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Tag: trauma

  • Trauma healers trained in Jos

    Trauma healers trained in Jos

    Survivors of violence need more than drugs and sympathy. An agency of the European Union has trained counsellors to heal unseen wounds of trauma victims in Plateau State, reports YUSUFU AMINU IDEGU

    The European Union (EU) has started the second phase of its peace building and rehabilitation project in Plateau State, organising training programmes on trauma healing and skill acquisition for victims of Jos crisis. The EU made an initial commitment of €4.5 million in the phase, which is being implemented through its agency, Apurimac Onlus, a faith-based non-governmental organisation in Jos, the state capital.

    Okoko
    Okoko

    Country Director of Apurimac Onlus, Mr. Godwin Okoko said, “The NGO has been operating in Jos since 2008 in the areas of peace building, human development and social justice. We have so far established four vocational skill training centres, one in each senatorial zone as well as the state capital. We also established trauma healing centres in Jos North Local Government Area where victims of violence and bomb blasts received free medical treatment and trauma counseling.”

    While declaring the five-day training open for trauma counsellors in Jos last week, Mr. Okoko said, “In this particular programme, we are implementing the EU peace building project using our facilities for skill training and trauma healing for identified victims. Trauma healing because, the experience to victims are really traumatic, the heavy sound of bomb alone can affect somebody’s mental balance, especially being the first experience. And we’ve had several cases of bomb blasts in Jos city. Apart from the sound of the blast, the sight of charred human bodies, if you realise the impact of the bombs on human body alone can traumatise anyone that experienced it.

    “In the course of working with victims of bomb blast, we realised that victims who managed to survive bomb blast takes days for them to recover from the shock and disbelief, the psychological effect is massive on many people. Relations of victims who on realizing he lost loved ones through bomb blast and attacks by gunmen can go man, they are capable of contemplating revenge, especially orphans who will grow up to discovered how he lost his parents. So, in a conflict areas like Plateau state there are several reasons for residence to be traumatic.”

    Mr. Okoko said, “We identified such traumatic victims from hospitals, IDPs camps and from relations. We currently have 55,000 of them. Most of them after being discharged from hospital as a result of bomb blast will go back home with their trauma as they may not have the fund to remain in hospital for counseling. We locate them and offer them free trauma healing. We locate most of them from IDPs camp, where you will meet a woman or children who saw how their loved ones were shot or killed by machete. Some who managed to escape out of their house returned the next day after the attack to see the burnt bodies of family members. What a traumatic experience is that, there are several of them in Barkin Ladi, Riyom and Wase LGAs.”

    Due to the large number of victims that requires the trauma healing, the implementing agent, APURIMAN ONLUS will never have enough space to bring all of them together, hence the decision to train some community counsellors, who will then go back to their communities to train the victims. These community counsellors are selected medical workers, sociologists, psychologists, nurses and religious evangelists.

    Mr. Okoko said, “We selected nine of these professionals from each local government for a five-day training and after that we deploy them to the various IDPs camps to counsel these traumatic victims. We need to fine-tune their minds away from violence, we talk to them to divert their attention from what happened in the past; we have to take their memories away from the horrible things they may have passed through in the course of the violence. We have to do these so that we can turn them to peace ambassadors rather than allowing them to think of vengeance. We also use religious preachers to talk to them on the ways of God.”

    The NGO has identified three local governments with severe cases of trauma, they are Barkin Ladi, Riyom and Wase local government areas of the state. “The trauma healing has become necessary so as to forestall further conflict in the various communities, that is the center of the entire peace building because it is through that psychological headings that you can be able to achieve sustainable peace.

    The NGO organised its open day last week as a day set aside for the inspection of ongoing trainees in its training facilities in the state by the director general of Apurimac Onlus from Italy, Mr Vila Vittorio, as well as state government representative. The tour took the team to inspect the trauma healing center in Katako areas of Jos North LGA where it successfully trained 2,000 trauma victims in 2014.

