, especially the youth and children, live in rural environment where their subsistence depends on the forest and river. There is also a vicious circle of poverty in Nigeria, thereby, it is being passed from one generation to another.

An inter-relationship has been found between literacy and poverty; functional education has been observed to be one of the most appropriate and effective ways to empower the youths. This link between education and poverty can be understood in two ways:

  • Investment in education as poverty reduction strategy can enhance skills and productivity in poor household
  • Poverty is a constraint to educational achievement both at the macro – level (poor countries generally have lower level of enrolment) and micro level (children of poor household receives less education).

It is this understanding, coupled with the first-hand experience our Founder – Rev. Olusola Areogun – with poverty as a student that propelled and motivated him to set up educational initiatives and programs under this organisation to boost literacy and educational development in the Nation. to in order to assist indigent Christian student across the country (Nigeria) to fulfil their God given dream of having a tertiary education.

Friday, 04 December 2020 / Published in Education Development, Posts, Scholarship, Women Empowerment

The Olusola and Oyenike Areogun Development Initiative (OOADInitiative) has provided full scholarships to three children of missionaries in Nigeria to attend a world-class secondary school.

This facilitates their exposure to international exams and certifications such as Cambridge GCSE, SAT and DELF French Language examination through its “Operation Give a Life a Destiny” (Operation GLAD).

This brings the total number of beneficiaries to over 70 students comprised of at least 60 indigent students and 10 academically excellent students. These OOADInitiative scholarships have made the dream of higher education a reality for recipients across Nigeria in the past five years.

OOADInitiative is a Christian-based non-governmental organisation and the development arm of the Sola Areogun Ministries, where support is given to vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals and communities, thereby empowering them to fulfil their dreams.

In addition, the foundation has provided micro-credit loans for disadvantaged women to kickstart small-scale businesses for women empowerment. A vocational school was also established to focus on equipping under-privileged and disabled women to acquire skills in catering, baking, jewellery crafts, among others.

According to the foundation’s initiators, Reverend Olusola Areogun and Reverend Oyenike Areogun, the thematic focus of OOADInitiative is achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) focused on education, women empowerment and community development.

“This is evident in our various projects such as scholarships for indigent undergraduate students, Operation GLAD, proposed public library, vocational school for women and girls, a micro-credit scheme for women, provision of clean water and sanitation, medical aid and support, and our Tabitha Project (outreaches to schools and villages).”

This is a unique approach to reaching your world that other religious bodies can emulate to achieve the greater good for the greatest number of people.

Article also available at https://guardian.ng/news/foundation-gives-scholarships-to-indigent-students/

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