From Maduabuchi Nmeribeh, Kano
On Saturday, 14 May, 2022, orphans at the Nassarawa Orphanage Home, Nassarawa GRA, Kano, and handicaps at the Torrey Home for Handicapped Children, located on Tudun Wakili, off Zoo Road, Kano, were not only in high spirit, but also felt love, charity and friendliness, when members of Rotary Club Bompai, with the support of other Rotarians across board, decided to spend quality time with them, in a bid to make them feel the impulse of the world outside the walls they have been confined.
The occasion was the 38th Charter Anniversary of the Rotary Club of Bompai. The club used the avenue to make positive impacts on the lives of the orphans, downtrodden and handicap persons in these two homes, through generous donations, interactions, encouragement and mingling, which included a novelty football match that ended 3—2 in favour of team Nassarawa Ophanange Home.
Apart from the mental and physical entanglement which bouyed the spirit of the inmates and made them feel at home as part of the society, there were donations of food items, clothings, toileteries, drugs and sanitary items, worth over N300, 000 to the two less privileged homes managed and run by Kano state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.
At the Torrey Home for the Handicapped Children, Rotary Club of Bompai, in partnership with the Raffles Health Initiative, conducted medical outreach, which included free medical text of the inmates and donations of drugs that will keep the over 35 of them made up of 10 females and 25 males medically fit. The inmates are categorized into those who are physically disabled and those who mentally retarded. About six doctors from the Raffles Health Initiative cared for the inmates as they were tested for malaria, visual acuity, retrovirus screening, blood sugar, among other ailments. Drugs were also donated to upgrade their First Aide box and to carter for emergency medication.
Representative of the Raffles Health Initiative, Dr. Tahir Muhammad Hashim told The AUTHORITY that, “we have been partnering with Rotary Club of Bompai and other organizations to help humanity. Why we engage in this project is that we have the conviction that there is the need to give back to the community through uplifting the suffering of the less privileged. We have to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. This is our third visit to this place and we will continue to visit here and many other places where we feel that our help and attention is needed. We are doing this as part of our corporate social responsibility and we are proud to work with an organization like the Rotary Club of Bonsai.”
Mrs. Miriam Obi, the President-elect of Rotary Club of Bompai, while handing over the gifted items to the management of the Nassararwa Ophanange Home said, “today, we are celebrating our 38th Charter Anniversary. We visit this home every year to make donations to the orphans, but this year, we decided to make it special with novelty match that we just witnessed. In fact, all of us are happy and elated because most of us here may not remember the last time we engaged in football sports. We all had fun and we are very sure that the children are happy. We have come with these gifts as our widow’s mite and we need your prayers to keep donating more. Please take good care of the children.”
In an interview with The AUTHORITY, the District Governor Nominee (DGN) of Rotary Club International District 9125, Alhaji Sagab Ahmed gave a detailed insight of the goals and aspirations of the Club. According to him, there are six Rotary clubs in Kano, namely—Rotary Club of Kano established 61 years ago, which happened to be the premier Rotary Club in Nigeria. He named other clubs in Kano to include the Rotary Club of Nassarawa, Rotary Club of Bompai, Rotary Club of Dala Sunrise, Rotary Club of Fagge, and the Rotary Club of Sabon Gari. He, however, emphasized that the event of the day was being organized by the Rotary Club of Bompai, but did not exclude the participation of Rotary Club members worldwide.
The former lecturer in the department of Architecture at Kano State University of Science and Technology, Wudil, added that, “the Rotary Foundation is the largest humanitarian Foundation in the world, and it is the Foundation that started the house-to-house polio eradication initiative in 1985, at a time when over 200 countries were polio endemic. As at today, only two countries are not satisfied as polio-free, and they are Pakistan and Afghanistan.”
Representative of Kano state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development who is the Senior Social Welfare Officer in the Ministry, Faisal Kabir Ahmed said, “this is a very gesture and the Ministry of Women Affairs is very happy about this philanthropic gesture from the Rotary Club of Bompai.They have been very helpful and supportive to the state government and we urge other organizations and good spirited individuals to emulate their footsteps, because the government alone can not carter for the needs of these special people we are here to encourage today. ”
