Brisa Women Foundation, an organisation that focuses on engaging women, particularly widows and single mothers, and children, on Saturday, marked their tenth year anniversary, with testimonies from some of the beneficiaries.In the well attended event in Lagos, the foundation also used the occasion to launch ‘Empower Plate’, a global food and medicine drive that will build a bank. It is a food and medicine bank.
Speaking during the occasion, Mrs Delphine Nwachukwu, the founder of Brisa Women Foundation, said the organisation is all about empowering women.“Brisa Women’s Foundation is all about empowering women. Making sure that every woman has a skill to cater to herself, her family, and also her community, which is very paramount,” she said.She said further; “There’s a saying that an empowered woman is an empowered nation. So we have the ability to empower people around us. Besides our immediate families, we also have the ability to empower our communities.“So this is the essence of Brisa Women’s Foundation.”On what Empower Plate is all about, the founder noted; “Empower Plate is a global food and medicine drive that will build a bank. To reiterate this fact, we have been doing this for 10 years. 10 years for a fact that there is no time in the course of the year, which is six months that we don’t provide food and medicine. The records are there.“We have our medical outreach once in every year, every 29th of December, in remote communities to reach out to people who do not have access to healthcare and medicine. So then for the middle of the year, which we are in now, is empowering women with skills and then making sure that they have access to those skills that will also help them to cater to themselves and to their families.“That doesn’t also stop the fact that we have also given foodstuff to those who are in their need of this foodstuff, because there are a lot of indigent humans who actually need direct foodstuff. They need this foodstuff for their immediate issue.“Already in my small closet, I have this bank where I have foodstuff stored in case there is an emergency. Recently, we had a widow call out to us and we eventually intervened with our team.“I wasn’t there and I couldn’t go because I was also engaged in another assignment. So I had to send the team to go. I think today she’s here,” she said.On the target goal, Mrs Nwachukwu said; “The goal is to expand the scope of food and medicine, which we have, like I said, a mini bank already. But we are looking to make it a global initiative, which we have launched today.“So it’s a global initiative already. People all over the world can contribute. Then we would also start going from state to state and then outside the country to also launch this initiative.”She said her motivation stemmed from her experiences in life.“The motivation initially for starting this is a life journey. I have gone through a journey in life that I really do not want to talk about the story now.“There’s the right time to talk about the story. But I’ve had cause to buy garry in a wrapped polybag. Yeah, you know what I mean? I’ve had cause to buy sugar in a wrapped polybag for my children to succeed and eat. I’ve had cause to sell a cracker. I’ve had cause to sell dropshipping, to do dropshipping.“You know what dropshipping is? I would go to somebody’s shop, pick up some stuff, negotiate with somebody, sell, and I would look out for my target audience, which is mostly those times I tell my mentees. Bonded terminals. These are things people really do not know,” she said.Speaking at the occasion, the director general of Imo Broadcasting Corporation (IBC), Chief Mrs Ify Onyegbule, challenged women to support one another and to open their minds to aspire more.“We need to understand that the first thing is for you to open your mind,” she said.“I hear that women don’t support women, I don’t believe that. That’s not true.“There are many women who support me, who are still supporting me, because they see what we are doing and they say, they want to be part of this.“Or you just go sit down and expect somebody to throw something on your lap; that won’t happen because you will never value it. You’ve got to work for it. So we’ll be doing all of that today.“For every woman who has risen to a certain level, you must find another woman and hold her hand.“Many women who have been able to achieve something will sometimes say to you, I suffered before I got here. But it doesn’t mean others have to suffer.“So they don’t have to suffer to get where you are. I don’t say that to people. I will show you what I’m doing so that the headache will be off me.“You have to have a business that works better in a better environment. So as a woman, before you leave this room today, you need to resolve that you’re going to hold another woman’s hand. And show her the way.“If I tell you about the media world, it’s like someone who was looking for a woman to run or find her to be at a radio station.“And I put that out for a woman; I couldn’t get one person. It simply means that many people are not working towards getting into leadership.”While speaking, Dr. Nkem Imarue, one of the facilitators, speaking on ‘The power of a creative mindset in a woman’, tasks women to develop their creative minds.“If only you know how powerful your mindset is, you will guide the leaders,” she said.“Permit me to say, for everything that will happen here today, both the launching, both the empowerment, both the praise and everything, one thing that stands is your mindset. Whatever you will become after now, it’s your mindset. If you will own your craft after now, it’s your mindset.”“If you will shine after now, it’s your mindset. Even if you’re giving an empowerment talk of a billionaire, if your mindset is not in place, sorry, it’s a lie already. So we have to keep our mindsets intact.“To tell ourselves that after today, I’m no longer going to procrastinate. I’m no longer going to believe in myself. So I want us to guide our mindsets.“Creative mindset begins with openness, a willingness to see positivities, possibilities, where others see limitations. The belief that there is always a way, even if it hasn’t been discovered yet, there is a way.“Even if it hasn’t been discovered yet, there is a way. If that’s your business, there is always a way. I keep telling my staff, if option A is not working, switch as fast as possible, let’s say B. If B is not working, let’s do C. If C is not working, let’s do D.“There is always a way. So regardless of your craft, your business, your field, there is always a way. Don’t shut down when A is not working.“As a woman, you must be creative because being creative creates value in you. Creativity is like a muscle, the more you use it, the more it gets stronger.”While formally launching the ‘EmpowerPlate’, the chief launcher, Mr. Scote McNeil, called for collective efforts to see the initiative get stronger.“We can build together and It is very easy; if one million people each today put money together, the smallest unit of their local currency, whether it be one dollar, one pound or one thousand naira, we can, and I pray that we will build the world’s largest food and medicine bank, focused solely on women. Why a woman? You may ask. Because when a woman is fed, believe it or not, a family truly thrives.“When a woman is healthy, a community can rise. And when a woman is empowered, a nation in its entirety can move forward.“Empower Plate is not a fundraiser. It’s a call for us all, here in Lagos, throughout Nigeria and internationally. It’s a call to global action.“It’s a call to unite everyone together, irrespective of their class, race, geography, political beliefs, and to prove that the least among us can give. And that giving is not the job of the wealthy alone, but the responsibility of the willing. We’re not asking for millions of naira or millions of dollars from millionaires.“We’re simply asking for the bare minimum from the many, because that’s where the power lives. The power is in the collective. I’d ask you all to picture this.“Picture a young girl in Lagos, giving over a thousand naira. A female student in London, giving one British pound. A retiree who’s enjoying life, unable to give one dollar to this initiative.“Now, if you multiply that by a hundred million, what exactly do you get? You get a lot of money, but you start building a global army of care. We need to be clear that funds raised will go directly to establishing food and medicine banks in undeserved communities, beginning with women-led households, widows, displaced mothers, and caretakers. We will provide basic medical supplies and nutritional food staples, hygiene packs, and wellness goodies to those involved.“We will do it with the utmost transparency, with local partners, and using Brisa’s decade of on-ground experience. So I have a few challenges for you all today. I would ask that you share this message.“You use your platform, your business, and your contacts, no matter how small. You make your donation, and you invite others to join in this worldly cause. Let the world hear the power of love.”Meanwhile, the event featured panel discussions where the speakers harped on empowerment of women as a solution to community issues.