    Mr Okoko said, “Apart from the trauma healing, we trained youths to acquire skills to enable them have means of livelihood that will take them away from been used in violence. We want to prevent idleness of the youths, hence, we have so far trained 14,000 youths in various skills like computer training, hair dressing, tailoring, knitting, leather works, aluminum works, wielding and fabrication, catering and event decoration. The training takes six months.

    “We have also trained over 5,000 educational actors in peace education and peace building, all these training are geared towards sustainable peace building and positive engagement of youths to make them productive, attain economic independence and make them useful to the society”

    Mr. Okoko restated the commitments of the EU and APURIMAC on the Plateau towards building social integration using various peace mechanism, and urged government, other stakeholders in the state to join hands in achieving sustainable peace in the state.

    At the end of the facility tour, the Chief of Staff to Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, Mr. John Dafan expressed government readiness to partner with any organisation to help in conflict prevention and peace building in the state. The government official said, “Government appreciates the efforts of Apurimac Onlus and other organisations working towards having a lasting peace in the state and government will not hesitate to assist the NGO and the European Union to make their peace building project a huge success.

     

  • How to overcome trauma of infidelity (2)

    LAST week, we gave tips on ways to deal with unfaithfulness after sharing the experience of our reader that asked for help. Today’s article is a continuation of last Saturday edition. Here are more steps to take in solving the issue of infidelity in marriage.

    Take care of yourself: You may start experiencing some physical reactions to the infidelity,  for instance,  nausea, diarrhoea, sleep problems (too little or too much), shakiness, difficulty concentrating and not wanting to eat or some go into comfort eating as the case may be. The way to deal with it is to see it as a wake-up call. As painful as it seems, it is time for you to rise above the situation, instead of sitting down feeling sad, or feeling sorry for yourself, looking rejected

    . Turn the situation around by changing your appearance. Make out time to visit the hairdresser, for instance, look after yourself. Lose the weight, if you are on the big side and start eating correctly. This will occupy your mind and also give you joy.

     

    Balance is the key to getting through this experience of coping with infidelity. Force yourself to eat healthy food to stay on a schedule, to sleep regular hours, to get some exercise each day, to drink plenty of water and to have some fun. You need to observe all these in order to go through the emotional pain you are experiencing.

    Another important step is personal change. I mean you have to change. I know you will be wondering why I said you should learn to change instead of your spouse who betrayed you by being unfaithful. This is how it works, depending on his or her personality type. Some feel really sorry because they were caught, some are truly sorry, some don’t care. Whatever the personality, certain behaviour will be expected from you.

    So instead of praying for him to change, pray to God to change you so that you will be able to deal with the situation at hand. Keep being kind, loving, respectful and caring.

    Your behaviour, irrespective of the unfaithfulness, will definitely drop a message in his or her heart. Don’t get me wrong. As a human being, the initial anger, pain and disappointment will play up. It is natural to be upset. Some express their pain in different ways, but don’t drag it for too long. Forgive so that your marriage can move on.

    It’s okay and healthy to laugh.

    Watch some funny movies or TV shows. Spend some time with people who make you smile. Life goes on in spite of heartache and unfaithful spouses.

    Tears are healthy too. If you feel like crying, cry, it will make you feel better.

    Keep a journal: Some people feel better when they put down their feelings. If it will help you deal with the act of infidelity, then write your thoughts and your feelings. Another way to actually forgive him or her is to write down all his or her good and bad qualities and consider the ones that are  the same as yours.

    Ask all the questions you want. Talk with your spouse about the infidelity. You may have to accept that your spouse may not know why the infidelity took place.

    Seek counselling: Don’t try to get through coping with unfaithfulness alone, If you cannot handle it, seek help from a trained counselor.

    Take it one day at a time: Both you and your spouse should be tested for AIDS/HIV and STDs before you resume sexual intimacy without protection.

