By Ebele Orakpo

According to Mrs. Mandy Olowu who is a Microsoft professional with a degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Lagos, the organisation has been around for almost a decade but was officially registered two years ago.

An American preacher, Mike Murdock once said that “What you love is a clue to something you contain.” This proved true in the case of Olowu who said she enjoys being with children especially the vulnerable ones so she did not doubt it when prophecies came that God was calling her into the ministry of compassion.

“I was told of what God wanted me to do with children. I find that my happiest moments are in the midst of children. Like I said, I believe so much in compassion, in giving love, in putting smiles on the faces of people especially children. I like to encourage and to motivate people and make significant changes in their lives. When I got these prophecies concerning this organisation, I knew God was sending me in the right direction,” she said.

What we do:

“We have signature programmes where we go to orphanages, hospitals, schools, remand homes, beggars’ colonies etc., and give out foodstuffs, clothes, educational aid, medical aid and all we can to make life better. I am somebody that likes to get into a place and when I leave, I leave it better than I met it. We take some children off the streets and send them to school.

*Mrs. Mandy Olowo

“Sometime last year, we handled a case of Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF). They brought a letter to me about a 49-year-old woman who has been living with VVF for 26 years. I could not understand how somebody could live with this disease for 26 years in a civilized world! So we looked into it and found out that it was true. This woman has been living in that stench, stigmatized, abandoned by family and friends and left all alone with her problems.

“So I did a thorough research on VVF to find out everything I could. Fortunately, we were able to get on the internet, the name of a doctor who could handle it. We learnt that some years ago, some missionaries came into Nigeria and opened a hospital in the northern part of the country and from there, they have been spreading to other parts. We contacted the hospital in Katsina.

Fortunately again, they told us bimonthly, they move round so we decided to take the option of Zaria which was closer. We sent our patient there and in eight weeks, she became brand new. It was awesome. The doctor told us how he has operated on over 300,000 women and integrated them back into the society and that they want to open something in the western part of Nigeria. During our research, we found out that places like Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) could not handle cases like that for obvious reasons – VVF is not very common in this part of the country,” she narrated.

Continued Olowu; “In January, we went to visit the hospital where the miracle happened. Imagine living with a disease for 26 years and in just eight weeks, it was all gone and she was reintegrated back into the society! She was able to start her life again, you know, somebody that could not even get a job or sell because by the time you are selling and people are coming round and perceiving horrible odour, they won’t come back to you again.

She now lives on her own and doing business. We met with the doctor in Katsina, operating on another patient. We saw over 100 VVF patients abandoned. Some of them could not remember anything anymore, they were so bitter because at the end of the day, they lost the babies due to prolonged labour so they are just all alone in the world. We were able to give them gifts and hope and put smiles on their faces. We went to Akwa Ibom this year too, to the VVF centre. It was the same story – abandoned women and all that.”

Upcoming event:

“We have been pursuing a pet project in Enugu for seven months now but it has not been easy due to paucity of funds.   We want to go to malaria-prone areas and give out insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) after telling them about the dangers of malaria and what it can do to pregnant women and children under five years. We will organise people to clean their environment and tell them reasons why we have too many mosquitoes.

We appealed to organisations and government to donate ITNs but they could not give us. We even went to Malaria Control Unit in Abuja, where we are told they only give to public health centres and when you go to these public health centres, you really don’t see the nets but you see them in the market where they are sold. Fortunately, we got a company that gave us at a discounted rate so we decided to buy. We had planned to reach out to 1,000 families in Enugu but right now, we can only touch 200-300 families because resources are limited. We are bringing from our pocket but along the line, we see a few people that support us. UAC has been very supportive.

“My husband is the one sponsoring the organisation although running an NGO is fulfilling but it comes with a lot of challenges especially finances. Our organisation is founded and rooted in love so we are trying to revive hope and the spirit of giving.