About Anawim Homes

Anawim Homes is a nonprofit founded in 1995 by Mother Oresoa Selo-Ojeme (MSPP) to uplift society’s most marginalized people, including homeless youth, women in vulnerable circumstances, persons living with mental illness, and abandoned children.

Rooted in the Hebrew term Anawim, meaning the poorest of the poor, the organization provides holistic care including emergency shelter, rehabilitation, skills training, mental health support, and spiritual guidance. Starting as a small refuge in Gwagwalada, Anawim has expanded to multiple communities, including Dagiri, Kaduna, Irrua, and Dukpa, offering vocational centres, hostels, and sustainable resettlement programmes.

History of Anawim Home

“I will go in the strength of the Lord.”

Psalm 71:16

In the early years of Abuja City’s formation and development, Mother Oresoa was often seen associating with street boys and girls, including those known for hard lives, drug use, and other struggles. They were societal rejects who had tried to make it but were unsuccessful. Some came from good family backgrounds with high hopes in search of opportunities in Abuja, the newly developing Federal Capital of Nigeria.

Some initially worked as casual labourers at construction sites. But as the economy declined and construction slowed, many sites closed and workers were dismissed. To survive, these groups joined the many street boys living under bridges, in disused construction sites, and in uncompleted or abandoned buildings.

The other group included young women who faced the same lack of opportunity. Some came hoping to find work but had no address or sponsor. When all hope was lost, many ended up on the streets and in makeshift shelters, hoping to survive. Mother Oresoa chose to befriend these groups, ministering to them, providing for them, eating with them, and giving them hope from 1995 onward.

Let Me Give

“I do not know how long I will live, but while I live, Lord, let me give.”

Mother Oresoa Selo-Ojeme (MSPP)

This mission was not easily understood by the public. Some people questioned why Mother Oresoa left life in the convent of her congregation to live with and relate to street boys and girls, vulnerable women, and people rejected by society. Yet others admired her good works and encouraged her by assisting and contributing to the mission.

The First Anawim Family

Through the effort and assistance of the Associate Members, the Anawim project made an uncompleted building at No. 8, E Street, Phase 1, Federal Low Cost Housing, behind the University of Abuja Hostels, Gwagwalada, habitable. The building was given to Mother Oresoa by her cousin, Mr. Anthony Efediye, to provide more space and freedom for her work with street boys and girls.

The first permanent family members were two children, Francis and Elizabeth, whom she separated from their mothers who were undergoing treatment at a native doctor’s home for destitute persons in Benin City. They were malnourished and almost lifeless. Initial medication and healthcare were administered at St. Philomena Hospital, Benin City, before they were taken to Gwagwalada, Abuja.

The children were admitted at the then Specialist Hospital, now the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, for six months. Street boys and girls offered assistance while the children were in the hospital. The first Anawim family became Francis, Elizabeth, four street boys, three young mothers, four abandoned children picked from the streets of Wuse, Abuja, and Mother Oresoa herself.

The family lived totally on divine providence. Often, Mother Oresoa had to go from house to house in search of food or pap for hungry children. The family later welcomed a mentally ill woman known for wandering unclothed in Gwagwalada markets. Through smiles and gifts, she was brought to the Home, given medication, and in a short time was transformed and became helpful in family chores. This was unbelievable to the Gwagwalada community and helped give the Anawim project early publicity.

The Anawim family continued to grow. Mother Oresoa continued to rehabilitate residents, resettle them with their families, and provide means of livelihood. On one occasion, while in Jos to resettle a girl, she met the late Bishop Ganaka of Jos Diocese, who gave her advice and prayers. He advised that the way to succeed in such an apostolate was daily prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and the Rosary of Our Lady with those being ministered to. The Bishop also gave her a bag full of rosaries.

The Name “Anawim Home”

The Association for the Poorest of the Poor continued to grow and minister to the destitute in Abuja, sometimes going as far as Ewu and Irrua in Edo State to rescue people. Mother Oresoa became known to street boys and girls as “Mama Gwagwalada.”

