Help build a house for a needy Widow

Hello, my good friend! My name is Aniekan Ebiefung. My vocation, since primary school, is to help poor widows. I got this inspiration from the box that was placed at our church with the inscription ‘Help the Poor” by the Saint Vincent DePaul Society. Saint Vincent DePaul impressed me. I learned more about him and decided to emulate him. During my confirmation, I named myself Vincent in honor of Saint Vincent DePaul but continue to use my given name in official documents.

I recently travelled to Nigeria on behalf of the Widows Empowerment Foundation (WEF), a nonprofit tax-exempt organization that caters for the needy widows in our society. Highlights of activities during the visit included prayer service, financial assistance to all registered widows, and food assistance to the neediest. I was also able to visit some of the elderly widows who couldn’t come to the events. Mrs. Iniedi Moses from Nto Urua, Ika LGA, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, whose picture with me is below, is one of the widows I visited.

As is obvious from the picture, the living conditions of this widow are horrible. She has one child, Mfon Moses, a woman, who is living with and caring for her. The daughter has no husband or children. Their subsistence comes from what they can produce and sell from the small garden around the house.

When it rains, they have nowhere to go but get wet by the rain in an area of the house that has less water. One can safely assume that rats or snakes are their co-inhabitants.

I would be grateful if you could support me in building a small house for this widow. Because there are no public or private cemeteries in the area, the house will also serve as a final resting place for her.

Thanks.

Aniekan Ebiefung, PH.D

U. C. Foundation Professor of Mathematics

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga