The Ifeoluwa Cerebral Palsy Initiative, on Saturday, met together in Ilorin, Kwara State to pay visits to victims of cerebral palsy within the state.
Led by founder, Anishe Ifeoluwa, the Ifeoluwa Cerebral Palsy Initiative group planned to visit 13 cerebral palsy champions at their homes this time, unlike last year when an end-of-year celebration took place.
Speaking to RoyalTimes, Anishe, a cerebral palsy champion himself, explained the idea behind this year’s approach.
“The essence of this programme that we tagged as a Christmas visit is to associate with people living with cerebral palsy.
“This time around, we brought another innovation. We are taking it to their houses so that we can feel their pain and empathy, and even know their challenges,” he said.
Ifeoluwa charged cerebral palsy warriors to not look down on themselves and instead, they should love themselves.
Advising on parenting, Mr. Ifeoluwa admonished parents of children living with cerebral palsy to take care of them and see them as gifts from God.
“Before now, they used to abandon people that are living with cerebral palsy, thinking that they cannot be useful to the society. But I am using myself as an example that I am useful to the society and I am making impact in terms of advocating for people living with cerebral palsy so that the government and others in society can associate with them and know their challenges.”
Speaking on his journey as a cerebral palsy champion, Mr. Ifeoluwa revealed some of his struggles with the condition, especially while growing up.
“It has not been easy, but God has been helping me. When I was small, the challenge was that normal people saw me as if I was unable to do anything or go to school. But with the help of my parents and the help of other people, I was able to go to school and I even have a masters degree.”
Ifeoluwa also shared his motivation for starting up the Ifeolwa Cerebral Palsy Initiative, describing it as a call to “stand out.”
“The disorder is not really common even in Nigeria, so I had a thought and feeling that I should be able to stand out. That’s the reason I have this NGO, so that I can be advocating more for people living with CP, in terms of going to school and doing normal things that other people are doing,” he added.
In an extra gesture of love and support, Ifeoluwa and the group presented cash gifts to each of the thirteen cerebral palsy champions whom they visited in Ilorin on Saturday for this year’s programme.
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