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Scholarships

The Ebunoluwa foundation provides educational, vocational and rehabilitation support for the children in the Eruobodo house and where finances allow, to some children in other institutions and communities as well.
These scholarships are allocated through referrals from partnering social workers, government officials and orphanages or remand homes.
The scholarships are often part of support initiatives to a specific state institution in cases where a child can either be made more independent or where the scholarship allows the child to return to live in their family.
The scholarship programme is a long term commitment to the children in question. Once selected, Ebunoluwa foundation ensures that the child is sponsored through school.
In total, the foundation has supported 22 children (11 from Ondo, 7 from Lagos and 4 from Ogun) at various stages in their educational career; most of whom have graduated from the tertiary institutions. We currently have children in primary, secondary and tertiary levels. We are able to provide these children with the ability to attend school through the generous support of many donors. Please see the section sponsors and partners for a list of our supporters. In summary,it can be said that more than twenty children has been seen through university education and others still in the secondary school. Over 30 vulnerable children has benefitted from our medical interventions. We have partnered with 17 orphanages & 5 rehabilitation centres in providing material, medical, moral, capacity building & financial supports. We have helped facilitated about 300 placement of special needs children with suitable families that are followed up.

Adoptions

In Nigeria, custom and traditions have it that children who cannot be cared for by their parents are taken in by someone within their extended family. The idea of taking in, or adopting, a child that is not any way related to the family, is highly uncommon. The notion of adopting an unrelated child that has special needs (for example those with physical or mental challenges or are ill with diseases such as sickle cell anemia or HIV) or those who are orphaned because of a taboo; for instance, children born of incestuous relationships, or children who for variety of reasons are identified as witches) is unheard of. Children who are abandoned most often find themselves in the state or private orphanages. Most of these institutions do not have the manpower, expertise or resources to care for children who need extra or specialized care. In some states, like Lagos state, when an orphan reaches the age of 8 or 9, they are moved to state remand homes which are institutions for youth criminal and delinquents. Every child is a gift. Ebunoluwa foundation believes that social attitudes towards orphans and special needs children must change. It is not enough to allow them to just 'survive'. If a loving, caring home can be found for children; adoptions should not only be made possible, but should be encouraged, both within Nigeria and internationally. The adoption programme facilitated by Ebunoluwa Foundation is therefore vital for two main reasons: Firstly, it greatly improve the lives of the individual children involved; since its inception in 2003, the foundation have facilitated the adoption of over 400 children with suitable families from the Netherlands, Sweden, and New Zealand. Most of these adopted children have physical and medical challenges such as HIV, hepatitis B, some are deaf, has vision problems or sickle cell Anemia, cerebral palsy just mention a few. Secondly, the success of our programme is that it impacts on the attitude towards vulnerable children in the society. Those who have been involved in the adoption programme have seen the benefits to the individual children and have understood that every child provided with an enabling environment can thrive and grow to be positive contributor to society. As part of our on- going effort to monitor the well-being of the children that are adopted outside of Nigeria, a representative of the Foundation pays a follow up visits from time to time to the children in the Netherlands and Sweden.
Furthermore, government officials from Ekiti, Lagos, Ondo, Osun state also visited the children at various times during the year. All have been able to establish that the children are thriving in their new families. Furthermore, through the process of working with the orphanages, other children are identified that benefit through the other programme of the Ebunoluwa foundation, such as the medical and scholarships projects. Also, the adoption programme puts the foundation in touch with key Federal and State government officials as well as in the wider social services including the orphanages and other related services such as the Police and Immigration services. Through its working relationships, the foundation is able to develop a targeted advocacy programme which aims to change legislation, practices and attitudes within the social welfare system. Finally, the adoptions programme has provided a financial base from which the foundation can expand its services and outreach programmes. For each foreign adoption, the foundation receives a service fee which supports the foundation's running costs. Donations, from the adoption agencies, adoptive families and well-meaning friends of the Foundation have further helped to keep its projects running.

