The saying that people should give the necessary assistance to the underprivileged in the society recently came to the fore when a charitable organisation, the Care People International Foundation (CPIF), decided to put smiles on the faces of the 50 disabled in Oyo State.The foundation, established in 1999, had been reaching out to the less privileged in the society through various means. However, this years donation could best be described as the biggest occasion to be organised by the foundation in recent times, with the support of Total Nigeria Plc.One of the beneficiaries, Mohammed (28) was born a perfect man; everything about him was normal until two years after his birth when he suffered a serious ailment and he became crippled. Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune at the ceremony, he disclosed that he had visited many hospitals for solution, all to no avail adding, that the situation had made him a dependent person.Moving around had always been a very difficult task as I had to rely on relatives who would have to carry me on their backs like a baby to wherever I was going, he said, adding that he finally resigned to fate and had enrolled in a school for the handicapped in Ibadan.Mohammeds case was similar to that of Miss Oluwafemi Modupe (33) who is also crippled. With no job, Modupe told the Nigerian Tribune that things have been very though for her since the problem started. According to her, she was told by her parents that she had been taken to various hospitals in the land except in Europe, but there was no solution.Miss Toyin Adebiyi (30) is another person who might be considered as the luckiest of the three. Unlike Mohammed and Modupe who were never engaged in any form of job, Toyin works with the Oyo State Hospital Management Board (OYHMB), Adeoyo State Hospital, Ring-Road, Ibadan. Though with a job, she said: You would never understand the value of your legs until you find yourself in a situation where you will solely depend on somebody who would carry you around like a baby.However, one peculiar thing about the three disabled persons was that they couldnt move around on their own unless they were assisted by people. They needed a sort of mobility, like wheel chair, to ease their movement but could not afford one considering the cost.For this reason, it was smiles all the way for them and 47 others when the foundation, a non-governmental organization, based in Ibadan, donated wheel chairs to them. At a colourful ceremony held last week at the premises of the foundation located along Lagos/ Ibadan expressway, the body, in collaboration with Total Nigeria Plc, donated 50 wheel chairs to disabled persons in the state who had earlier approached it for assistance. The occasion also coincided with the inauguration of a vocational centre for the disabled by the Care People Foundation to which Total Plc also donated 10 sewing machines.Pastor Tunde Tioluwani, while speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, said that the distribution of the wheel chairs was aimed at assisting the physically challenged people who could not afford the wheel chairs but were in dire need. He remarked that since its establishment in 1999, the Care People Foundation had been assisting the less privileged in the society, adding that the donation was one of the numerous programmes of the foundation for the less privileged.We have, since inception in 1999, been assisting government and individuals in various ways but todays donation is the biggest of all. he said.On the criteria for the distribution of the wheel chairs among the disabled, Pastor Oginni said We had a list of persons with disability who had approached us for wheel chairs, so all those on the list were first considered. We also had others who approached us through different vocational centres in the state while about five were picked through a draw. He noted that the inauguration of the vocational centre was another way of catering for the less advantaged people in the society. The vocational centre, according to him, would train disabled people in four vocational skills that included; fashion designing, welding, vulcanizing and tie and dye, adding that the scope would be expanded with time.Pastor Oginni stressed further that over a thousand lives have been affected positively by the foundation through awards of scholarships to diligent but poor students.We consider their background before giving them the scholarships, only those whose parents are really poor are considered for the scholarship.There is also a programme we call feel free educational programme for secondary school drop- outs where we organise lectures for those of them who are willing to go for JAMB examination, and we pay for both the lectures and JAMB examination, he said. Other programmes of the foundation, according to him, were those for the widows, the motherless babies, the orphans, prisoners and other people who are considered less privileged in the society.He disclosed that the foundation was embarking on the construction of a multi-million naira multi-purpose hall where the less privileged and those picked from the streets would be housed and rehabilitated, adding that presently, over 100 of such people were being accommodated. He stressed that but they ensured that a proper investigation of such people was done before accommodating them.Also speaking, the Corporate Affairs Manager, Total Nigeria Plc, Mrs Moyosola Areola, described the collaboration between Care People International Foundation and Total Nigeria Plc, as part of the companys corporate social responsibilities, adding that it was targeted at easing the mobility of the disabled people, giving them personal satisfaction and a sense of belonging.She said the company had contributed to the social and economic development of the nation through sponsorships and donations bordering on issues of health, education, infrastructure development, skill acquisition and many others, adding the donation of wheel chairs was only part of its numerous programmes.She stressed that the company also considers the global effect on the nation, saying that the need to reduce the number of beggars on the streets was also looked into, before they finally decided to assist them with the wheel chairs.
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