Why I Am Passionate About Helping The Needy-Gloria Ukagwu

Mrs. Gloria Ikhifa Ukagwu is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hands of Love Family, a Non Governmental Organisation, NGO, established to cater for the needs of the less privileged in the society.

In this interview with Kunle Bakare, she spoke on why she decided to assist the less privileged in the society.

How did you conceive the idea of Hands of Love Family?

It’s something I have been doing but because I didn’t publicise it, people don’t know what I have been doing, and I want to also tell you that I am a mother and I have gone through a lot in life and I know the pains of not having what is required to cater for the family. It came to full blown when the pandemic was announced two years ago and I prepared myself very well for it. I had everything I needed to face the though period, but a day came that I had to contact a friend for just one thousand naira, although he did but that made me understand what people went through.
So, when I was praying, the Holy Spirit ministered to me that with all that I had I can still be short of cash. The Holy Spirit told me that there are many out there who cannot afford what to eat, so I called my bank manager to transfer 500,000 to me and I went on the social media to announce to people that if they needed money they should contact me. Infact, the response was far from my expectations and I gave out all the money. Later, people began to request for support to settle hospital bills and when some of my friends saw the way things went, they joined hands with me.

How many people have benefited from the gestures?

Thousands of people, I have even lost count, but specifically we have distributed 500 school bags to pupils in public schools. We also helped people to settle their house and hospital bills.

How has it been since you began the outreach?

It’s been marvelous, we have a lot of people helping people through us. I once got a message from a woman with fibroid and she was taken seven pants of blood daily at the University College Hospital (UCH), she needed to be operated upon at the cost of 300, 000. I spoke with my partners and only one person settled the bill. That was how the woman’s hope was restored and we gave her a brand new life.
We have settled medical bills for a lot of people. There was a pregnant woman, whose child died in her womb and the husband could not afford the bills, we went to the hospital and settled the bills.

Do you think the government is trying in the areas of assisting the people in that regard and has the government assisted you at all?

No, I haven’t requested for anything from the government because I know they have lots of things to do. But I think they are really not doing enough when it comes to assisting the less privileged. We need them, people need them, but they are not really doing more when it comes to charity, they only think about themselves, they only concentrate on the projects that people see and not the ones they hardly see. But we are thinking of having a meeting with the Oyo State Government for collaboration. I have sent a message to the Governor’s Personal Assistant, but I assumed he has not seen the message. It’s not that we need money from them, but we just to expose them to many people that need help and this is a way to help the government to see their responsibilities because they don’t go on the streets to see what people go through.
Also there are lots of things that some rich men abandoned at home, I want to appeal to them to bring them out because what they consider not useful will make some people happy.

Have you ever had any embarrassing moment in the cause of assisting the people?

Yes , I have seen a lot but the one that comes to my mind was the time I went to Oja’ba market in Ibadan with 50 chickens, bags of rice and some other items to distribute to widows, but they thought I was a politician and they shouted at me that they will not vote for me again while they also attacked my car.
At another time, I was driving through Molete and I saw a young boy that was being beating by mob because he stole corn and the boy was shouting “I am hungry, I am hungry.” I was touched and a week later, I took over a thousand plates of meals to Molete for distribution and the rush was too much. I know that people are really suffering.

What do you think the government can do to help the less-privileged?

There are lots of things they can do, but you can’t force them to do what they don’t want to do. What we are doing is selfless service to humanity and it’s the passion that keeps us going. The government can come out to help because we have so many projects to do, we have so many people to assist as it is said that a tree can never make a forest. We need their help, if they can call us to request for our assistance, it will be better because we know the right people that need the help.

What advice can you tell the government on caring for the less privileged?

I can only tell the government to put the right peg in the right hole, that is given the job to the right people. So many times, you will see our politicians distributing items to people and most times, what they give are not what the people need and these people end up selling the items for cash. But if sincere NGOs can be contacted to take charge, things will definitely get to where they are truly needed and that is why we are trying to involve the Oyo State Government in what we are doing.
We are on the streets, we know what the people need and how to ensure that empowerment materials get to the right people that need them.
Also, very soon, we will commission our new office, where people can contact us because I have been using my home office. But we thank God who has provided a place for us, we are renovating the place presently and will soon be opened.