Woman's fund-raising effort brings electricity to Nigerian village

Published: 2004-04-06

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (CNS) -- Thanks to a fund-raising effort spearheaded by an employee in the Providence Diocese, the village of Ebenator, Nigeria, has electricity. The project was organized by Anne Clarke, a worker in the neighborhood friendly visitor program of the diocese's Office of Community Services and Advocacy. During a casual conversation last fall, Clarke learned from Nigerian Sister Patricia Onyeje, information specialist in the community services office, that the 1,000 or so residents in her home village had no electricity or running water. Clarke, whose large extended family annually supports a local family in lieu of exchanging gifts during the Christmas holidays, decided to adopt Sister Onyeje's village. It would only cost about $2,000 to bring electricity to the rural settlement, whose population is predominately Catholic. Clarke collected $670; Sister Onyeje's brother contributed $1,400. The total amount covered the cost of wiring and the electricity poles needed to connect villagers' homes to an outside electric line.

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