As a 43-year-old mother of six in Owhrode, Udu local government area, Delta state, Patience Diojivre watched helplessly, as her husband’s prolonged illness rendered him unable to work, plunging their family into a daily battle against immense hardship. “E no easy at all at all,” Patience recalls. She constantly worried about feeding, clothing, and school fees for her children. “Sometimes, I no even know where food go come from,” she shared. “My pikin dem no fit continue school, and my husband sickness dey worse. E pain me well well,” she said, remembering the despair that had once consumed her.
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Nonetheless, a turning point arrived when the ECEWS SPEED project identified her through its community-based partner, the Vaccine Network for Disease Control (VNDC). The VNDC, focusing on providing sustainable income-generating activities (IGA), recognized her fierce determination and enrolled her in the program, providing her with the training and resources she needed to start a business.
Patience began by selling iced fish. She worked tirelessly, learning to manage her small enterprise and meticulously saving every naira. Her unwavering goal was to purchase a wheelbarrow; a simple tool she knew would be a game-changer. “Dat wheelbarrow, e change everytin for me,” she explained. “I no need to carry load for my head again, and I fit sell for di main market and sell for our area. Na dat time I know sey I go make am.”
Patience expanded her business to include fresh vegetables, tomatoes, and okra. However, the true measure of her success wasn’t just in her profits, but in the transformation of her family’s life. Her income was used to send her three children back to school. “The first tin wey I do, na to send my three pikin wey don leave school go back,” she said with a proud smile. “To see dem for dia uniform again, na dream wey come true.”
Her success also meant she could finally afford proper medical care for her husband, and provide the treatment he needed. Patience’s story is a powerful testament to how targeted support and a mother’s unyielding strength can change a family’s destiny. “I want make other women know sey small help plus hard work, e go better for everybody,” she concludes. “Di SPEED project give me small push, now I dey stand on my own.”