    Consider what boundaries you need in your marriage in order to stay in the marriage.

    Your children need to know that you are going to be okay. You can’t hide the fact that you are going through a trauma. Be honest with your children, but don’t weigh them down with details about how your spouse cheated you. Don’t make promises that you can’t keep

    Try not to get into the blaming game over whom or what caused the infidelity? It’s just wasted energy. That includes blaming the third party. It won’t change anything.

    You may have post-traumatic stress. If you are jumpy, yell at trivial actions, feel like you are walking on egg shells, and continue to have physical reactions when you are reminded of the infidelity, see a physician as soon as you can.

    It takes time to get beyond the pain of having an unfaithful mate. Don’t expect the mixture of feelings, sense of confusion, limbo and mistrust to go away just because you’ve tried to forgive your spouse and made a commitment to save your marriage.

    Think twice before you tell your family or your spouse’s family about the infidelity. Family members can often hold grudges for a long time.

    What you need: Healthy diet, exercise, drink plenty of water, laughter, time to heal, willingness to forgive.

    Suggested reading : Take up reading interesting books or magazines

    How to rebuild trust: Improve your health by forgiving your spouse and

    get busy with work so that you think less.

    Visiting a counsellor to put both spouses through a healing process is a good idea.

    Simply having a therapist listening to your pain, disorientation and devastation helps the betrayed spouse.

    Validating the emotions that he or she is feeling is very important as it normalises his or her reaction.

    Finally, when you are going through this recession, take it one step at a time. Learn to have a free mind and remove every suspicious feeling, if you want to restore your marriage.

    Don’t keep reminding him  or her about the past. Instead, evaluate your marriage. See how you can spice it up a bit. Never mind if you are the one making the sacrifice. Your spouse will respond in no time.

    Good news is that there are couples out there going through infidelity in marriage and their marriage is waxing stronger. It is stronger because what causes the cheating somehow seems to come out somewhere towards the end. These couples are able to apply what they learn, work on it together and create an environment in their relationship that prevents infidelity from happening again.

     

    Harriet ogbobine is a counselor and a motivational speaker. Send your questions and suggestions to her on bineharriet@gmail.com or txt message only 08023058805. You can also follow her on twitter: @bineharrietj

  • How to overcome trauma of infidelity

    Hello Harriet, your last week article came at the right time, and after reading it, I must confess that in spite of my feeling of betrayal and pain it gave me, it gave me a better understanding of infidelity. Please, advise me on the way forward. Thanks.

    Mrs. Ndidi, Lagos.

     

    There is no simple answer to why someone becomes unfaithful. It could be a symptom of other problems in the marriage. It could also relate to something in your spouse’s past. You may never truly know why it happened.

    Knowing the type of infidelity we mentioned in our previous edition makes understanding it easier. You must ask questions like: Was it a one-night stand due to a mid-life or life crisis or sexual addiction? Could it be an act of retaliation or entangled affair? What is the motive behind the act? Did the cheating occur to end the marriage?

    Remember that your marriage has changed. You will need to grieve that loss.

    The stages of death and dying (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance) are part of the grieving process. It doesn’t mean your marriage can’t be renewed and strengthened because it can. But it will be different.

    You just realise that your spouse has been unfaithful to you. The news of the infidelity has hit you like bricks. As a counsellor, I am to treat both spouses with respect in order to give honest positive and negative feedback  to enable the spouse align effectively.

    I cannot say giving him or her flowers or gifts at this stage is not proper because this stage is like slapping a bandage on a fresh, infected wound. Although some will say as a woman, this is the time for you to make your demands. It might feel like help in the short term, but in reality, it is just covering over deeper problems that will only get worse.

    You have hope that your marriage can survive your spouse cheating on you. But you still fill sick inside when you think about the affair. Here is what you can do to get beyond the hurt.

    You need to understand the type of affair your spouse is involved in. Questions like is it a one-night stand, an entangled affair, or an addiction? Note the solutions to these affairs are different.