Medical Sponsorship

With the "Save the Child Initiative" Currently running under the Foundation's project, we partner with the Lagos State Teaching Hospital and some General Hospitals in collaboration with the Medical Social Welfare to support children with critical health challenges. Some beneficiaries of this Initiative have also been families who have reached out to the Foundation directly or indirectly for support for their children who need urgent medical attention.

Government Outreaches

Through our work with adoptions we come into contact with many individuals from various offices of the public sector: federal and state ministry personnel, members in the police force, legal system and immigration officials, managers and staff of orphanages and remand homes etc. the social services which oversees child welfare in Nigeria is grossly underfunded and majority of the personnel is vastly under trained. An attitude of apathy towards the well-being of the children permeates the system. Some staff in the remand homes see the children as beings who have been thrown away by someone else. Sometimes we feel the attitude of ‘why should I care for the children when I have trouble caring for my own at home…? With every contact we make, the staff at Ebunoluwa foundation aim to influence these attitudes and improve on the knowledge of these officials. We offer professional advice and support either in funding, seminars, training or in kind donations where ever we can. Through our daily interactions, we hope to raise awareness of the fact that every child is a gift: it is not enough to just allow these children to survive; with proper support and love, they will grow to be meaningful members of the society. In protecting these gifts, we improve our society.

Seminars and Workshop

Ensuring that international adoption is done in the best interest of the child” held in Lagos state in 2009. ‘’Protecting the rights of the child’’ held in Akure, Ondo state in 2010. These seminars were given in collaboration with: The National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and other Related Matters (NAPTIP), Child and Future (Holland), Adoptions Centrum (Sweden). Approximately 10 participants came from each of south western states Ekiti, Ondo, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara. The participants came from various Government Agencies and NGO's such as the Local Police, Immigration, the state Ministry Of Women Affairs, private and state owned orphanages, religious organizations and student unions. The goal of the workshop was to raise awareness on child rights issues and sensitize those present to the needs of children. Workshop: “Record Keeping’’; this one day workshop was sponsored by Adoption Centrum (Sweden) and was held in Oshogbo, Osun state in October 2010. The focus of the workshop was to promote proper record keeping in the social welfare service sector, including in the offices of the National Population Commission, the Police, Immigration, and Homes and Orphanages.

Aid to State Orphanages

We provide cash and kind assistance to various Orphanages and Children Homes to support them in the running of the Homes. In kind contributions include the provision of school books, wheel chairs, crutches and clothing. Many Homes and orphanages in the states that we work with are beneficiaries of this project in the past and some are still benefitting the our project: Abiye orphanages & Remand Home in Oshogbo, Christ Orphanage in Ondo state, Daughters of Charity in IWARA Oka Akoka, Erelu Adebayo Children’s Home in Iyin-Ekiti. Juvenile Remand Home in Akure, Lagos State Rehabilitation Centre, Majidu, Ikorodu, Little Saints Orphanages in Lagos, Living Hope Care in Ilesha, Mary Children’s Foundation in Akure, Missionaries of Charity, Alapere-Ketu, MMM catholic hospital, Ondo, Ondo state Children’s Home, Oba Ile Overcomer’s Orphanage, Ondo state, PAC in Ogbomosho Optimal Children’s Home.

Post Adoption

Ebunoluwa Foundation is always delighted to provide support to adoptees and adoptive families where necessary. As adopted children grow, they tend to be curious, asking lots of questions and desiring to find more information about their backgrounds.
The Foundation consider adoption to be a “work in progress’’ hence we put mechanisms in place to help adopted children when the need arises. We do this by:
Conducting follow-up investigations on request on the background of the adopted child; seeking more information where necessary.
Carrying out background checks on children with known relatives and other relevant information.
Also providing support for adoptees and adoptive families who intend to visit Nigeria for root-tracing trips.
So far, about twenty one (21) families have benefitted from the Foundation’s Services.
By providing these post-adoption services, the Foundation helps to ensure a smooth transition for adoptive families and support the long-term well-being and success of the adopted child.