My charity.. what inspires me

I am so excited that some of you are reading my blog. Thanks alot and keep the comments flowing. Someone was interested in the charity program I mentioned in an earlier blog and wanted to know more. Here you go.

About a month ago, I started thinking about my life, questioning what I currently do ( for those that know me well, I am very critical of myself - it is a strong self development trait that I learnt many years ago). I remember when my hubby and I were attending marriage counselling classes and at the last session, our pastor said he would like to introduce us to the head pastor, just for a final word. Well, we met him and there was one thing he said " Pastor xyz has told you all you need to know to prepare for this journey of marriage, but what I would like to add to it is " you need to search, know and understand what your purpose in life is"... At this point, I was thinking" Is this not irrelevant"? It was one of those strange meetings that you don't find useful, because it did not speak to your immediate need, but I remember it. Anyway, it all came back to me a month ago. I started speaking to God about my purpose and what exactly I came into this world to do. About the same time, I started reading Funmi Iyanda's blog and she blogged about her visit to the all saints orphanage in Lagos and it really inspired me.

Also, I had a conversation with one of my long term friends and I am also a godmother to her son. She told me that she has discovered her purpose in life, and that was to go into the church ministry fulltime. She said it was the only think she ever did well, even back at school. This girl is not a bookworm at all. Even during prep, she slept. She was only at her sharpest when she was praying or just worshipping God. Teachers used to say she will never pass or amount to anything. By the way, she is a graduate now, but she was just one of those people that did not have the brains to study. Even though I had my reservations about her going into full time ministry (this is for another time), but I thought she was really brave. She is only 27ys and she made that decision. I admire her, forsaking all pleasures of life (money, career etc.). All these kept me thinking. Trust me, I have things I am doing and things I would like to do, that will keep me occupied until my death, but I was searching for something deeper.

I know that one of my joys in life is to contribute to the development of naija, one way or the other. My passions in this area include manufacturing, consulting and education. Also, I am passionate about the development of children, especially underprivileged ones. So I decided to join forces with Funmi Iyanda, to help this orphanage. The idea to send clothes, books and toys to this orphanage at Christmas, Easter, and the summer was born.

I would like to say that I sent an email to about 10 friends in the UK and 5 of them responded and I have a 32kg of clothes, books and toys, due to be shipped to naija for xmas. I am so grateful to these people. My target for Easter is to get 64kg to the orphanage. Let me know if you can help. I am happy to collect them anywhere in London, wash them, clean them and ship at my own expense. These are used or unwanted clothes, toys, shoes and books for children and maybe adults. God bless you.