Kunle ADELABU
Pen and Pencil Project, a foundation committed to putting smiles on the faces of people in the society, announced its formation recently by distributing school and food items to pupils and residents in Ikorodu.
According to the representative of the foundation, Mr Toheeb Bakare, the foundation was registered abroad for the purpose of impacting on developing countries and has equally identified educational sector as an area where people are in need of support.
He spoke with THE IMPACT at an outreach programme of the foundation held at Obafemi Taiwo Street, Ikorodu, where over 1000 exercise books and writing materials were distributed to pupils and students living in the area.
About 100 families also benefitted from the foundation’s food distribution gesture.
“Pen and Pencil Project is a non-profit charitable organization that was designed for the purpose of bridging the gap between the privilege and the non-privilege in our society.
“Today, we are capturing this area because I grew up in this environment. We are distributing over 1000 thousand exercise books and writing materials to school aged children and in the process building a data base that we can work with in subsequent outings.
“We are embarking on door-to-door approach to bring them out to get what we are distributing. Aside the school children, we are also distributing rice to some families”, Mr Bakare stated.
“One of the issues identified as problem of education in Nigeria is that many of the parents are poor and they cannot afford basic school supplies. So, ‘Pen and Pencil Project’ is positioning itself to solve that problem.
“At the beginning of every school year, we shall be making provision for basic school supplies such as exercise books, writing materials and possibly school bags, but we have other vision down the road in the nearest future.
Giving insight into the vision, Pastor Bakare stated:
“For example, I grew up in Nigeria and I know that many students go to school without food. How do you expect such students to perform? We identify nutrition as a reason why a child is not performing well academically in school. Many kids are not well fed, so their brains don’t function properly.
“Lack of recreational activities is another factor identified. If you look at our area right now, there is no existing playing ground in most schools. There is no basketball court, no functioning football field, no gym for children to exercise and exhibit themselves because all these are parts of learning.
“Another part of education that is not well explored in this part of the world is the bio-psycho social side of education. There is more to education that includes the biological make up of a child and these are refer to as health, psychological and social parts. Many children grow up in homes that are characterized with violence and other social vices which affects their educational performances”.
Mr Bakare appealed to the privileged individuals to contribute to the project for the benefits of the young ones and the society in general.
“Pen and Pencil Project” is an open organization. We are inviting people from all walks of life. One of the researches we came up with is that, with a thousand naira, we can send a child back to school at the beginning of the school year.
“For instance, a 40 leaves exercise book costs just a hundred naira, with 8 of that and 200 naira worth of writing materials, we will make a child go back to school at the beginning of a year.
“We are still planning to do a fundraising. What we are seeing here today is a collective efforts of some few people who decided to do “give back to the society”. We shall be going to the streets to ask people to donate just a thousand naira.
“We are also planning to attend social gathering and parties where privileged people spent their millions and appeal to them to donate just a thousand naira for this cause. We are going to engage in massive education and sensitization to make people understand that with a thousand naira, they can make great impact on the society”, he stated.
Some of the beneficiaries who spoke with THE IMPACT were very appreciative of the Foundation’s gestures.
Mrs Bilikis Tijani, a beneficiary, while reacting, stated, “We are really happy. This is a big one and we are very surprised. It is not easy to distribute and give out rice and a lot of other things. If our leaders can emulate this, people won’t be hungry in the society. It is not an easy thing to send children to school and also feed them, so, with this that they are doing, we are very glad and we pray they’ll keep progressing”.
Matti Oladimeji, a JSS 1 Student of Yewa Junior Grammar School, Ikorodu, in his own remarks, stated, “I want to thank them for giving us school materials. They should keep it up”.
Farouq Saka, a Basic 4 pupil, stated, “I feel good and I want to thank them for the exemplary gestures”.
Bukola Daramola, a JSS 2 Student of Sparkles Private School, Ikorodu, said, “I am happy about what they have given me and I thank them for that”.
Boolaji Saidat, an SSS 1 Student of Yewa Senior Grammar School, Ikorodu, in her own reaction, stated, “I am very excited and grateful. I pray that God should continue to bless them for this gesture”.
