Dr. Chetachi Ecton, a global humanitarian philanthropist and president of When In Need Foundation, in this interview with BABA YUSUF, shares her experiences while reaching out to rural communities affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Why did you decide to help those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic?
Firstly, l want to tell you that l had been helping millions before the advent of Covid-19 pandemic. I should also point out one thing that the pandemic has done; it has shown how vulnerable disadvantaged people are. For example, health officials from the World Health Organisation (WHO) keep telling us that wearing a mask and social distancing can prevent Covid-19.
Here is my question, how can people who are flooding the markets every day in search of food engage in social distancing? Also, where are they going to get the money to buy the recommended masks? Honestly, l can tell you that yes, Covid-19 is the virus, but poverty is the pandemic. Therefore, I decided to help millions during the pandemic because they could not afford to engage in social distancing, buy food, masks, neither could they handle these trying times well, emotionally.
What has the response been like so far?
You know what people need is hope. They have been gravitating towards the humanitarian programmes that l have further initiated to help the vulnerable and l have received positive responses from the communities, the government and people of goodwill from around the world.
Did you receive any financial support, locally or internationally?
I have not been funded by any organisation to organise this humanitarian programme in which l am working with vulnerable communities affected by the pandemic. I think it was Ghandi who said that this world has enough for everyone’s need, not for everyone’s greed. I have always committed my own salary to helping those in need and l am always looking for humanitarian partnership from governments and the international community to collaborate with such programmes to help the people in need.
Can you tell us about some of the challenges your organisation has faced and how you were able to deal with them?
Our organisation has been in existence for over 10 years. In the last 10 years, we have undertaken medical missions worth millions of dollars to different communities. We have supported agricultural programmes and given out educational scholarships.
The challenge we have is to get buy-in from the government or the international community. If the governments or the European Union (EU) or United Nations (UN) can come to our aid in expanding our resource base in reaching out to many people with empowering initiatives, we will be able to do more than we are doing right now.
With the rate of unrest in Nigeria leading to the displacement of many persons, how do you think NGOs like yours can help the efforts of government in this regard?
The truth is that government alone cannot bring about the much-needed development we expect. It is sad that the issue of Boko Haram still continues today, as well as communal clashes, herdsmen, farmers’ confrontations, kidnapping and others. I believe NGOs like Win In Need Foundation can step in and provide fairly comfortable lives for these persons wherever they are. For instance, in Chibiri community in Kuje area council where the farmers had their farmlands raided by cattle from herdsmen and as such, do not have farms anymore, we stepped in by acquiring a large expanse of land which we fenced all round.
We taught the community mechanised farming and planted many varieties of crops which they harvest at the end of each planting season and share among themselves for consumption and sale. We also provided them with access roads to and from their farms. We have also done this in Kaduna and plan to spread to other rural communities in the country who are in need.
In Kaduna, we visited the camps of internally displaced persons where we offered them food items and other basic needs. These are in addition to the several medical cares we provide. I believe if more organisations stepped in to help the government in providing succour to the not so privileged, most of what we go through in the country would be largely addressed.
What is your advice to other people who have the means, but do not use it to help or support others?
Let me repeat the statement l used earlier on when l quoted Ghandi: ‘This world has enough for everyone’s need, not for everyone’s greed.’ I would contend, however, that not everyone who is not giving is greedy. Some people have not just found the right partners. We are here, come partner with us. The work out there is endless and with the right partnerships, every one can give.
What is your position on the increased rate of rape in the Nigeria?
Let me tell you something, it is scary to bring up the next generation into the horrors of rape. Rape, or any form of abuse is not human. Rape prevention should be a topic of every household in Nigeria and around the world, l should say. I have spoken to many survivors of rape, domestic violence and other people that have been inhumanely treated in the society, and all l can say is that as a society, we have a huge responsibility to address the permanent scars emanating from rape. Please, people of Nigeria, let us not wait for a rape case to be reported before we address it. We need to have difficult conversations on the social consequences of rape and how difficult it is to find healing.
How do you measure the level of compliance and impact of the seedlings your organisation has provided?
If you want to save the world, plant a seed. Once you plant a seed, you are not only feeding the people, but you are sharing in their struggles to understand the process and be empowered. l cannot quantify the numbers of those that have benefited from our seed program. All l can say is that we need more seeds to plant and empower struggling communities.
A lot of people, especially in the rural areas, still don’t know much about the pandemic. What’s your organisation doing about it?
We are helping to disseminate health guidelines as stipulated by WHO and Nigerian health authorities. Both WHO and the Nigerian health authorities should know that we are their partners on ground. Let’s all figure out how we can collectively come up with a pool of resources to help disseminate information about the pandemic to keep people aware.
