By Ebele I. Chukwuka | Mrs.
Inside the decently cleaned and decorated vehicle which hosted the C4HDI Team as passengers, on our journey to see the Mentally/Physically Challenged Children, one member of staff unknowingly introduced a topic which formed a basis of discussion throughout our 3 hour journey into the community. We seamlessly made the journey differently without we noticing the jig-jags, go-slows, traffic jams and other discomforting experiences emanating from potholes, untarred areas of the road, bad driving of other drivers and unsafe man-actions along the distant road. We dubbed the topic "sailing with the needy", I don't know if this will make sense at the first perusal. Well, it's all about we being in the bus, travelling to see those who had never been in a vehicle so beautiful and journeying in a road defined by jaggered, rough and gallopy distance. Somebody in the vehicle compared the journey to a person well dressed and had to walk in the muds to reach his destination. We all listened carefully to her story while she continues. "we have to do this as our duty at strengthening the love for humanity", she said. " Humanitarian activity such as this is a challenge, a test to convince ourselves that we find joy in seeing others happy". As we galloped along the road, our joy increased. Our imaginations got somewhat confusing. Questions poured down my mind. Will they be happy on seeing us? Will they just take the day like any other day? Will they boo at us? I looked around and got focused on a particular toy that we had bought for them. A toy of a monkey beating a huge drum endlessly when switched on. It can scare them, my mind told me. No, they'll like to understand how it works, my other mind told me. As my thoughts were going back and forth, I reminded myself that these were children who never had the opportunity of having love shared to them in this magnitude. I remembered that these were children who some of them depended solely on others to change their diapers, which as of now is rarely done. As we drove closer to the community, we started seeing signs of life. Looking through the window, we could see children of same peers as ours, wearing good clothes for the yuletide, playing together with their peers, some were riding bicycles some were also dealing with the fireworks as expected for the season. You could notice the extent of love showered on these regular children from the smiles on their faces. The physically challenged children was the last thought that could pass through the minds of these children or their parents and wards. When we finally reached the community, our driver hunked his horn and there was a thunderous shouts of our welcome from our children. Some were jumping up and down in joy. Some struggled to enter our bus while some remained smiling and wishing to speak with us. I instantly got convinced that these children have innate feelings like the other children. Wao. I exclaimed. As we planned to give them surprises, we helped get them dressed up. In surprise, they were asking why they should have to wear their best clothes as if it was the yuletide. Shocked, some of us were. Oh, they really know what the yuletide was? It became more thought provoking that in all the past Yuletide, they've never dressed up for an outing. They know from their other friends, ever, that it is a period to look their best but they never in their lives had the opportunity we had provided them. Finally, we brought out our gifts which included confectioneries, diapers, handkerchiefs, toys, clothes, books etc and presented to them to their appreciative delight. They were afterwards, boarded the vehicle which took us all to amusement park in rounds where they happily interacted with their other peers, joining to eat ice cream we provided them. We danced, sang different songs and enjoyed other meritorious activities together. Afterwards, the driver took them back in rounds untill the last round that took us back to our base. C4HDI, local authorities, the all appreciated and thank donors in a special way. Thanks and best wishes. Ebele Chukwuka (Mrs) C4HDI.
By Ebele Chukwuka (Mrs.) | Project Leader
By Ebele Chukwuka | Mrs.
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