Posted by By ISMAIL OMIPIDAN, Maiduguri on
As a young girl in the 1960s, perhaps, the last thing that may have crossed the mind of then Catherine Ori Iheme was getting married to a foreigner.
As a young girl in the 1960s, perhaps, the last thing that may have crossed the mind of then Catherine Ori Iheme was getting married to a foreigner. But fate appeared to have had something in store for her. She had fallen ill and got admitted to a hospital at Ikom, in Cross River State. And while seeking cure for her ailment, young Catherine found love in an Italian doctor, Dr. Angelo Caroli, who later married her in 1965.
Today, that affair, which started in Ikom, has produced four children who are doing well in their respective fields. Not only that, it has given Prof. Catherine Ori Iheme Caroli an opportunity to promote African heritage in Italy. With the Nigerian Women Cultural Association, she has established a museum in Italy where studies on Africa are carried out. Prof. Caroli told Daily Sun her love story, accomplishments in Italy, among other things. Excerpts:
Her background
I am from Acha, a small village in Isuikwuato, just on the border between Abia and Ebonyi states. My father is the late Chief Ezebuiro Iheme and my mother is Mrs. Nkechinyere Azubuike Iheme. I had my primary education at Acha, then Kano, Lagos and Afikpo and attended Holy Child, Ikot-Ekpene. I taught at Ifua, Ikot Ekpene in the old Ogoja Province.
How I met my husband
My husband has always had interest in the African environment. He was a missionary doctor at Ikom in Cross River State. When I was teaching in Ikom, I fell sick and was admitted to the hospital where he was working and we fell in love. We wedded on January 3, 1965 at Awomamma in Imo State. That was the period Awomamma Community Hospital was opened and where I had my first child in 1966. After that, we left for Italy and came back with the Red Cross during the Nigerian civil war. From there, we left for Togo in 1967 and stayed there till 1971 when we went back to Italy.
Our marriage has been blessed with four wonderful kids - three boys and a girl. My daughter, Marie Therese, schooled at Reading, England. She is also a doctoral student on Italian colonies in Africa. Our first son works with the Italian Embassy, Moscow and is married to a Russian. Our second son is an actor, while the third son just graduated in Genetic Biology.
I was engaged to my husband for three years and it afforded us the opportunity to know each other well, coupled with our Christian faith. The inter-race union has not posed any problem and this is due to our characters. My husband loves Africa. He is simply a good doctor. Even though he is retired, he still engages in voluntary medical works.
Career & experience
When we got to Italy, I taught for 17 years before I retired in 1994. But as a black, it was not easy for me at all. Then, few Africans were there and were mainly priests. To see an African, you had to go to the embassies or St. Peters', Rome.
And while teaching, I came across Africans who had the same problem of loneliness and the worst hit were students. So I started taking care of African students who had climatic problem and those with academic problem, especially doctors who were not allowed to do their housemanship in Italian hospitals, like their Italian schoolmates.
Prostitution in Italy
The problem has its root in the kind of freedom women enjoy there. Prostitution is not seen as a crime of any sort in Italy. It can only attract moral scrutiny, but, it is not criminal. That is why appeal is the only weapon, especially to the women using these girls. When they take the girls, some of them die on the way because they are smuggled in. Those who make it have their passports seized until they are forced to pay as much as 75,000 Euro. And that is why our people should be careful when they are releasing their daughters to anybody.
Corporate and individual achievements
All the umbrella unions are coming together to improve the African society. Right now, the sub-Saharan Women Orange Cultural Association has intensified appeal to the World Bank to cancel our debt because it is the world that is indebted to Africa and not vice versa. If you count the losses of artifacts, deaths and slavery, you will know who is owing who and we are not begging. We are asking for it.
Also, as individuals, we are contributing in no little way to improve our people. In my home town, I have been sponsoring adult women education. I send them stationery, sports wears and organise tournaments for them. Sometimes we pay teachers' allowances as well as carry out family planning studies for the rural women.