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Wikipedia talk: Articles for creation/Aids for Women, Adolescents, and Children International Organization (AWACIO) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia < Wikipedia talk: Articles for creation The Aids for Women, Adolescents, and Children International Organization known by the abbreviation AWACIO, a nonprofit organization founded in 2008 is located in Abuja, Nigeria.[1]Key people: Claudia C. Okeke, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer AWACIO was conceived in 2008 and officially launched 2011 after registration with the Nigerian Corporate Affairs Commission in 2011.

AWACIO came to exist because of the desire of the organization to do what the Nigerian government has failed to do for its citizens. AWACIO is determined to ensure that the wellbeing of women, adolescents, and children are taken care in the society, and eventually internationally. With the high level of bribery and corruption in Nigeria, funds and aids necessary to reach this population never reach them. The result is a huge society gap in which these indigenes suffer and are impoverished due to lack of care and near total neglect.[2][3]  Nigeria, on a yearly basis, releases billions of naira for education.[4]  Most of the funds allocated for education never reach the intended locations/ schools or population because the funds are spent or shared before the release.[5]  We need the “small to help the big.” This is what AWACIO is doing. Taking things belonging to the indigenes and citizens of Nigeria back to them. Those in civil service or holding government post that take bribe or embezzle money when confronted say it is “government money” so they have a right to their action, and there is nothing wrong with their activity.[6] The truth is that government money is the indigenes’ money, it is the citizens’ money, and it is the poor people’s money and must be used to fulfill its intended purpose and not embezzled or stolen or bribed. Nigerian government must steer up the conscience of its workers. Most public primary and secondary schools are in dilapidated conditions. There are no water supply systems, the toilets are run down, the classrooms are in terrible state, and the teachers are not enough.[7] Those that show up come when they like and teach as they like. There is no follow up or accountability system. Students are neglected and end up with substandard West African Examination Council (WAEC) results.[8] The Ministries neglect their employees. There are not enough health awareness programs in place. There are not enough HIV/AIDs screening and awareness programs in place in these Ministries. That aside, there is the need for lifestyle acquired types of cancer training to be implemented in these Ministries.[9] A number of employees reach the terminal stage before realizing they have cancer. Some even collapse suddenly in their offices only to realize that cancer was the killer. The hospitals are substandard, and only the rich travel out to get good medical attention.[10] [11] ) the poor are left to manage and die off. AWACIO partners with some of the hospitals to pay medical bills of some of these indigenes who cannot afford it and are refused release until they pay. The widows are neglected. Their husbands’ who could at that time take care of them and their children die off and the husband’s relative move in to carry their brother’s properties leaving the widow stranded unless she has very grown sons and daughters. In most cases where the children are quite young, the widows are driven away and left to fend for themselves and their children. Added to this, most of these widows are not educated or skilled, so some resort to prostitution because the government has nothing in place for them. The orphans are in the same plight even though there are some orphanages around. Some of these orphanages are substandard and one wonders if the government has anything in place to inspect them to make sure that they meet certain inhabiting requirements.[12] The prisons are in substandard conditions. The inmates are often neglected and the prison environments are congested. [13) the students are now exposed dangerously to illicit drugs. Awareness and training to educate and war against drugs are badly needed the ongoing war against counterfeit drugs specifically targeted at antibiotics and most children medications is another aspect of AWACIO's vision • 1 Training and Education against Bribery and Corruption • 2 Public school education, drug awareness programs, and sanitation • 3 Health awareness programs in Federal Ministries and follow up  • 4 Widows empowerment  • 5 Orphanage and prison engagements • 6 Drug Quality control awareness  • 7 Hospital engagements TRAINING AND EDUCATION AGAINST BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION: AWACIO seeks to train Federal Ministry staff and executives on anticorruption and anti-bribery practices, private industries executives and staffs are also trained. Our goal is to create nationwide sensitization against bribery and corruptive practices. They are not acceptable and therefore must be denounced. Some examples of bribery and corrupt practices include: 1.	