Valentine Benjamin

Valentine Benjamin

Valentine Benjamin is a Nigerian travel journalist and documentary filmmaker. His work, published in English and French, has appeared in several international publications focusing on global health issues, social justice and development across Sub-Saharan Africa.

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Nigerian nuns whittle away at country's 10.5 million kids out of school

Nigeria has 10.5 million children who are out of school. The Missionary Sisters of St. John Paul II of Mary are working to whittle away at that statistic.

Sr. Matilda Inyang carries a child outside the Mother Charles Walker Children Home May 7 at the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus convent in Uyo, Nigeria. Since opening the home in 2007, Inyang has cared for dozens of children. (Valentine Iwenwanne)

Q & A with Sr. Matilda Inyang, supporting children whose families think they're witches

For more than a decade, Sr. Matilda Inyang has cared for dozens of malnourished and homeless children from the streets of Uyo, Akwa Ibom, in Nigeria — many of whom had family who believed they were witches.

Ime Effiong (left, in yellow), one of the women who received mental health care from the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, tends to the birds on the poultry farm under Sr. Catherine Nkereuwem’s supervision in Uyo, a town in southeastern Nigeria

As mental illness rises in Nigeria, nuns offer treatment, shelter to indigent people in Uyo

Up to 30% of Nigeria's population may suffer from mental illness. To address a gap in care, the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul provide treatment and an inpatient home to those rejected by society.

To foster inclusiveness, Nigerian nuns mainstream pupils with disabilities

On a sunny afternoon, the Rev. Gideon Oyabugbe, a minister at a local Baptist church, walked into St. Vincent's Centre for Inclusive Education to pick up James, his 8-year-old son, who is autistic.

Sr. Matilda Iyang poses outside at the Mother Charles Walker Children Home Oct. 7, at the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus convent in Uyo, Nigeria. (CNS/Valentine Iwenwanne)

In Nigeria, nun cares for abandoned children labeled as witches

Since opening the home in 2007, Sr. Matylda Iyang has cared for dozens of malnourished and homeless children from the streets of Uyo; many of them had family who believed they were witches.

In southern Nigeria, nuns put TB, leprosy patients on road to recovery

After three years of visiting clinics and traditional healers across Nonwa Tai, in the southern corner of Nigeria, 55-year-old Benedict Ngbaji was shocked to discover the sores and lesions under his foot and ankle were symptoms of Hansen's disease, or leprosy.

Nuns try to fight lure of Europe by offering programs for young Nigerians

Up to 80% of Nigerians who leave for Europe end up trafficked and in prostitution. In Edo, the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus are working to fight the problem.