A Nigerian-born U.S-based nurse and philanthropist, Miss Linda Badawo, has donated wheelchairs, cash, back-to-school commodities, food stuffs and walk aids to some widows and children living with disabilities (PWDs) in Rivers.
Badawo made the donation in Port Harcourt on Monday during the unveiling of the Badawa Care Foundation in Nigeria.
She handed over several gift items as well as cheques of N100,000 each to three Charity Homes and N200,000 each to some widows’ groups.
Badawo, the author of “Double trauma: Mismanaged Health Care in the Parent Foster System”, is an indigene of Mogho, a community in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers.
She said that the foundation shall address stigma, discrimination and barriers faced by PWDs in society.
“We shall be providing help to abandoned children with disabilities, regardless of gender, nationality or religion.
“The foundation will also provide rehabilitation for children from the government homes, in collaboration with the local government authorities.
“It will also support families who have children with disabilities living in rural areas.
“It shall provide physical therapies, advice, training as well as develop overall parental support networks,” Badawo said.
She, however, said that she was moved into taking care of children with special needs because she also benefited from charity systems in America, when she first entered the country as a 19-year-old refugee.
A lawmaker, Mr Dumle Maol, representing Gokana State Constituency, thanked Badawo for her kind gesture.
Maol described her as an international philanthropist who had impacted countless lives over the years.
He also commended her for investing scarce resources, time and energy in the foundation for the sole purpose of caring for the less privileged, widows and children with special needs.
Also, one of the beneficiaries, known as Constance, Mercy and Praise Orphanage, thanked the foundation “for its selfless service to humanity, particularly children living with disabilities.