    Sexual addiction: There are some steps to be taken. The person  involved in this act of infidelity must admit to himself or herself that there is a problem and  that  there is need to help. Self-realization is a great thing.

    Change of mind set: To guard his or her mind, avoid books, pictures, magazines and videos. Avoid fantasies that stimulate wrong desires.

    Keep away from friends or companies that can lead to this desire.

    Think not of the moment, but rather focus on the future.

    Forgive your unfaithful spouse to save your marriage.

    Difficulty: Time, they say, heals all wounds. The spouse involved will have to work extra hard to gain back the lost trust.

    What has happened has happened. Let’s face it. Give a second chance. Not that the act is right, but if the person is really sorry, forgive, so that you can have a sound mind as well.

    Time Required: It’s going to take a long time for the wound to heal. It is natural to go through the healing process slowly.

    Here’s how: Men and women should understand that they took a vow before God and man to be faithful when getting married, so there is no justification for infidelity. It is wrong and cannot be right, no matter how common it is in the society.

    Polygamy is a different issue. We are addressing those who took a vow before God and man to be one till death do them part.

    Don’t make any major decision about ending your marriage now just because your spouse has been unfaithful. This is the time to do some reflection on your marriage to see what other issues, other than infidelity, need to be recognized and dealt with. If you move out of the house, you are giving room for the person to move in. You have swapped places.

    You are now the one out, while the other person is now the one in.

    Feelings are neither right nor wrong. Accept that your feelings of rage, uncertainty, shock, agitation, fear, pain, depression and confusion about having an unfaithful spouse are normal. To be continued

     

    Harriet Ogbobine is a counselor and a motivational speaker. Send your questions and suggestions to her on bineharriet@gmail.com or txt message only 08023058805. You can also follow her on twitter; @bineharriet.

  • Poly gets emergency and trauma complex

    The Federal Polytechnic in Bida (BIDA POLY), Niger State has inaugurated a multi-million naira Emergency and Trauma Complex built by the institution  with National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to improve medical service on the campus.

    The NHIS Executive Secretary, Dr Femi Thomas, the Chairman of the institution’s Governing Council, Chief Theophilus Bamigboye, Rector, Mr Abdullahi Sule, and representative of the Etsu Nupe, were among those who attended the event.

    The complex, which was also funded by Tiship and Drug, is equipped with a digital X-ray and ultra-sound facilities to handle severe emergency cases.

    Other facilities in the complex include a cardiovascular monitoring gadget and a digitally-equipped conference unit with Internet facility to download medical information.

    Dr Thomas, represented by the NHIS Director Programmes, Mr Jonathan Eke, praised the institution’s management for its stride in quality healthcare delivery, noting that the commissioning of the complex showed a mark of good leadership.

    The NHIS official said the project was a bold initiative by the management, urging the polytechnic authorities to spend unutilised funds to further equip the centre.

    Thomas pledged to co-operate with the school to ensure the centre delivered quality healthcare services to students.

    Bamigboye hailed the NHIS for supporting the project. He challenged the polytechnic’s Medical Director and staff to ensure maintenance of the complex. He said his vision was to ensure the transformation of the polytechnic better than he met it, stressing that the management would continue to train its staff on service delivery.

    Sule described the trauma centre as gift to the polytechnic and its host community. He praised the Governing Council for giving him support and free hand to embark on the project.

    The Medical Director, Dr Abdulmalik Mustapha, said: “The mission of the trauma centre is to provide excellent healthcare services to the staff, families, students and members of the school community.”

    He added that the medical centre received commendation letters from the council for judicious management of resources and improvement of healthcare services.

    Mustapha said the medical centre had been improved from a single room with a nurse in 1978 to a 21 bed centre in 2014 equipped with sophisticated medical equipment.

