By Victor Okoye
Abuja, May 27, 2022 (NAN) A National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Member, Naomi Kareem in partnership with Hot Coal Basketball Club on Friday, donated a well furnished computer laboratory and a state-of-the-art basketball court to LEA Primary School, Wuse Zone 3, Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the donations were part of a social intervention programme by the Hot Coal Hands of Care Project in commoneration of the 2022 Childrens’ Day Celebration.
Speaking during the hand-over ceremony, the founder and proprietor of Hot Coal Basketball Club, Ubon Udoh, said the project was inspired by Kareem and an avenue for the kids to access mentorship, learn life skills and imbibe discipline through basketball.
Udoh noted that the project was part of the foundation’s numerous social intervention projects and part of activities lined up to mark the international children’s day celebration.
“First of all, Hotcoal Basketball as an organisation has what we refer to as, “The hands of care project”. This is how we do social development intervention projects because basketball for us is more than just the game, but also about adding value.
“So, in the past, we’ve embarked on trainings to address some health-related issues faced by basketball players and also held intervention programmes for orphanages. We’ve been doing this since 2014.
“So, we just had an opportunity to come and do something special here after Naomi (Kareem) approached us to help donate these facilities to the school as part of her Community Development Service (CDS) project.
“So, I am just happy that we were able to put this together,” he said.
The Hot Coal boss noted that the initial idea was just to construct and furnish a computer laboratory for the school, adding that the construction of the basketball court was an after-thought
“It might interest you to know that the area where we chose to construct the state-of-the-art basketball court used to be a rubbish dump.
“Initially, our intention was to construct and fully equip a computer laboratory for the school, but my attention was drawn to the area was drawn to the rubbish dump area when we visited the school and it wasn’t good enough for the hygiene of the pupils.
“So, we got permission from the head teacher to clear it and build this state-of-the-art basketball court for the kids and you can see how excited they are about it,” he said.
Udoh revealed that this was the beginning of better things to come for the school, adding that the importance of carrying out projects such as these could not be over-emphasized.
“We always carry out a joint needs assessment of various schools across the country. So, we are going to still sit down with the school and see what else they might require.
“We will also determine if it is a project we can carry out alone or in partnership with the school as well as other corporate organisations.
“I think it is really important that we do things like these. This is more than just a basketball court. It is a place where the kids can dream, where they can believe in themselves, learn to be confident and boost their self-esteem.
“It is psychological as well as a physical safe space for them to grow and be nurtured through basketball.
“As they play, they are also literally surrounded by positivity. You can see the words inscribed around the court, ‘Respect, Hardwork and Honesty.
“Everytime they come here to play, they read those words and imbibe them as part of their values,” he said.
Mrs Grace Morenike, the Head Teacher of the school said the project which was inspired by Kareem was a result of an awareness programme embarked on by the school management to encourage the community to contribute its quota to the development of the school.
“Initially, when I came to the school, I decided alongside the school management to undertake a School-based Management Board project.
“It is an avenue which we use to encourage members of the community, parents as well as the corps members who usually hold their CDS here to be involved and contribute to the development of the school.
“This was how Kareem was inspired to help bring about this wonderful development to the school through the Hot Coal Basketball hands care foundation.
“We are indeed very grateful to the founder and proprietor who has indeed proven himself to be a great philanthropist.
“We need more of these kind of gestures from other well meaning Nigerians as well as corporate organisations to contribute to the development of the nation through the school system,” she said.
Kareem, a serving corp member with the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) said she chose to embark the project because of her love for humanity.
“It is always a joy for me to make kids enjoy the experience that I never had the opportunity to enjoy myself.
“My goal is to make life better for the children as they are the leaders of tomorrow and this is the main reason for doing this at this time in commoneration of the childrens’ day celebration,” she said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
