Mama Helen: Celebrating a magnanimous Icon of Humanity

A well-known philanthropist and a true heroine of the people, Mrs Helen Oritsejafor, popularly known as ‘Mama Helen’ is being celebrated for her extraordinary philanthropic works towards the less privileged and children in the society.

A great woman, who has been a blessing to all, both young and old, has left her footprints in the sands of time with her generousity and understanding of human needs which has led to her good deeds over the years.

An Amazon, whose kindness has been felt towards the length and breadth of Nigeria and other African countries has committed her time to the growth and development of lives and has indeed showed her motherly love and also ensured her impact is felt wherever and whenever the need arises.

Looking back on some of her glorious deeds, Dr. Helen has exhibited great strength in giving back to the society, shown remarkable selflessness and a heart of love for others which has gained her a lot of powerful recognitions, some of which are: The global recognition by the wives of Presidents and wives of Vice Presidents in Africa as an Advocate of Ending Extreme Poverty in Africa, honored also by the Pan African Screen Actors Network as an Outstanding Humanitarian of The Year, and another from Afrikanwatch Gold Merit award (AGMA) as the Most Outstanding Philanthropist of the year with a Conferment of Afrikanwatch Grand National Patriot (AGNP) all dated back to 2018.

A true scholar, who is well experienced and educated has embarked on several trainings, seminars and workshops for skill acquisition as well as to bridge the knowledge gap in business.

Top business heads, managers and Chief Executive Officers (CEO) of organizations was not left out in her act of kindness as she provided free mentoring classes centered on effective strategies and ideas to ensure their business and organizations remains innovative and last for many generations. This she has done over the years and quarterly through her mentorship program, “The CEO’s Company Mentorship Class” solely birthed to aid sustainability and growth of businesses globally.

Dr Helen who was concerned at the alarming rate of business collapse in Africa, founded the class with a rationale that it is important for proper scrutinizing to be done with immediate effect, to enable African organizations and businesses to last for centuries, and ensure the existence of job security for the future generation.

Many small and medium scale entrepreneurs as well as business heads have been able to stand strong irrespective of the economic crunch being faced over the years all thanks to her mentorship class.

A beacon of hope, who is no stranger to selflessness has given her life to philanthropic activities which has been greatly felt through her impactful and life changing works which she has consistently done via her foundation Dr Helen, “A Hand to the Needy Foundation”.

The Foundation, whose mantra is “We Care” has produced series of memorable philanthropic acts pushing her into the limelight and bringing about her award as the African Philanthropist of the year 2021 by the organization of African Leadership Magazine (ALM), during their 10th edition of the award ceremony, at Dorchester Mayfair London, United Kingdom, early this year. During the year as well, she was also honoured by the House of Representative, State of Mississippi in the United States of America (USA) for her outstanding and philanthropic contributions to the development and growth of the society through her foundation.

During the pandemic, Mama Helen became a beacon of hope to others, as she stood out to support business men and women who were greatly affected by the scourge of COVID-19. This came about after the release of one of one of her books “You Too Can Become a Success” which was released during the period of the pandemic.

The heartfelt giver, donated 50% of the proceeds of this book sale to help businesses that were almost shutting down.

She also supported them by organizing a free business training as well as rendering financial support for startups to find a level ground in the business world, as well to avoid a business closure for those who were struggling due to the economic hardships the pandemic had caused. All of which was carried out under her foundation, ‘Dr Helen A Hand to the Needy Foundation’.

At the end of the training, she awarded them with cash donations ranging from N300,000 naira to N500,000 naira respectively. Ms. Anita Brown one of the beneficiaries from Lagos state, who had a severely difficult experience due to the pandemic, said she was immensely grateful to the author for her immeasurable support, and was looking forward to building her business under the authors tutelage.

On another phase of her never ending philanthropic journey, she lent a helping hand to over two hundred widows and three hundred market women in the society through her foundation to support them in their endeavours by providing financial and edible support worth over five million naira. This was carried out in partnership with former congresswoman Dee Dawkins-Haigler from the United States of America, who said she had family who had experienced widowhood and so was drawn to support the humanitarian course.

She ended the previous year with her open hands, as she surprisingly provided financial and edible aid to the less privileged in rural areas in a bid to put a smile on their faces and provide them an unforgettable Christmas.

Indeed, Dr Oritsejafor keeps outshining herself, as she continues to create giant strides in her philanthropic deeds which will be remembered for generations to come.