How ordeals of women suffering gender abuse spurred me into forming AWOM – Mary Dale, by Stanley Ugagbe

Alarmed by the ordeals of women suffering gender abuses, the lack of preference for the girl child education, amidst other nauseating issues rocking different parts of Nigeria, a thoughtful Ajeh Mary Dale launched into action to help curb these issues and bring smiles to the faces of victims.

Since 2004, Dale has been a savior to many, her good deeds are visible to the blind and audible to the deaf.

As part of strategies to help address the growing issues in some selected Nigerian States, she recently held a fund raising event.

In this interview with Stanley Ugagbe, the Exceptional Dale harped on what informed the initiative, the journey so far and future goals.

NCNC: Tell us briefly about yourself

Mary: I am the founder/CEO of African Women on Mission (AWOM). I am also the co-founder and managing partner of WeCare Loving Home Services here in Ontario Canada (A healthcare agency). I hold a bachelor’s degree in Community Mental Health, a diploma in Social Service Worker and another in Community Support Worker. I have worked and volunteered in various organizations such as Saint Elizabeth Healthcare, Dixie Bloor Neighbourhood Centre, The Salvation Army Shelter, Young Street Mission (YSM) AND Youth for Purpose Canada. I am a Christian and married with four amazing boys.

NCNC: What exactly motivated you into caring for people that are displaced in Nigeria? What is the name of the initiative? Is it gender-based? How long has it been running?

Mary: Growing up in the Northern part of Nigeria, I saw so many women suffer gender abuse. I also witnessed the lack of preference for the girl child education and how young girls were married off early to secure funds for the boys to attend school. I knew from then that I needed to do something to change this narrative. I also noticed how dilapidated most public schools were and how most of the girls that got pregnant and dropped out of school were from public schools. I told myself, I wanted to do something to change that as well. As I grew older, my personal experience added to my motivation to make sure that other young girls, as much as I can help it, would not suffer what I suffered. As such, I looked for opportunities to support them; that was how AWOM came into existence in 2004. We started by training teenagers in secondary schools to be peer mentors, supporting and mentoring other students within their schools and organizing spelling bee competitions in public schools in Nigeria. We experienced a long pause between 2008 to 2010. Which was due to a lack of funding support. We began again in September 2011 till date and have been going since then.

NCNC: What are the long and short term goals of the initiative?

Mary: Some short-term goals of the initiative are to secure funds to complete our ongoing projects such as the community clinics, renovation of some public schools, provision of boreholes in some IDP camps (internally displaced people) send at least 3 thousand girls from our various locations back to school and train at least 5 thousand women from the different IDP camps on some trade skills and provide them with start-up funds. Our long-term goals would be to see that better priority is given to the girl child education in communities we have worked with and to see more women in these villages playing a big part in supporting themselves, their families and their communities. Also, the clinics we built are able to support the healthcare needs in the various communities free of charge. We want students in these public schools to have a better and more conducive learning environment. Through our teacher’s program, we will like to see the teachers in the village schools come every day to teach and take their jobs more seriously. This way, the students can perform as well as students in private schools or even better. Through our breast cancer program, we want to see that more women in the villages are aware of breast cancer, can check themselves for early detection and get the right support.

NCNC: What are the policies that drive the initiative?

Mary: We want to make sure that we reach out to the poorest of the poor, go to places where no one would want to go and provide support regardless of culture, tribe and religious belief. Our core principles are founded in Colossians 3: 23 “Whatsoever ye do work heartily, as unto God and not unto men”.

NCNC: How are you able to manage and run the initiate successfully despite not being resident in Nigeria?

Mary: It has not been easy running the initiative from here. One of the major challenges is the difference in time. This means I sometimes stay up till about 4 or 5 AM when most people are already about to wake up for the day. But one thing that has made it easy is having partners that have the same vision as me. They have been very dedicated and supporting this work. We have constant zoom meetings, and constant WhatsApp conference calls which mean my phone never goes off. We also make sure to constantly train our volunteers and staff constantly and make sure that salaries are paid on time. I try to create healthy competition among the various branches, Lagos, Adamawa and Benue. Each year-end, the best team wins the gift for the year. It could be cash prizes, food items or special materials and even back-to-school items for their kids with part fee payments.

NCNC: How would you describe the journey so far? What are some of the challenges you have faced so far?

Mary: The journey so far has been very tough, I have had people tell me that I am wasting my time. While we have been called and treated as beggars while trying to get funds. I have had to deal with dishonest staff members who were only there for their own benefit. In the end, God gave me women who are passionate and can be trusted. One of the biggest challenges so far is trying to balance being a wife and parent with all I do. As well as being a black Nigerian female from a minority tribe. Our biggest challenge in all of these is the constant corruption and bad governance in Nigeria. It saddens me that each time we have to pay community leaders just to provide support for their community members. Also, due to the countless challenges in the country, it has become increasingly difficult to see much effect in the support we provide. More people are now in the IDP camps, most of the village schools are shutting down, and the poverty level is so high that more and more child marriages are encouraged to support the rest of the family. These are some of the challenges we face constantly.

NCNC: You recently held a fundraising event. Did you accomplish the goal? What are your future plans?

Mary: The fundraiser was poorly attended, due to the fact that it was a Thanksgiving weekend. We will be more careful next time. But we had very distinguished guests in attendance who came and supported us. Also, some of the people who were away and unable to make it sent in their donations via e-transfers and through the fundraiser, we now have monthly donors here and in Nigeria. It also served as a lunch here in Canada. So overall, we can say, it was a huge success. Of course, we would have loved to raise more funds. Lol

For more details, visit their website @ https://africanwom.org/. They can be contacted through 647-917-7795 or +234-807-491-2716. And for support, make donations to the account details – 1017101636, Zenith bank.