contractor applies for a contract and gets it, you the employee tells him to give you a percentage before he does the Job 2.	A contractor finishes his project and is waiting for payment, you the employee tell the contractor to pay you some money or agree to pay you some of that money before you process his pay [14] If he refuses, you sit on his payment or hide his files 3.	A supplier applies to supply some equipment to the government (state or federal), you the staff tells the supplier to up his quote from 10 million to 12 million. The 2 million is the staff cut from the supplier. If the supplier refuses, his proposal will not be forwarded. 4.	 An organization sends a proposal to the Ministry for training, the proposal is sent to the affected department within Ministry for review. The department reviews it and redrafts the proposal for their gain. When the proposal becomes approved, the department claims all or part of the payment for their gain. These are happening and must be stopped. Creating the awareness that these practices are wrong and that the culprits must be immediately disengaged from their duty should be advocated. The Bible states that He who “does not accept a bribe against the innocent” will never be shaken…Psalm 15:5. He who “goes after ill-gotten gain” will end up with wasted lives …Proverbs 1:19. I have seen a man who has gotten wealth from bribery and corruptive practices end up with useless children, and died in wasteful sicknesses. The wealth disappears as quickly as it came. Those in this practice please check your lives and your generation. Do not bring a curse on your children for that is what bribery is. A curse! And so is corruption, a generational curse! Their children become useless and amount to nothing.[New King James Version] PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION, DRUG AWARENESS PROGRAMS, AND SANITATION: AWACIO is a strong advocate for good sanitary environment in public primary and secondary schools. The public schools are heavily disadvantaged because most of these schools lack water supply system and so the toilet systems do not work. Students end up going into bushes to excrete while others train their bodies to hold things in until they get home[15]Yet, every year the Federal government releases millions of Naira which are pocketed or embezzled by some staff in the government. Students are not taught well, and teachers are not paid well to be encouraged. The drug awareness programs by AWACIO are intended to create awareness to the students on the risk and dangers of doing drugs such are marijuana, cocaine, and other illicit drugs. Students are made to understand the side effects and the dangers of getting involved in such. At the same time they are exposed to lifestyle consequences of doing drugs and engaging in sexual immorality. They are given incentives to help them remember to say “no to drugs and sex”. HEALTH AWARENESS PROGRAMS IN FEDERAL MINISTRY AND FOLLOW UP: The health awareness program with Federal Ministry created opportunity for AWACIO to partner with the Ministry to educate the staff on health issues. AWACIO has been able to work with some ministries such as Ministry of Power, and Ministry of Transport to train staff on HIV/AIDs and perform screenings in which a number of employees tested positive and were referred to HIV/AIDs health centers for treatment.[16] Those who tested positive are also being followed up. Another area where AWACIO is creating awareness with the Ministries is in training on cervical cancer and prostate cancer which are among the number one killer cancers in Nigeria. Family Planning is the other area AWACIO is interested in. The population of Nigeria is so large that effective family planning needs to be in place to help control the population growth of the economy. There are situations where a poor man who cannot afford food on the table has five children running around the place. He sits and hopes that God will provide. Some children are abandoned and then sent to orphanages. There is also the huge concern of early child marriages and pregnancies which has some health implications. Can you imagine a thirteen year old girl is married and pregnant for a child? A child is having a child? [17] USAID is trying to address some of these and AWACIO hopes to work with them to sustain and perfect it. The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs is urged to play more visible role on these women related issues. WIDOW EMPOWERMENT: AWACIO currently cares for about 120 widows. A selection of these widows are trained and empowered on the skill which they received training. These skills include bead making, sewing, cake and soap making, and hair dressing, and more. These skills are expected to economically empower them. AWACIO has partnered with TOTAL Corporation to empower the widows [18] ORPHANAGE AND PRISON ENCOURAGEMENT: AWACIO has visited a number of orphanages and prisons to offer hospitality and welfare packages, and words of encouragement. Monetary donations of varying amounts have been made in some orphanages and prison. The orphanages which have schools have been encouraged by AWACIO paying the monthly salary of some of the teachers in the orphanages. During some of our visits to the orphanage, their facilities are inspected, and some of them have been found to be substandard. In such instances, AWACIO has made recommendations and provided some support to help bring the facility to standard. Follow up visits were also made to ensure that our recommendations are upheld. During one of our visit to one of the prisons, the prison officers complained that they did not have money for fuel to transport the inmates to court the next day. Some of the inmates were scheduled for hearing that could discharge them, and if they missed it they would have to wait another few months to one year for another hearing. AWACIO was moved by the situation and immediately provided financial support to ensure that the vehicles were fueled and ready to transport the inmates the next day.