     

  • Accreditation for Trauma Centre

    The Ondo State government has announced the accreditation of its Trauma and Surgical Centre, Ondo, for residency training programme by the National Post Graduate Medical College of Nigeria.

    A statement in Akure by the Commissioner for Information, Kayode Akinmade, said the accreditation certificate was presented to Governor Olusegun Mimiko at the weekend by the college president, Prof. Rasheed Arogundade, in company of the college registrar, Prof. Oluwole Atoyebi.

    Mimiko said the massive investment of his administration in healthcare delivery can only remain a sustainable benchmark for Africa, if the residency training programme is pursued with all sense of responsibility and commitment.

    The governor said the centre has conducted over 500 major surgeries, including brain and spinal surgical operations.

    He assured that the proposed Ondo State University of Medical Sciences would build on the enviable platforms already established to ensure the sustainability of qualitative healthcare system development.

  • Africa’s trauma epidemic

    LAGOS — It was dusk and I was on my way home from Abeokuta, a vibrant city in southwest Nigeria. My driver had switched off the car’s air-conditioning so I could open the windows and feel the breeze. He was weaving between potholes in the road when suddenly, the scene ahead changed.

    A large truck had pulled out carelessly onto the road, knocking a car straight into the median.

    That stretch of road is notoriously dangerous, not just because of traffic accidents but also because of armed robbers. It’s for that reason that I suppressed my natural instinct to stop and help.

    I was filled with guilt as we passed the wrecked car, because I knew that if the young man at the wheel had been badly injured, there was only a small chance that he would get the emergency treatment he needed.

    I knew this because I am a trauma doctor and the founder of West Africa’s first indigenous air ambulance service. Nigeria, a country of more than 170 million people, has no organized trauma response system and no formal training for paramedics. Injured people are often taken to the hospital in a car or minibus or draped across the motorcycle of a good Samaritan, sometimes several hours after the accident has occurred.

    Even if the patient does reach a local hospital, it may not have the skilled staff or equipment needed. (There are only a few that do, and there are huge distances between them.) Most of those who are seriously injured probably bleed to death.

    So I couldn’t help it when, a few moments later, I said “Stop the car, please.”

    I grabbed one of our emergency response bags from my trunk and walked back. I tried to concentrate on the types of injuries the driver might have rather than how unsafe it was walking on that stretch of road, particularly in the evening. Was he bleeding? Was he conscious?

    The crash scene had quickly attracted some of the people who typically gather around accidents in Nigeria. Bystanders were pulling the driver out of the car. Before long they were joined by a barefoot “prophet” in a white robe. No Nigerian accident scene is complete without a prophet who commands everyone to stand by while he loudly predicts that the patient will stop bleeding. The patient is often drained of blood by the time the prophecy is complete.

    Sadly, these prophets are the best hope that many Nigerians have. Trauma has become a silent epidemic in Africa, an epidemic that will only spread as the economy grows. More and more Africans are buying cars and working in heavy and dangerous industries. At the same time, infrastructure is poor, safety laws lax, and cars badly maintained.

    Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s smallest number of motorized vehicles but the highest rate of road traffic fatalities, with Nigeria and South Africa leading the pack.

    The World Bank predicts that in the next two years, road accidents could be the biggest killer of African children between 5 and 15. By 2030, according to the Global Burden of Disease study, road accidents will be the fifth leading cause of death in the developing world, ahead of malaria, tuberculosis and H.I.V.

    If you add to these numbers the injuries caused by violent crime and communal conflict, then you have all the ingredients for a public health emergency.

    And yet, trauma receives only a tiny fraction of the attention and money given to these three infectious diseases. Every health care conference I attend focuses on vaccines, treatment and training to combat the infamous “triple epidemic.”

    Over the last decade, billions of dollars have poured into Africa with the laudable aim of defeating these killer diseases. But that most basic killer, injury, remains neglected.

