…Pledged to quit prostitution
By Gabriel Udeh, Kaduna
An NGO, ”Giving Value to Women initiative of Nigeria” has trained some commercial sex-workers on various skilled acquisition program in in Kaduna state.
The training by the humanitarian in various part of kaduna state north western Nigeria was aims at changing their lives for better through embracing different kind of skills that would make them self-dependent and value their lives for better-future;
Speaking to journalists, the founder of the NGO Mrs. Caroline Idoko said her organization started in 2015, saying the organization was founded for ladies of easy virtue especially prostitutes “who left their families due to some circumstances including broken homes, rape victims among others.
She said, for the past four years, they’ve sensitizing these young energetic ladies with different skills and knowledge to change them for better.
Some of the skills include Beadmaking, Household cleaning agents like liquid soap, scouring powder, Carwash, Air-freshner, Bleach, Dettol, Izal, Cosmetics, Body spray, Handwash, Body lotion, hair cream, shampoo, conditioner, Hair gloss, Vaseline.
She said, “I was moved to compassion when I discovered that a group of vibrant young skillful women sustain themselves through prostituting and sleeping with different men on daily basis to earn a living.
“I started making friends with them and gradually, I got trusted by them and they accepted me and opened up”. I thought my self, I said have skilled let me teach them and show them love.
“I have graduated 18, and next week by God willing, I will graduate 2 and send them back home to go and stay with their friends and family and start a new life with the skills that I trains them”, she said.
Caroline added that most of the ones she graduate, some years back are making serious progress in their daily lives, while some are even preparing to get married and continued their lives. The founder of the organization said one of the biggest challenge she faced is lack of fund and capital to enable her trained hundred of these young energetic ladies and more, in order to save them from all form of sexually transmitted diseases STD and the daily embracement, humiliation they face from Customers they attended.
“My friends and families were the only ones helping me with little assistance to help them, and the aims is to change their lives from prostitution to be a better women by embracing skilled that would help them be self dependent at any where they find themselves.” The outbreak of Covid-19 and lockdown by state and federal Govt has put many of them into difficulties in which no organization supported them with any palliative due to lack of not recognition of them in the society. Since the creation of the NGO, there has never been any support from the state government neither any corporate organization or civil society organization that visit or support them with any materials which can be of help towards transforming these young ladies live for better. “They are human being and they are living with us, they need our help and support to make them be a better women through embracing a skills that would make them a great women.
She then called on federal ministry of women affairs, all humanitarian organization, corporate bodies, wealthy individual, to support in- training more of these ladies with training materials so as to make these young energetic ladies quit prostitution and embraced skills to better their lives.
Caroline said she is hoping to graduate many by nest year, but she called for support from every Nigerian” praying that one day, there will be no women that would be prostituting risking their lives sleeping with all kind of men for survival. Some of the beneficiaries that received the training expressed satisfaction and prayed for wealthy individual to always support an NGO that help in transforming commercial sex workers to be a professional skilled women in the future.
Some of them narrated bitter experiences they went through on how they have to sleep with so many men against their wish to pay house rents, “We want to learn new skills ,to quit this ugly job”, a beneficiary who was promised anonymity lamented.
