Learn how you can be apart of helping people who are in need with our A Thrifty Mom Bag of Rice Campaign. In 2016 we started helping a young man named Ikechukwu from Nigeria. Summer of 2019 we were able to visit his family in Aba, Nigeria. While there we saw widespread poverty and lack of basic needs. We would like to invite you to help meet one of those basic needs, by providing Nigerian families with rice. This gift will feed a large family for a few months, or a single person a year. It also reminds them they are loved, and brings most of them to tears… as a full bag of rice is one of the most generous gifts they will ever receive. You can also read about other families we have been able to bless here.
The Following story is about the Akpan family, their bag of rice was donated thanks to Missy Waite this is the 169th bag of rice our program has been able to give away thanks to generous donations.
We met this family in a village in Uyo, Nigeria. The Akpan family were introduced to us by their village chief. The Akpans live in a one bedroom mud hut with no plumbing and electricity. They fetch their water from a nearby stream or collect rain water in buckets when it rains. The Akpans have two kids but we only met Mrs Akpan and her son Aniekan at home.
Front view of their house 
Side view of their house
The Akpans cook with fire wood in a room that has been entirely blacken with soot. Firewood is easy to get in this environs and costs next to nothing so families here use it as a means of fuel. Mr Akpan rides a bike and uses it for commercial purposes while his wife brews Palm Wine, which is a drink made from Palm Wine. They cut the tree down and dig a hole in the trunk, then set it on fire I think and it drops out some juice that they then collect. There is also a method where they drill a hole in a standing tree and the palm wine runs out from it. But slowly, so they put a jug tied to the tree and connect to a pipe that is inserted in the hole and they remove it when it’s full. When it’s fresh it doesn’t contain alcohol but if it stays for a day then it ferments and the alcohol sets in. This serves as means of income for this family but even with these sources of income the family has really felt the effect of the Covid pandemic in their lives.
Their kitchen
It was a delight meeting this family especially their kid Aniekan who smiled at us and was nice throughout our visit. The Akapns were really grateful for the visit and what we brought for them. And the value of this bag of Rice to this family will be felt for months to come especially as Rice in Nigeria has become very expensive and unaffordable to most families in Nigeria.
The Akpans
Learn how you can be apart of helping people who are in need with our A Thrifty Mom Bag of Rice Campaign. You can also read about other families we have been able to bless here.