The house at Gwagwalada became a collection of destitute people, societal rejects, and physically and mentally challenged persons who had no hope in society. This gathering of indigent and helpless people led the then local Parish Priest of St. Paul Catholic Church, Gwagwalada, Rev. Fr. Adem, to name the home Anawim Home. The name became the identity by which the Poorest of the Poor Rehabilitation Centre is known to this day.

Anawim is a Hebrew term for the poor. Over time, it came to describe people in different situations of poverty: the oppressed, downtrodden, voiceless, and powerless who depend on God alone.

The Anawim Home in Phase 1 Low-Cost Housing later moved to Dagiri, opposite Government Secondary School, Gwagwalada, along the Abuja-Lokoja Expressway. The new location became the permanent site acquired from Government Layout by the Association for the Poorest of the Poor Associate Members. The plot of land is about seven merged plots, covering approximately 7,200 square metres.

Initial structures were developed, sometimes with mud or wood. These included hostels for various groups, a skill centre, and a reception arena. The structures became inhabited in 1997. The Mary Magdalene Skill Centre provided training to rehabilitate mentally ill persons, young mothers, and street boys and girls.

The main structure in Anawim Home, known as The Cloister, had its foundation-laying ceremony performed in 1998 by His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. J.O. Onaiyekan, then Archbishop of Abuja Archdiocese. The building was completed and officially opened on 11 November 2000 by the same Archbishop.

More structures and facilities followed, including St. Dymphina Hostel for the mentally ill, Infant Jesus Hostel for orphaned children, and St. Gerard Hostel for young mothers. Facilities such as boreholes, fish ponds, and a grotto were provided by benefactors, donors, and charity groups. Anawim Home, Dagiri, has grown to other communities at Bako, Dabi, and Dukpa, each hosting a particular group of people.

Anawim Home Expansion Outside Gwagwalada-Abuja

Kaduna Diocese

The visit of His Excellency, Most Rev. Dr. Carlo Maria Vigano, the Papal Nuncio, to the Home in 2002 opened the way for Mother Oresoa to have an audience with Pope John Paul II, now St. John Paul II, in Rome in 2004. She was privileged to be blessed by Pope John Paul II. Through the same Most Rev. Carlo M. Vigano, she received an introductory note to the Archbishop of Kaduna Archdiocese to adopt Anawim Home into the diocese.

The Archbishop, His Grace Most Rev. Dr. Peter Y. Jatau, fatherly accepted the Anawim project in 2005. This led to the construction of a community home at Kasuwan Magani, Kaduna. The Home was opened on 26 April 2006. The Home in Kasuwan Magani is the Association’s novitiate.

How the Sisters Came About

On 30 November 2006, the Missionary Sisters for the Poorest of the Poor were recognized by the Archbishop of Kaduna as a Pious Association in the Archdiocese. This was a joyful step toward recognition as a religious body or congregation. Anawim Home in Kaduna was further extended by establishing a home for orphans and a Skill Centre in Angwan Romi, Kaduna.

Further expansion followed when cases involving mentally ill persons became common around Irrua, Edo State. A Home was established there to care for them. Initially, the focus was on persons living with mental illness and vulnerable women, but the apostolate later blossomed into care for orphans and abandoned elderly women left at home by relatives living in the cities.

Usugbenu Irrua Community began in 2018 when extensive land was acquired for the Anawim Glory project run by the Missionary Servants for the Poorest of the Poor, the male counterpart of the Anawim Sisters, founded by Mother Oresoa Agatha Selo-Ojeme. Presently, the land is being used for farming while development continues for the community and skill centre.

Another newly established community of the Missionary Servants for the Poorest of the Poor is at Dukpa, Gwagwalada, Abuja. Dukpa Community took off in September 2019. The land of about three hectares was acquired to establish St. John Paul II Vocational Centre for boys. The land has been fenced, the foundation of the main office constructed, and it is presently occupied by the Anawim Servants, some residents, and used for farming by Anawim Glory Home.

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