States have been told to reconsider the order asking orphanages throw out grown up orphans who have not yet found means of livelihood.
Blessing Henry Echenwo, founder and director of Priesthood Orphanage in Elelenwo area of Port Harcourt, who made this request said throwing out such category of orphans will end in disaster.
Echenwo, mother of six and a consummate childcare practitioner, disclosed this in an interview with Correspondents who paid a visit to the Priesthood Orphanage Thursday January 26, 2023 as part of the Correspondents Week activities.
She said the push has forced her to try and set up a youth hostel service because she could not throw the growing boys into the streets.
The Rivers-born keeper told newsmen that government must look at the order again. “There is something the government has to look into. The Ministry officials do not allow us to keep those that have concluded their secondary school education to stay on. They require us to discharge them, teenagers. The problem is to where?”
She urged the state government to please help to provide quarters for grown orphans who need their own accommodation and catering. She said they needed to live in such places until they can cater for themselves.
She went on: “A law or provision should be made by government for such category of orphans who can no longer live in the orphanage but are not capable of fending for themselves. Throwing them to the streets is callous, or asking us to throw teenagers to the streets is unbelievable.
“Let government create estates or a residential zone for such persons. The girls fare better because they can easily marry out but boys are greatly disadvantaged. They have nowhere to go to.”
She said some orphans are traceable but some are not. “There are those in Rivers State whose parents were killed by herdsmen. Their relations brought them here. They can be traced. But there are those that have no link to their parentage. They belong to the government.
“We bring them up with the fear of God but if we throw them into the streets, they would join bad gangs.”
She said some are children whose parents died and their relations rejected them as demons, witches or wizards. “When they get here, we bombard them with prayers and after some time, nobody can call them witches or wizards. We have a sanitised environment that does not allow witches to manifest.”
She went on: “Even the very stubborn ones, we later find them very strong, brilliant and courageous. Satan wants to brand them and condemn them but here it is fire-fire centre. We later discovered why Satan wanted to claim them. These ones turn to weapon in God’s hand. So, do not reject any child.”
Priesthood Orphanage is about 14 years in existence, she said, and they currently have over 100 children in three centres including Elelenwo as headquarters, then Eleme and Abuja. In Eleme, we they have disabled persons while grown up ones are said to be in the Abuja centre.
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“This is a vision God gave me years ago, to cater for orphans and people of special needs. I have continued to realize the objectives of the vision because the practice has continued to grow from strength to strength. I received the revelation again when I had my sixth child to cater for youths and widows.’
The inmates receive feeding, accommodation, clothing, education, health, etc. All the children are in school, she said, adding that few others are in the university; some on scholarship.
Echenwo said: “I am veering into youth empowerment and support for widows. That is why I am appealing to the state government to extend youth support to this place.
“Many young people do end up impregnating young girls and soon, they have children on their hands. The ones around come here for food and support for those children.
“This is my passion, my life. I will continue to push this vocation. Many people help us, but we call on philanthropists to come to our aid in terms of accommodation, scholarships, fees, books, etc. These children are gifts to humanity. Let’s not reject them. There are many talents within them. They are prayer warriors and they eagerly pray for those that visit us and give us things. Their prayers work a lot.”
The children who now act like prayer machines poured blessings on the journalists and asked God to protect them while beginning coverage of the 2023 elections.
Speaking while delivering an envelope on behalf of the Journalists, Ignatius Chukwu, chairman of the Correspondents Week Committee, said they intend to adopt the Priesthood Orphanage as their permanent centre of attention.
