Mrs. Grace’s family have been dedicated members of the A2S Community for years. Recently, their family’s story inspired the launch of an A2S small grants program to help provide stability at home so our kids can continue going to school and participating in the After School Academy program.
A common goods shop owner, Mrs. Grace spends most of her days tending to her store–except for Wednesdays. Wednesdays she shuts the store down and makes her way towards the A2S Youth Center where she volunteers her time as a dishwasher.
One day at Gospel Life Bible Church, the home of the A2S After School Academy at the time and Mrs. Grace’s home church, A2S put out a call for volunteers. Learning about the program for the first time, A2S struck Mrs. Grace as so unique, she felt she had to sign up. At the time, her first born- Divine was not old enough to enter the program.
Mrs. Grace is quiet and reserved, but when you meet her, you quickly see how big her heart is. The way she gives back to her community through A2S is inspiring. Eventually Divine grew older and was accepted into the After School Academy program.
When I met Mrs. Grace, she had three beautiful children. Divine, Rejoice, and Testimony. I visited Nigeria with a team in the summer of 2022 to celebrate the opening of our Youth Center. During that visit, we went to Mrs. Grace’s house. This is where we learned how much her family was struggling.
Their home is one small room with a shared kitchen adjoining the apartment next door. As we arrived, the family pulled a bench in from outside so we had a place to sit. A mattress was flipped up against the wall, and was clearly what they brought down to sleep on each night. They welcomed us warmly into their home–Mrs. Grace, Divine, Rejoice, Testimony, and Mrs. Grace’s husband, Mr. Agbator.
We shared stories and prayed together. Chatting with Divine about his dream of being a sportsman was certainly a highlight. Testimony, the littlest child, led us all in a beautiful prayer song that still echoes in my heart today. During this time, all 10 of us close in that room, we learned that before the pandemic, Mr. Agbator injured his driving foot in an accident that left his vehicle beyond repair. This was his only way of working. Entering the pandemic shutdown, the only form of income for the family was Mrs. Grace’s store. As they struggled to make ends meet, they soon had to resort to consuming the merchandise, leaving her store unable to function.
During our visit, a generous donor offered to support the family by giving them the funds to restart Mrs. Grace’s business. They spoke with A2S National Director, Thecla, to see if that could be arranged. In exchange, A2S would check up on the family and provide support as Mrs. Grace got her business back up and running.We left Mrs. Grace’s home feeling like she had a chance to breathe. The family was so grateful.
The next year, I had the privilege of returning to Nigeria where Mr. Agbator greeted me cheerfully from the gates of the A2S Youth Center. “I can’t believe you remember me!” were his first words. I said our visit had been unforgettable for us too- and that I was overjoyed to have heard that he applied and was accepted to the position of security guard for our Youth Center. I couldn’t imagine anyone more passionate about keeping our kids safe.
Mrs. Grace’s family’s story is one of hardship, but our staff in Nigeria quickly acknowledged it was not unique. Many families in fact will pull their kids out of school when they experience hardship like this so the kids can work to try to put food on the table.
As a result of their story, A2S got to work and launched a small grants program to provide some relief and stability at home for the parents of our children. Grant recipients will receive funding to support their businesses, but more importantly guidance from our Entrepreneur Empowerment Team to ensure they use their funds wisely and their business remains stable over time.
Written by Laura Knight, A2S Development Manager