    Part of the problem is that the solutions are so complex. It’s easy to quantify interventions like the number of AIDS-fighting anti-retrovirals or mosquito nets distributed. Pills can be counted, flown in on cargo planes and delivered to large numbers of people in a short time period. But a pill would do very little for someone on a rural road in Nigeria with a head injury and a collapsed lung.

    We need to put in place systems to provide lifesaving care for accident victims. They need to be moved to a fully equipped hospital — one with X-ray machines, CT scanners, a burn unit — within the space of 45 minutes. We need at least 10 of these proper hospitals. We need to improve our roads, and we need a high-quality ambulance system to drive on them. And we need paramedic schools — like the one my company is helping to open, the first of its kind in Nigeria.

    Some countries in other parts of the world have come up with proactive solutions. In Israel, a group called United Hatzalah helps volunteer emergency workers get quickly to accident sites, by “ambucycle” or on foot, if necessary. But Africa’s challenge will require an African response — and international support.

    On the road that night, I quickly assessed that the young man needed urgent medical attention. I gave him oxygen and inserted a makeshift airway. I noted that he probably had internal bleeding and did my best to stem whatever external bleeding I could detect.

    A passing taxi then transported him to the nearest hospital. He had a fighting chance. But too many injured Nigerians, forgotten on the side of the road, do not. It’s time the global public-health community paid attention to Africa’s urgent need for emergency medical care.

     

    • Orekunrin a trauma doctor and managing director of Flying Doctors Nigeria, contributed this piece for International New York Times

  • Care, trauma and coping with childhood cancers

    THOUGH Theresa’s words flowed smoothly, a quaver in her voice signalled all was not well. How could it? Her son, was placed on admission in the children oncology ward in the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital, (LUTH), Idi-Araba. Despite the cheerful artworks of the walls, the mood of the patients here is far from cheerful.

    While cancer in children comes as a rude shock to many, children are actually afflicted with the ailment. And the number of afflicted children is increasing. This deadly killer has been rampaging children and there are no signs of it stopping. February 15 has been set aside as a day to draw attention to the cause of children living with cancer.

    According to reports, about 11,630 children in the United States under the age of 15 will be diagnosed with cancer in 2013. And while statistics to determine the incidence of cancer among Nigerian children is scarce, a visit to tertiary health institutions in the country reveals that the disease is blind to ages. According to Patience Okoro, a matron who has worked in LUTH for 17 years, cancer in children is on the increase. “We used to have few cases before, but last year we had over 30 cases.”

    Also, the survival rate is still low in Nigeria where only about 10 to 20 percent cure occur compared to the 80 to 90 percent figure which obtains in other developed countries. With poverty overwhelming many victims, it is going to be tough redressing this situation. According to Dr. Ajekigbe, “there are many who can’t afford the treatment.” The solution, he says, is “either we use alternatives that are much cheaper that even we are convinced will not do the job because the body has requested for another thing. That is the truth. But having said that, some non governmental organisations (NGOs) help minimally but they are also not rich.”

    However, in Nigeria, one organisation which cares for this category of patients is the Children Living With Cancer Foundation (CLWCF), founded by Dr. Nneka Nwobbi in 2002.

    According to Dr. Nwobbi, there is also the lack of information amongst some victims’ families, thinking the disease is a result of the child’s fault. “Some of these children think it is their fault that they have cancer,” she said. “They begin to think it is punishment for something they have done.”

    No doubt, the treatment of cancer is expensive. But the cost would have been reduced if treatment were available locally. For instance, Dr. Remi Ajekigbe, Head of Radiotherapy and Oncology Department, LUTH, said that machines for treating cancer with radiation in the country are functional in three of the cancer centres: LUTH, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Kaduna State and Eko Hospital, Lagos. But, he said, a situation where there is “just one functional machine for the whole hospital is not just good enough because any machine can break down.”

    Anyway, as it stands, children cannot speak out for themselves. “They need people to speak for them,” Dr. Nwobbi said.

