The world over, it is a season of love and giving. These humane qualities make the season special as several humanitarian gestures are expressed by individuals and organizations to brighten up the mood and ambience.
This year, Collaboration of Deaf and Hearing individuals, CODAH, Executive Director, Rebecca Olatunji, engaged in an interview with Inclusive News Network to give insights into the reasons and motives behind the season’s spirit of giving.
Below are excerpts of the interview with the Executive Director, CODAH Enterprise:
Not many Disability Organizations give out items freely in Nigeria. CODAH has been exceptional. May, we know the motivation behind the CODAH initiative and spirit of giving?
CODAH, which means Collaboration of the Deaf and Hearing Enterprise was birthed to promote the linguistic and cultural identity of the Deaf community and to ensure their inclusion in society. Over the years we have been on a journey of creating a world where being deaf is not seen as limitation or barrier. We aim to break down existing barriers between the Deaf and Hearing community.
When I was a child, Christmas was a time I always looked forward to. The gift items and new things to wear made it so special. However, there was this particular year we couldn’t afford much or even celebrate Christmas as we usually do. I decided to give out my clothes and shoes as I wasn’t particularly excited about that Christmas. I thought to myself then: “this could excite other people, so why not meet a need with it?
Surprisingly, God used other people to make Christmas beautiful for us that year. I had more than I could imagine and it turned out one of my best Christmas.
We have been achieving our dreams through awareness creation, sign language training, capacity building, and women empowerment. However while we do this, we are not oblivious of the reality of deaf people in Nigeria. 84% of them remain undereducated and economically underdeveloped.
The first charity program we did was a result of the hardships inflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic. A lot of deaf women reached out to us for assistance. This inspired the COVID-19 Relief Project in which we were able to provide some 50 deaf women with food items. Some 50 deaf children also got “back-2-school materials.”
Ever since then, I have made it a tradition to always give out items ranging from clothing and foot wears to food at the end of every year.
This time around however, I thought to myself: “what if I could get more items and reach out to more people”? Hence we resorted to partnerships with individuals and organizations. The “On This Christmas Table” initiative is more like a continuation of our charity program which is done yearly. It is our way of saying we understand your plight and we are here to support you while also building your capacity to be self-sustaining.
Despite the economic situation in Nigeria, how are you able to secure all these items?
The concept behind “On This Christmas Table” is to have people donate items that are just lying around their homes but can be useful to others. Christmas season is always a time of giving and there are a lot of people out there who want to give back but don’t know where to go or who to give to.
Furthermore, it is a personal commitment and tradition of mine to always give back at the end of each year. The littIe difference this time is that I thought to reach more people. That was how I came up with the idea to reach out to individuals and groups to give us items while we provide the platform to connect them to people who need these items. Happily, we did exactly that. We were able to get other people to donate through Facebook ads, Instagram ads, word of mouth, and our volunteer community.
We also reached out to private organizations and NGOs alike for partnerships. We struck up three great partners in the process. This enabled us to reach a larger number of people with various items like foodstuff, clothes, shoes, wigs, jewelry, kitchen wares and bags. The program was thus a huge success.
Who were your target beneficiaries at the event?
Our target beneficiaries are people from the Deaf community so this means Deaf families and hearing families of the Deaf in low-income brackets
Why these Persons?
I grew up seeing everyday struggles of a Deaf person in Nigeria. As a CODA (child of the deaf adult) I witnessed firsthand the high level stigma these persons experience in the Nigerian society. Sadly, I didn’t realize when I started to discriminate against my own family. My life took a different turn the day my deaf sister asked me the “why” questions.
“Why don’t you like Deaf people?
Why are you ashamed of us?
Why don’t you communicate with us in public anymore?”
These questions both sobered and inspired me. They led to creation of what is today known as Collaboration Of the Deaf and Hearing, CODAH Enterprise. Here, I work to ensure a more enabling environment and a better inclusive society for deaf people. And I won’t stop until I see a world where barriers of any kind no longer exist or limit a deaf person from participating fully in society.
How many people benefited from the program?
We registered some 100 families, however more than that number attended. In total, we had 247 people benefit.
Any advice for other NGOs and the Government?
Yes. And it’s simple: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
We can do so much more together. Let’s seek collaborations when necessary. The end point should always drive us.