The place of love, care, and attention for persons living with cerebral palsy was today (Saturday, 9th December, 2023) re-echoed in Ilorin the Kwara State capital.
The event tagged “Christmas Visit to CP Champions” organized by Ifeoluwa CP Initiative, kicked off from Gaa-Akanbi Round-About, with a visit to the home of; DORCAS ADEWARA, OYINDAMOLA AKANWO, MUREWA OLAOYE, and 10 other champions of Cerebral Palsy living in Ilorin with cash donations as a token for Christmas.
The Founder of Ifeoluwa CP Initiative- Mr. ANISHE IFEOLUWA, who is also a Cerebral Palsy (CP) warrior, said the event was organised to empathise with the parents and people living with the disorder and to remind them that they can be what they want to be despite their physical challenge.
“it was during my Masters that I had the thought and the feeling that the disorder is not really common even in Nigeria, though I have a thought and feeling that I should be able to find out, so that’s the reason why I have this NGO, so that I can advocate more for people living with CP in terms of going to school and doing other things that other people are doing to achieve their purpose’’, according to Mr. Anishe.
One of the persons living with the challenge who is into sales and design of headgear and a statistician- Dorcas ADEWARA, who was among those visited by the organization appealed to the public to accept them by giving them jobs and employment opportunities.
In her words: “This is not something I’m expecting but it’s a Christmas gift thanks to God, and I really appreciate the initiative, the convener and everybody that puts this together, I say may the Lord God almighty bless everybody.”
For her part, a student physiotherapist and a member of the foundation – ABDULRAHEEM AISHAT, noted that early detection and therapy will go a long way in fast-tracking the treatment of patients living with the ailment.
“One year old or two years old is already late, once your child is six month and cannot sit up you should know that something is wrong because some of them will feel like it’s just slow until they are like two years old and children like that once is three year old we have something that is called window of learning, then it’s become very hard to treat them but the process is going to be slow and which they have to be patient about’’ she said.
The mother of the convener, Mrs. BOSE ANISHE also spoke on the need for early detection, care, and therapy, appealing to parents to treat with love kids suffering from CP.
‘’I thank God for allowing me to have a peace of mind, it wasn’t easy initially but as at now I thank God, so I’m now appealing to other parents that any child that they have having any problem they should start with treatments immediately they discover it and take the child to the hospital, and don’t think this children cannot do anything, they can do things that you don’t even expect’’
Cerebral Palsy, popularly called “CP”, is a group of disorders that affect a person’s ability to move, and maintain balance and posture with common symptoms including exaggerated reflexes, floppy or rigid limbs, and involuntary motions.