LEAN ON ME: A CALL TO SUPPORT

In 2015 I met a family that has 2 children with cerebral palsy; the children had not been in school for years, the mother had been a full time mom for a few years to take care of her daughters, putting the burden of the financial care of the home on the father, whose business had suffered some setbacks. It was not a nice experience, but I was limited in what I could do, so I called a friend who runs a special school in Ikorodu, and asked for her help.

My friend’s name is Joke Joshua, she is the proprietress of Pison Therapy Center in Ikorodu, a center that caters for the needs of children with neurodevelopmental disorders; autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, hydrocephaly, and other related disorders including learning disability. Ikorodu is what I will call a suburb in Lagos State, Nigeria, although Wikipedia calls it a city in Lagos State.

Mrs. JJ as she is fondly called by the pupils, staff, and parents could not take the 2 children on scholarship as the small center she runs had put other children on scholarship, not to mention the children that were not on scholarship but whose parents could not pay the fees, and so were owing the school.

You should remember Pison Therapy Centre! I joined them last year for an awareness walk at Ikorodu, and I posted about it here on the blog (click here to read). Pison also organized a free training for parents of children with special needs in Ikorodu, you can also read about it here.

Eventually, Mrs. JJ took in both children into her centre, on part scholarship. She presently has 8 children at the centre, with 2 on full scholarship, and the little girls and 2 other children on part scholarship.

Pison Staff and Children working in a group setting

With Pison’s activities in creating awareness about special needs and informing parents that there’s hope for their children with special needs, awareness in Ikorodu has grown. And with the increase in awareness came great responsibility, so many people are seeking for a place for their children. Presently, they have 4 children on the waiting list whose parents can afford full or part payment on the fees, and 20 children on the list whose parents cannot afford the fees.

According to Mrs. JJ, many families in Ikorodu cannot afford the fees, and for that reason they keep their children at home, with no support or therapy, especially as most of them are not admitted into mainstream schools.

They want to meet the needs of more children, but the space that they presently occupy is too small, and they would love to move to a bigger space. They found a bigger location that is up for rent, but they cannot afford it. The centre has been running on the fees paid by parents and the goodwill of family members and friends. This cannot help them get another space.

This month being Autism Awareness Month, I am lending my VOICE to Pison Therapy Centre’s to ask that YOU SUPPORT them as they raise 1.5 Million Naira to get a space that will afford them the opportunity to help more families in Ikorodu that have children with SPECIAL NEEDS.

With a bigger space, they will also be able to train more people that are willing to work with children with autism and related disorders.

How do you support?

1. You can make a one time payment towards the new space that they want to get, and send whatever you can afford to:

PISON CENTER

6220096558

Fidelity Bank.

They say “little drops make an ocean”, so please give what you have.

2. You can speak with Pison Therapy about fully sponsoring a child with special needs or part scholarship

3. You can volunteer to support them in renovations after they get the new location

4. You can donate materials that they may need as they move to a bigger space

5. Also SUPPORT by sharing this post on your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, all over social media. Let’s show some love to people with special needs, by supporting people that support them.

THANK YOU!

You can check out Pison Therepy Centre by visiting the centre at Block 6, Flat 8, Jubilee Estate, Ikorodu. You can also visit their website www.pisoncentre.com to learn more about them. They are on Facebook as Pison Therapi. You can speak with Joke Joshua on +234-8026802565 or send an email to pisontherapy@yahoo.com.

Thank you and God bless.