M.A.R.T.H.A.

When will our people suffer no more?

Martha Okoro, on her last days before the illness took her away.

M.A.R.T.H.A.'s Story

And our future

Martha Okoro

Martha Okoro (1930-2012). Martha's whole life revolved around the helping of all people within her community, regardless of her own situation. Widowed very young it was always a dream of hers to build a school for children who would never get the opportunity of realising their hopes and dreams through an educational route. Martha passed away in October 2012, never realising her dream due to her illness. It is now, through the forming of Martha's Dream that we are taking on this challenge to help realise her lifelong wish and build a free school for her community.

2013: The dream begins

In February 2013, less than one year after Martha passed away, her daughter Mercy and her husband Michael founded M.A.R.T.H.A.'s Dream, carrying on Martha's lifelong dream. The charity was born with the aim of providing a free school that would have both a significant and positive impact on the children and families within the community that Martha was so passionately wanting to help.

2013: The first fundraising event

Held in Morecambe, North West England, Mercy and Mike, who with their own resources, appealed to the local community for help in raising funds and raising awareness. There was the first glimmer of hope that the possibilities of the project were attainable.

2013: WHRIN Comunity Champion Award

In 2013 it came as amazing surprise at the opening of Gary Foxcroft's organisation WHRIN ( Witchcraft and Human Rights Information Network ) in London. Mike and Mercy were awarded the Community Champions Award 2013. This was in acknowledgement of the work Mercy and Mike did in the rescuing of a Nigerian girl who had been trafficked to Lancaster (UK) and kept as a slave for 10 years.

February 2017: Martha's Academy

What started as a dream became reality in February 2017. Martha's Dream Academy opened its doors and welcomed 40 children on the first day. These children all belonged to the local community and wouldn't have had the opportunity to receive an education due to their families' financial situation.

July 2017: The first nursery graduation

On the 27th of July the first Graduation Ceremony was held at Martha's Dream Academy, to celebrate the passage of our children from Nursery 3 to Primary 1. The event saw all of the children celebrating, dancing, singing and acting in sketches to entertain the audience. This was a moment of great joy to the community of Ekonobizi. All our students were successful in the first year and passed their academic tests with encouraging results.

The future: Academy 2020

So much has been achieved in such a short time but there is still a long way to go to be done before the dream can be considered complete.
Our Academy 2020 project aims to build, by September 2020, a joint primary and secondary school. We will then be able to offer free secondary education to young adults. This project will run in parallel with the ordinary academic activities of Martha's Dream Academy, where more pupils will be admitted to the Nursery and entry-level primary school.