Gtace Udeme Emmanuel, the 22-year-old mother of four reported to be feeding her children chicken feeds in an Eket, Akwa Ibom state poultry where she works has been settled into a living home with more benefits lined up to improve her life and that of her children.

Wife of Akwa Ibom state governor, Pastor Patience Umo Eno, had escalated interventions at lifting Grace from her piteous condition when she announced an initial N500,000 lifelines after the daughter of the owner of the farm where Grace works shared her plight on social media.

Uduak Ekong, Media Aide to the Governor’s Wife, in update on efforts at improving life for Grace and her children, said that efforts are also being made to let her acquire a skill and set her up in business while also giving her opportunity to further her education from SS1 where she dropped out.

Ekong narrated, “What caught Her Excellency’s attention, first, was what would propel any human being to consider feeding her children chicken feeds?

“Meeting her we got to know she was pregnant at the age of 16 and dropped out when she was in SS1. She speaks impeccable English and comes across as an intelligent person.

“So like parents do, she got pregnant and they sent her out of the house. So she moved in with the guy who got her pregnant. Unfortunately the man was caught for theft of sweet potato from Hausa people.

“He got beaten and left to bleed to death. When he wasn’t there, things turned for the worse, for just Grace with four children, including a four year old, three year old, two and the last that is one year old. A sister to the late father of her children had taken the three year old, leaving her to fend for the other three.

“From her initial N500,000 intervention release (from Mrs Eno), she got others to reach out to say they want to support her to take care of Grace. Her Excellency directed all the traffic to the lady who took Grace’s story to instagram. Her details were shared for all who needed to send in something.

“From her tribe of over 300,000 followers, she raised almost N2,000,000. Normally she runs little humanitarian campaigns where people contribute bit by bit for medicals, school fees and sundry goodwill to help the needy.

“But she said this was the first she has raised this much. Within days away from what Her Excellency planned for Grace, she had raised more than N1.4M.”

Plan for Grace

Ekong explained that, “The plan for Grace is, she didn’t have where to stay. That has been secured. A room apartment has been paid for, furnished and she has moved in with her children last week as we speak. A phone has also been gotten for her.

“She’s been given three months supply of food. She didn’t have anything. She got bed, cooking utensils, a dining set up for her children to enjoy their meals. The room apartment is big.

“From the money she’s gotten, her monthly salary has been increased, from N15,000 from her employer to N35,000, that is N20,000 added every month from the money that has been raised for her.

“We are mindful that this is a girl that is still a child, doesn’t have a bank account, no phone. You don’t raise money and give to her bulk. She is already vulnerable. So anything you give her that could make her live flamboyantly, she is going to fall prey. People will come under guise of love and deceive her.

“We are working on having her trained on managing income she will be making, because we are going to give her a skill. We notice her children’s hair, she was the one that made it.

“We noticed she learnt how to use attachment on her own. So we will give her formal training along that skill and be set up a place she will sit to make hair and then an alternative trade on foodstuff or provisions,” he said.

Mental Evaluation

Ekong further explained, “So we are not just giving money and going away. We are going to provide a lot of support. The next thing before empowering her will be mental evaluation.

“After the mental evaluation if Grace is okay, next is to go for skills acquisition and then set her up in her skill and an alternative business.

“The mentorship also include tutoring her on how to manage her finances and income she will be generating, so she doesn’t waste her capital and she can sustainable her life. There are plans to take her back to school and for her children’s school too,” he added. (Vanguard)

Update news