The International Women’s Society (IWS), known for great legacies in Nigeria and even across the globe, still has it in plans to put endless smiles on the faces of widows, unemployed youths and even the less-privileged children in order to help improve the society.
This was disclosed by Grace Kalango, the new IWS president, at the investiture ceremony, saying “even as I turn 50 this year, I plan to empower 50 widows; and not just at the trading level but beyond.”
The IWS, founded 1957 in Lagos by a group of international public-spirited women, has helped in the establishment a nursery that presently serves the needs of the market women in Tejuosho, Yaba, Lagos. It also provides a clean and conducive environment for children to be educated while their mothers make a living. They have also helped to introduce a widow’s trust fund that currently serves as an empowerment to widows on a yearly basis. The fund was introduced to help widow’s start up small-scale business in order to sustain themselves and their families.
Apart from all these, the IWS also established a skill acquisition centre for both women and men who are interested in acquiring any kind of skills. They have also opened a scholarship fund to help provide scholarships to deserving young girls up to secondary school level. The health sector also receives a great deal of contribution from the society, as they help in the provision of books and magazines to the adult and children wards of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital on a weekly basis.
Interestingly, they also own and run an orphanage in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State. The IWS has made history and is not even ready to stop. The plans to foster and promote international understanding among all people and to help advance women and children in Nigeria will be harkened to by the newly elected executive headed by Grace Kalango.
For one to be part of the IWS, one would just have to attend the meetings at least three times in a week to understand the aims and objectives of the society, and an entry fees and annual subscription of 15,000 is usually charged. This is indeed a great opportunity for women and organisations in the society to put down desired legacies, as the women urge well-meaning Nigerians and organisations to partner them in this noble assignment.
DOYIN ADEOTI
