UK based NGO, Lightup Foundation set to break Guinness Record with Bag of Hope

Mrs. Olasubomi Iginla-Aina in a school uniform with a set of Nigerian Students who benefits from her Lighup Foundation.
The need to
use a philanthropic vehicle called BAG OF HOPE to kill myriad of problems
which include mystery, hunger and strife bedeviling the lives of young people
in war rattled communities across the world was re-emphasized last weekend in
Lagos during an awareness program by Lightup
Foundation
, a United Kingdom based charity organization.

Mrs. Olasubomi Iginla-Aina (In Unifform) with a delighted group of northern school stiudents in Northern Nigeria


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During the
maiden edition of her Guinness World
Record
breaking Project tagged “Largest Canvass Bag in the World” (Bag of
Hope), which took place at Anglican Girls’ Grammar School, Surulere on Saturday
October 30th, the founder, Lightup
Foundation
, Mrs. Olasubomi Iginla-Aina while speaking
with journalists said it was possible for Africa to build a charity purse
called  BAG OF HOPE which will draw the
support of  kind hearted people across the
world to give philanthropic support for the social recovery and betterment of
every wounded soul in the throes of social disadvantage and exclusion in any
part of the world including Nigeria.

Mrs. Olasubomi Iginla-Aina (in Uniform) motivating a northern School Student in Northern Nigeria

Iginla who flew into Nigeria on Saturday
morning from her United Kingdom base to flag off the project among students of
her alma-mata, Anglican Girls’ Grammar
School
, Surulere, Lagos, South West Nigeria explained the benefit of the
first of its kind Guinness World Record
Breaker
called “Largest Canvass Bag in the World” while encouraging public
spirited individuals and organizations support the dream. On how she conceived
the idea, Iginla an Architect
graduate of OAU (Ife) and first female SUG President of OAU said “I was doing a
course in Oxford University (UK)
when this idea of a bag came and it occurred to me that we can actually raise
funds with a Bag of Hope. That we
could make the biggest bag in the world and call it “BAG OF HOPE”. I said ‘let
us come and make it in Nigeria and divide it into parts, take it to different
countries and get as many young people involve in the project”

Olasubomi Iginla-Aina lighting Up the lives of young people

Defining the
nature of the Bag of Hope, Iginla described how the largest bag in the world will look like “The lower part of
the bag will be full of golden sequence, and the upper part will be full of
black sequence while the sides will be full of silver and white sequence and
the human heads designed on the bag is a symbol of different faces with
different colors representing children from different countries and different
backgrounds. Their smiling faces means that the BAG OF HOPE is going to shed
light unto the future of these innocent children and put smiles back on their
faces. So, for every child that participate in this project, he or she will get
an award sticker from Lightup Foundation to say that he or she was
one of the young people who broke the world record of creating a BAG OF HOPE”

Olasubomi Iginla-Aina in another class Lightup session in another part of Nigeria

With the tag
“Tears and Pity will not work…Only care and swift action will save mankind from
drowning”,  Iginla who was surrounded by a group of students, teachers,
parents, guardians and tailors who were on ground to design the bag and receive
enlightenment during the event said the rich people in the society can only buy
into her dream if they can put themselves in the position of the destitute and
ordinary people who desire the benefits in the Bag of Hope.
 “They (Rich of the society) need to feel other
people’s pain. You need to assume that you are the one in pains. That is the
only way you can appreciate that there is a need that urgently need to be
responded to. The Yoruba axiom says “Ka
koko fi ina jo ara eni ka to fi jo omo elomi kaa ba le
mo bo sen rii” (if you don’t test the fieriness of the fire on your
own flesh you can never appreciate the penal impact on someone’s child).

Olasubomi Iginla-Aina with a group of beneficiary of her Lightup Foundation in the UK

“If you can
put yourself in the mood and you feel their pain, you will not be compelled by
anybody to take an action and not later but immediately. If you can put
yourself in that frame of mind, you are one of the people we are looking for to
come and support the project. Because it is when you give that you even receive
more”

Mrs. Olasubomi Iginla-Aina with Mayor of Haringey, UK

The main
idea of the Lightup Foundation is to
inspire and empower young people across the world to take actions which creates
positive change and real impact in their communities. The organization which
has carried out several charity activities in schools in northern and Southern
Nigeria, Scotland and London provides a range of tailored support including
counseling, training, mentoring and other useful activities that will help
increase young people’s skills.
(Lightup Foundation can be contacted
through
admin@lightupfoundation.org 
or Lightupfoundation.org)