The Beginning:
A little girl looked at an adult lady and asked an honest question in what looked like a mini-prospecting drama; "Aunty, did you do Helping Hands when you were my age"? Happy to have readily found an sharp excuse for the inquisitive child, the older lady quickly answered her question, "There was no Helping Hands, they just came to Nigeria a few years back" in the most sonorous voice she could muster.
The little girl still pressing in her mind threw up another question. "Aunty are you a member of Helping Hands?" The question hit her from yet another dogged member like she has always avoided only this time from a much younger, promising member. "I haven't, I will get registered next week." She ask one last question and that was the mind boggling, jaw dropping question that made aunty numb and white, "Where do you think Helping Hands will be, by the time i'm like you"? Aunty could no longer answer are question and this was how the skill acquisition for kids to catch them young was born.
We started setting the stage:
It came to the consciousness of our kid's mother and friends who were already high ranking Helping Hands members to start early by building a pathway for the kids to go so that when they grow, they will not depart from it and this path leads to great success. The type that they never had the opportunity of when they were much younger like the aunty in our story.
Set of Skills Learnt
1. There was Ballons Craft: The kids learnt how to make balloons of different shapes with the right tools and they had fun with it hands-on.
2. Buttons-Craft: The tools here is a gum gun which is convenient to hold, nicely cut pieces of cloth and different shapes and colours of buttons to play with.
3. Paper Flower Craft: Imagine that lovely flower in your beautiful mind that you've not seen anywhere in any garden or forest, you can create it with paper! Amazing!
With all these learnt we were ready to party on with the kids for a successful day out, with loads of pictures to keep the memory of this giant step forward.
So much fun till we were able to bring the day to a lovely close. We thank all our parents and grand patron in person of Ambassador Obitex for coming. All the Festac crew organisers, DM Yetunde, DM Lilian, Minister Uzzy, our chief decorator and organiser Sis. Bunmi and team lead DM Ademola for making this kiddies event memorable and successful. We encourage the whole Helping Hands world to also catch them young with us.
To all other aunties and uncles, mum and dads who have not yet registered and keep procastinating, the question goes back to you, "Where do you think H2i will be when these kids grow up in this fashion"?
Food for thought.
To be continued...............