[19] DRUG QUALITY CONTROL AWARENESS: AWACIO is interested in the quality and safety of medications made available to the public especially to children and pregnant women. More important to AWACIO are the authenticity of the anti-malaria drugs, antibiotics, cough medications, pain medications, and vitamins Therefore AWACIO is very sensitive to the appearance, the labeling, and the packaging of the medication stored and dispensed by pharmacies in Nigeria. How authentic is it? Where does the pharmacy get their supply from? Are the suppliers/ manufacturers properly registered with NAFDAC? Which Pharmacopeia do they follow for their drug standards? Pharmacopeias include USP, British Pharmacopeia, European Pharmacopeia, and more. AWACIO wishes to work with these pharmacopeias, NAFDAC, WHO, and FDA to ensure that counterfeiting is minimized. HOSPITAL ENGAGEMENTS: This area is critical to AWACIO. The hospitals are not fully equipped and so many tests are not available for the common citizen. The poor continues to suffer. The rich and those who have embezzled government funds fly themselves out of the country for tests and checkups.[20] AWACIO is advocating that the hospitals be brought to standards so the citizens can benefit. When some patients go to the government hospitals and are treated, if they have no money to pay, they are detained and not discharged until they pay. AWACIO has an agreement with some of these hospitals and these patients are discharged after we make the financial adjustments. Funding AWACIO has been privately funded until recently when it went public. AWACIO generates its funds through private donations and have decided to go public to meet the scope of its vision and goal. AWACIO is registered with PayPal©, and under US IRS 503(c) for non-profit tax exempt status. AWACIO has applied for grants with USAID, Bill Gates Foundation, USPHS grants, and others.[21] AWACIO has been funded by Federal Ministry of Transport to perform HIV/AIDs screening, and AWACIO provided funds to the Federal Ministry of Power to perform HIV/AIDS screening. AWACIO is in partnership with Gede Foundation, Abuja, Nigeria to do screening on HIV/AIDs related issues. AWACIO has passion for training and creating awareness on issues related to prostrate and cervical cancer. AWACIO believes that these diseases are the result of lifestyles and behavior, and can be decreased with adequate creation of awareness. Partners and Private donors are Total Inc., Gede Foundation, Federal Ministry of Transport, Nigeria, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID USP, FDA, NAFDAC And more… •

References 1. http://www.awacio.org 2. People’s Daily, Thursday, December 15, 2011, “AWACIO to prevent cervical cancer in adolescents through Gardasil vaccine.” Page 9. 3. Daily Trust, Thursday, December 15, 2011 “NGO launches programme to care for women, children, Page 37 4. http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php/news/426-national/136352-  corruption-nigeria-s-greatest-woe-says-carrington 5. http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/10/corruption-terrible-monster-confronting-nigeria-carrington/ 6. http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/09/how-corruption-weakens-education-sector-efcc/ 7. http://www.gamji.com/article6000/NEWS7987.htm          8.http://premiumtimesng.com/opinion/4355nigerias'civilservice_an_engine_of_corruption_by_isa_ali_panta.h 9. http://envisionnigeria.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=%201620&Itemid=146 10. http://sunnewsonline.com/new/cover/waec-withholds-258370-results/ 11.http://www.awacio.org/awacioandFMTAbuja2013.html 12. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3249694/ 13. http://www.internations.org/nigeria-expats/guide/moving-to-nigeria-15540/healthcare-in-nigeria-3 14. http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/old/index.php/city-news/54707-ace-sum-decry-govt-neglect-of-orphanages 15. http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/03/nigerian-prisons-inmates-open-up-on-travails-triumphs/ 16.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Nigeria 17. The Bible (New King James Version) 18. http://assemblyonline.info/?p=15840 19.http://www.unicef.org/newsline/01pr21.htm 20. https://www.facebook.com/AWACIO‎ 21. http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/pnadr814.pdf 41.184.84.10 (talk) 19:59, 4 November 2013 (UTC) 41.184.84.10 (talk) 20:13, 4 November 2013 (UTC) Navigation menu •	Create account •	Log in •	Project page •	Talk