    Alice Ada Bissong, a nurse and social worker who has worked in a number of public hospitals before retiring from the National Hospital, Abuja about four years ago, agrees that the scourge of cancer is on the increase in children. She has helped to save the lives of some people who would have died of cancer and other terminal ailments. “I was not well myself . I had recurrent umbilical hernia. I actually did surgery at the National Hospital and at a point I had obstruction and had to go to India for another surgery.”

    Luckily, her life was saved and the experience made her decide to help other people. “When I came to Lagos I discovered that there were so many cases of people affected by cancer in different ways. It then occurred to me that I could touch the lives of people who were having problems like me.”

    Bissong added that “I called Dr Milind Wagh and he had a seminar on reconstructive surgery. I brought the surgeons to Nigeria, and after that they realised that most of those people who were coming up were indigent and this gave birth to my organisation.”

    Challenges? “Getting funds to help them with the prognosis can be really bad. But then we cannot leave them to die. I have an eight-year-old boy called Hamilu from Kogi State who was born with a complicated heart condition. It degenerated to cancer and he is battling for survival at the moment. Of course, you know that we cannot leave someone who is eight years old to die. We also have 10-year-old Eze Ebube whose right hand was amputated. He is a very brilliant boy with a lot of potentials.”

    Crystal Chigbu is another woman who is passionate about helping children in this regard. “We have been able to provide prosthesis for Kelechi, a two-year-old bilateral amputee that lost both legs after a brief illness. With her prosthesis, she now stands and walks.”

    Chigbu’s daughter had cancer of the bone and the ailment opened her eyes to the trauma many parents go through. “About three years ago, I went into labour and had my child. Along the line, we found that she had a funny thing with her leg and we were referred to the National Orthopedic Hospital, Enugu where it was detected that she had congenital absence of her tibia and patella.”

    The family made a number of medical consultations and they were given a lot of options like fusion of the tibia. “But we wanted to seek a better option or a second opinion. It is not easy to amputate your child’s leg. We even travelled abroad but everything pointed towards amputation. At a point, we just had to take a decision that was best for the child. She was in school and was the only one crawling in her class at the age of two,” she informed.

    Beulah’s leg was amputated about two years ago and she is doing very well now. “I believe that the worst kind of disability is in the mind and it is important to be positive at all times. So I am driven to share with all kids with limb loss, their families and care-givers ways to manage limb loss with the right outlook.”

    This led to the birth of the Irede Foundation (TIF) which provides prosthesis and other helpful aids to indigent children between 0-18 years. ”Our focus is on children who are living with limb loss, either congenital or acquired. We also encourage children living with limb loss to live a life of fulfillment. Over the first year of launch, our goal is to sponsor the provision of 18 prostheses to indigent families with limb loss cases. We also plan to capture 50 families in our support group.”

    The types of cancers that occur most often in children are different from those seen in adults. The most common cancers in children include leukaemia, brain and other nervous system tumours, neuroblastoma, wilms tumour, lymphoma,

    Rhabdomyo sarcoma, retinoblastoma and bone cancer. Other types of cancers are rare in children, but they do happen sometimes. In very rare cases, children may even develop cancers that are much more common in adults.

  • Giving new life to children amputees

    Giving new life to children amputees

    Six days after the birth of her first child and daughter, Irede, Crystal and husband Zubby were told that their daughter was missing a tibia and patella in her right leg; and the only option for a normal life was amputation and prosthesis. 

    Crystal Chigbu, mother of three year old Beulah Irede Chigbu spoke with Yetunde Oladeinde about the initial trauma and how it inspired her to care for children in this category
    Crystal, a mother of 5 (2 Biological and 3 adopted) over the last three years, has grown from a confused first-time mom to a pillar for her daughter; challenging her to believe in herself, engage in all activities her peers engage in and live her life to the fullest.
    “About three years ago, I went into labour and had my child. Along the line, we found that she had a funny thing with her leg and we were referred to the National Orthopedic hospital, Enugu where it was detected that she had congenital absence of her tibia and patella.”
    The made a number of medical consultations and they were given a lot of options like fusion of the tibia. “But we wanted to seek a better option or a second opinion. It is not easy to amputate your child’s leg. We even travelled abroad but everything pointed towards amputation. At a point, we just had to take a decision that was best for the child. She was in school and was the only one crawling in her class at the age of two”, she recollects sadly.

