Posted by By MAURICE ARCHIBONG on
Mrs. Nkechinyelu Iwuchukwu will join the league of septuagenarians on December 28, this year but she doesn't look like someone on the verge of 70 years old.
Mrs. Nkechinyelu Iwuchukwu will join the league of septuagenarians on December 28, this year but she doesn't look like someone on the verge of 70 years old.
Furthermore, given her gait and alert nature, the lady hardly comes across as someone who retired from public service more than 10 years ago. For someone, who spent close to 40 years as a teacher, how was this retiree coping with boredom? 'Oh, I am not bored at all. I have many relations, especially my grandchildren, keeping me busy", said the mother of six.
Mrs. Iwuchukwu hardly cuts the picture of a pensioner, whose stipend was inexplicably stopped since February, last year. Although you could almost feel the difficulties inflicted on this retiree, following the non-remittance of her entitlements, Mrs. Iwuchukwu is sure to come across as cheery, any time. Want to know the secret of her ever-happy mien? 'When you've lived almost seven decades on earth, you learn not to take some things to heart, however irritating they could be," the lady intoned. 'But this is not to say that being denied one's pension, as at when due, is excusable, you know".
As to how she had been getting by, Mrs. Iwuchukwu said she has her husband and six children to thank for a lot of support.
Mrs. Iwuchukwu put in some 37 years teaching in various schools but is now spending the rest of her life helping kids with cancer. The lady revealed she actually decided to join forces with others to assist kid victims of cancer, after one of her nieces brought to her attention what cancer kid patients go through. In fact, after visits to some children living with cancer, Mrs. Iwuchukwu felt more obliged to help because 'these children go through much suffering. Their situation is pathetic; and many had died because the parents could not raise the money to sustain treatment", she lamented. Mrs Iwuchukwu instantly recalled the fate of one George, a three-year-old lad that died from cancer, owing to the inability of his parents to fund the disease's management. Another promising child, who died from cancer was Kudirat, aged about eight. Sadly, like the case of George, Kudirat's affliction had been brought under control but her family could not sustain that remission, Iwuchukwu moaned.
With regard to her current occupation, outside family engagements, Mrs. Iwuchukwu revealed she is chairperson of the board of trustees of the Children Living with Cancer Foundation (CLWCF). The CLWCF, she explains, is a non-governmental organisation. Registered two years ago, the CLWCF was founded to alleviate the plight of kid cancer victims as well as propagate awareness about a disease, which though little known continues to take an awful toll on Nigerians. Modest and sparkling with candour, Mrs. Iwuchukwu admitted she really couldn't have imagined the menace of cancer until a few years, ago. For someone, who once lived abroad, where she had part of her education, Mrs. Iwuchukwu's awareness of cancer gives an insight into the situation among most ordinary folks in Nigeria. The level of ignorance concerning cancer has led to patients being ferried to the homes of native doctors and spiritualists, by relations fearing that the grotesque swellings must be the handiwork of witches or wizards. Consequently, cancer has claimed much too many lives because many patients end up in proper clinics too late, whereas early detection and diagnosis are invaluable to effective treatment or management of the ailment.
Mrs. Iwuchukwu added that apart from ignorance; want of funding is another factor behind the death of many cancer patients. To worsen matters, very few institutions have the right equipment to diagnose cancer. But this appalling situation may soon be a thing of the past, according to Mrs. Iwuchukwu, whose NGO, Children Living with Cancer Foundation (CLWCF), has come up with a most creative way of raising funds to help cancer victims, who happen to be minors. Other aims of the NGO include caring for children living with cancer and stimulating public awareness about the affliction. Furthermore, the body hopes to involve the federal, state and local governments' ministries of health and other relevant bodies in the careful management of cancer kid victims. 'In fact, where necessary", the lady continued, the NGO will work to ensure that these patients are happy and look forward to the future with hope and confidence. The CLWCF also plans to develop relevant training programmes and to sponsor researches and medical studies into the disease of cancer in children specifically and in all of the disease's ramifications, with a view to finding solutions to the problem.
'The aim of CLWCF is to assist with sufferers' medical expenses and to make these children as comfortable as the organisation can", Mrs. Iwuchukwu added. And being a non-governmental body, the body is obliged to care for these children without government backing. For this reason, 'we need all the voluntary financial support we are able to get from public, private and international bodies".
On what strategies the CLWCF has drawn up to raise funds in aid of children living with cancer is an art exhibition? Mrs. Iwuchukwu said a special art exhibition was in the works. That show, 'Colours of Hope", is billed to run at Maison de France, Ikoyi from April 15th to the 21st. A dozen Nigerian artists have already submitted works for this exposition. The artists are: Sam Ovraiti, Zinno Orara, Lanre Ayoade, Hilda Oti, Bode Olaniyan, Ade Odunfa, Kunle Osundina, Austin Ejuomah, Okey Ibem, Chinwe Keazor, Moses Unokwa and Abeke Azumah.
Subsequently, 'Colours of Hope" will visit Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kaduna, before touring the United Kingdom.