Ministries

The school was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission on 14 June 2010, with registration number 2134912, under the name Infant Jesus Academy. It was approved to operate Daycare, Nursery, Primary, and Secondary schools. Although the school’s population increased with its registration, it still had the charism of caring for the poor.

The fees were very low compared with those of other private schools in the locality. The classes grew up to Primary six and started participating in the common entrance examinations for Secondary schools.

Infant Jesus Academy

The Home, in the early days of 1995, had plans for different projects that would help in the apostolate. Lands were acquired for an orphanage, schools, a novitiate, a community for young mothers, and mentally challenged persons. These lands are secured and are being put to good use.

The undeveloped lands are used for farm work to provide food and assist in feeding the numerous inmates. The lands being used for farm work are in Dukpa, Checheyi, Ijah, Dagiri, and Bako. Home thus uses farming as one of its self-help projects to sustain the organization.

Dukpa Farm

Dukpa Farm is a land of about 2.5 hectares, acquired for developing a Vocational Boys’ School. The land has been secured with a high perimeter fence. The compound has two boreholes, one electricity-powered and one manual hand pump. The land is cultivated annually and cropped with maize, groundnuts, melon, soya beans, okro and vegetables, guinea corn, yam, sweet potatoes, cassava, and rice.

The harvested produce from the farm is used to complement gifts from benefactors for the feeding of the inmates. The farm is also used in training the children in agriculture and contributing to the workforce through practical participation during weekends and holidays.

Bako Farm

Bako Farm exists within the enclosed fence of the Secondary school, covering an area of 13,000 square metres. The farm covers part of the land that has not been put to use in the Secondary school compound. Crops planted include maize, cassava, groundnuts, beans, and vegetables. The Community at Bako also keeps poultry in a wooden cage, supervised by the Sisters and cared for by the children.

Dagiri Farm

Dagiri Farm is a plot of land measuring about 645 square metres in front of Home. The crops usually planted there are melon, groundnut, cassava, and vegetables. Other farmlands at Checheyi and Ijah are leased to staff and local villagers.

Poultry Farm and Fish Pond

There is a one-room poultry apartment inside the Home. Birds are bred there and, on maturity, are used in feeding the inmates. Fish Pond was developed by Rita and Peter Caluori. It has two concrete ponds where fish are stocked, harvested, and used for feeding inmates.

Contributions from the farm harvests have helped to alleviate the cost of feeding the inmates and make food available at all times for the children, especially during periods of economic hardship.

The Skill Centre was established to help rehabilitate the street boys and girls who were among the earliest vulnerable groups cared for. Before the establishment of the Skill Centre, street boys were sent for artisan training or apprenticeship outside the Home to learn bricklaying, carpentry, painting, sewing, and related skills.

Anawim Home moved to its permanent site at Dagiri Gwagwalada in 1998. The compound provided enough space to accommodate a Skill Centre. The initial Mary Magdalene Skill Centre was constructed with mud bricks and offered training in basket making, weaving, raffia works, tailoring, tie and dye, candle making, and soap making.

The training was also for young unmarried pregnant ladies who were driven out of their homes and nurtured at the Home before delivery. The aim was to give them a source of livelihood and help them become self-sustaining after delivery.

The Skill Centre was used also for adult education of the street boys and girls and young mothers. Women in vulnerable circumstances who were interested in learning skills were also welcomed. The Home later received a grant from Rita and Peter Caluori and their Switzerland friends to construct a bigger Skill Acquisition Centre, opened on 29 May 2010.

The Skill Centre was later equipped by the Czech Embassy with modern catering and kitchen equipment. Local women of low income were allowed to register for training, usually free, and many trainees were settled with basic equipment and supplies to start small businesses.

By 2013, the National Aids Coordinating Agency (NACA) supported the training of over 100 local women and women with AIDS in marketable skills like catering, sewing, knitting, hair braiding, and bead making. More than one thousand local women and women in vulnerable circumstances have been trained and settled to start businesses.

Micro Credit Programme

The activities and programmes of the Skill Centre in 2015 attracted the interest of Hope For West Africa (HFWA) Inc. to institute a programme to assist graduates of the Skill Centre. The organization established a 0% interest microcredit programme in which women received as much as twenty thousand naira to establish or grow their businesses.

They were selected into Trust Groups in which each woman acted as another’s collateral. This helped them increase income and branch into secondary businesses, exposing them to higher income and better living. There has been a high repayment of the credit loan facility.

St. Raphael Medical Centre (Anawim Clinic)

This was initiated as a means of providing medical support for groups living with HIV and AIDS. The Clinic initially cared for the health needs and regular ailments of residents of Anawim Home.

Anawim Home, because of the number of orphaned children, mentally challenged persons, the aged, and young mothers resident in the Home, required a healthcare facility to care for their medical needs. One of the pioneer caregivers, Sr. Ruphina Anosike, was trained and registered as a Nurse and Midwife. A part-time Doctor assisted in the health care apostolate.

The care was extended to women in vulnerable circumstances, especially those living with HIV. This programme continued until William Blattner MD visited Anawim Home in 2006 through the Institute for Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN).

The Clinic was selected as one of the IHVN facilities due to its coordination and care for a key target population in HIV/AIDS. Since then, it has been involved in outreaches for HIV testing and identification, counselling, dispensing ARV drugs, clinic attendance, and monthly activities.

The Clinic operates outpatient care with the help of a visiting Doctor and holds an antenatal clinic every Friday. It offers orthodox and Pax herbal drugs through the pharmacy.

The growth of the Clinic was made possible by the construction of the building housing it. The building was originally planned as a reception hall with guest room accommodation. Associate Members, championed by Dr Uju Ozoh-Bosah, began the work with an initial donation in 2005. The Irish Embassy later helped complete the construction.

In 2018, the Clinic was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission under the name St Raphael Medical Centre. In 2019, the process of getting the Clinic fully approved by the Federal Capital Territory Administration Health and Human Services Secretariat began.

The establishment of the Clinic has helped in taking care of the medical needs of orphaned children, mentally challenged persons resident in the Home, young mothers, Sisters, and Brothers. It has brought down the cost of medical care and provided urgent attention during emergencies.