    Beulah’s leg was amputated last year and she is doing very well now. “I believe that the worst kind of disability is in the mind and it is important to be positive at all times. So I am driven to share with all kids with limb loss, their families and care-givers ways to manage limb loss with the right outlook”.

    At the moment Chigbu who is the Baby Channel Manager at Procter and Gamble Nigeria Limited, is
    Passionate about a new ‘baby’ called The Irede Foundation (TIF). The foundation provides prosthesis and other helpful aide to indigent children between 0-18 years. Our focus is on children who are living with limb loss, either congenital or acquired”.
    The aim is to encourage children living with limb loss to live a life of fulfillment. “Our desire is for their families to rise to the challenge with an attitude and behavior that says to both the child and the family, “I can’t” is not an option, “but that with unwavering hope and faith We can and We will rise to the occasion that is life and give full expression to our potentials.”

    Ask Chigbu what she hopes to achieve with the organisation and she replies “Over the first year of launch, our goal is to Sponsor the provision of 18 prosthesis to indigent families with limb loss cases. We also plan to capture 50 families in our support group. In addition, we will carry out limb loss and social stigma trainings for 2 primary schools and 2 secondary schools in Lagos. These falls into our program framework categorized as empower, educate and encourage.
    So what are the challenges the organization have been facing? “The first is getting the right kind and quality of prosthetic limbs for our ‘children’ at an affordable cost. One other challenge is fully establishing the support group structure; so that parents can plug in at any time. In addition, I would say that Project funding is also a problem as we are yet to have corporate sponsorships.”
    But in spite of all these, happily she goes on to talk about some of the achievements recorded so far. “In the space of the four months in which the foundation has existed, we have been able to provide Prosthesis for Kelechi, a 2 year old bilateral amputee that lost both legs after a brief illness. With her prosthesis and she now stands and walks. This for us is huge because we see our hope for children living with limb loss come to life”.
    Chigbu adds that: “With encouragement from our support system, one of the families has been able to put their child in school. This was a concern they didn’t know how to address. TIF is currently providing counseling for the Adepitan family currently at LUTH with a 9 year old daughter amputated due to bone cancer. We plan to move to the stage of acquiring prosthesis in 3months.”

    Ask Chigbu about her projection for the next ten years and she replies this way. “Our goal is to provide 250 prosthetic limbs over the next 5 years. We also want to expand our activities to other African countries”.
    Her major source of inspiration, she says has been God and her daughter Beulah. “Seeing her play and jump around daily fills me with so much joy and opens up my eyes to see more possibilities for other children with limb loss given the proper dose of love, encouragement and support”.

    If Chigbu has to advise other parents having this problem, what would she tell them? “I would advise them on a lot of things but the most important, would be that It’s not the end of the world. Limb loss is not Mind loss; and all kids with limb loss can still be who they were born to be. As parents, we need to rise out of the pain and confusion and be there for our children so they can shine and live to their fullest potential. Finally, I’d advise them not to be limited in their thinking…..everything is possible!”
    What is Chigbu’s greatest influence in life? “God is the major influence in my life. He is my creator, my Maker who consistently guides my path and over time I have learnt to depend on him for direction, strength and courage to go on. My mother is also a strong influence in my life.’
    She adds that: “She strongly believes that ‘If you go for anything in life, you will get it, and she fully demonstrates this everyday of her life. Due to her support and constant words of encouragement, I have grown to develop this undefeatable spirit and it has helped me surmount every challenge that I have come across in life”.