The Embodiments of Love Academy (TELA) was established in 2012 to provide free values-based education to impoverished children from more than 48 surrounding villages. Initially, in 2013, TELA only accepted children from ages 3 to 11 in its nursery and primary schools. Presently, TELA educates about 1200 children free of cost in Nursery, Primary and Secondary schools. Our students are currently achieving scores in the top 10 percentile in state wide exams.

To promote Education in Human Values (EHV), Joy Villages has established the Nigerian Institute for Human Values Education (NIHVE). NIHVE trains educators (teachers and principals) From 2012 to 2019, more than 4500 teachers have been trained in EHV from Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia and Croatia. Due to the current high unemployment rate experienced in Nigeria, the youths happen to be the most affected and this has pushed many into the world of crime. Joy Villages in a bid to improve the livelihood of youths birthed the TELA SKILLS ACQUISITION TRAINING CENTER.

The centre aims to give youths the opportunity to be independent by gaining skills in:

• ICT
• Fashion designing/dressmaking
• Carpentry/Joinery
• Welding and fabrication
• Electrical and Electronics repair
• Solar Energy Installation
• Catering, Cosmetology
• Building

From our data more than 40% of the students that graduate from TELA will not have the opportunity to attend post-secondary education due to economic barriers. This is one of the challenges we have to overcome as lack of post-secondary education will limit the student’s future opportunities. Upon reviewing this data, Joy Village started the construction of TELA skills acquisition centre to prepare graduates for gainful employment after their schooling ends. Divine Will Foundation (Canada) in partnership with Joy Villages is funding the TELA Skills Acquisition Centre with the ICT and Dress making section to kick off within the first quarter of 2023.

TELA BREAKFAST PROGRAM (BIARIENU FOOD PROJECT):

The TELA breakfast program Biarienu (Come and Eat) food program started in 2014 and provides free nutritious breakfasts to school children who come to school on empty stomachs. The program presently feeds more than five hundred (500) school children every school day in TELA and two government schools in Ezeagu LGA of Enugu state, with more than 410,600 meals served till date.

HELPING HANDS COMMUNITY INITIATIVE (H-H)

Helping Hands is designed as a service-learning program for TELA students. It has improved the quality of life of about One thousand eight hundred (1800) disabled and disadvantage persons since 2014.The main aim of the H-H is to teach our students through service learning. It gives students the opportunity to give back to the society through activities such as: Old is Gold Care for the sick & elderly in surrounding communities, Hospital Visitation, Prison Visitation and Food distribution.

The feedback we have received from the students who participated has been very encouraging with a lot of them saying it gives them inner peace.