|
Ayuba Gufwan is a polio survivor and the Executive Director of Wheelchairs for Nigeria and the Beautiful Gate Initiative. He is in Geneva today to help formally launch the new 2010-2012 Strategic Plan for eradicating polio. I had the pleasure of asking Ayuba a few questions about his experience with polio and how he is working to improve the lives of other polio victims.
 How old were you when you got polio?
I had polio at the age of 4. I was getting ready to celebrate my fifth birthday. I remember when I was very small — when I used to use my two legs — but that was only a very short experience.
What do you remember about those first few years with polio?
I was very frustrated. I remember one time in my village, which is in a rural part of Nigeria — when you grow up in a rural area, your childhood and teenage years are characterized by adventures.
I was very outspoken with my peers and I used to come up with a million suggestions like, “Let’s do this. Let’s go here.” I had all sorts of ideas, but when it came to the implementation of those ideas I was limited by mobility. And normally my friends would say, “Well, you stay here while we go into the bush and hunt for the food and we’ll come back for you when we find something.” But in most cases they never came. But if I insisted on going with them I’d have to go on the ground and it would take the whole day and they would never get there in time for what they wanted to do. So, they devised a plan. They would say, “Ready . . . one, two, three . . .” and then they would take off running and I was left there and I was really, really frustrated. Sometimes I would just break down and start crying and crawl back home very slowly and very sadly. I was really bitter growing up because of the effects of polio.
In fact, polio made it impossible for you to attend school?
It was very difficult. You know one effect of polio for me as a child was that I developed an inferiority complex. My parents saw polio as the end of my life. In fact my name is “Burki.” And “burki” means to apply the brakes. My father’s friend was the one that gave me the name. What that meant, according to my parents was, “This boy would’ve amounted to something great in life, but this polio has put the brakes on his progress in life.” And so, he didn’t want me to go to school.
How did your life change when you got your first wheelchair?
So, when I got a bicycle wheelchair at the age of 19 I started going back to school. Then I had my hope, dignity, and self-worth restored. And it was then that I started overcoming the inferiority complex that had developed in me because of polio.
That wheelchair was the turning point in my life.
I felt as if my legs had been restored. I felt that all of my obstacles came tumbling down. I was able to move from one point to another comfortably and that changed my life. I remember that day very, very well. It was on the 14th of April and the events of that day are still evergreen in my memory. That was a wonderful day.
And that is part of the reason I am moved to do what I do now with Wheelchairs For Nigeria; because I know that if you’ve come down with polio or any other crippling disease that the wheelchair can actually restore your hope and turn around your life.
Instead of practicing law, you decided to make wheelchairs for polio survivors. What made you choose that direction?
As a small boy I always dreamed of becoming a lawyer, but it was hard for me because I didn’t get to go directly to the university. I went to a college of education and took a teaching appointment. I came back to the faculty of the University of Jos for five years, and as soon as I graduated I started thinking about myself and what career I should take.
I knew law could give me money and give me fame, but I was wondering, “What about the hundreds and hundreds of kids who have polio? What can I do to help them?” So I put my ambition for the law aside and decided to give my time, my energy, and my strength to working with the thousands of polio survivors.
What do the recipients of your custom wheelchairs say to you?
Oh my goodness. When I give someone a wheelchair, and I look straight in a person’s eyes, I see the joy and the restoration of hope. As soon as you pick up a child and place them down in a wheel chair they break down into tears of joy. It really touches me. And I say, let’s get on to the next child!
Almost everyone has the same feeling I have when I got my wheelchair. When you live the remotest part of Nigeria like I do you can’t get around unless someone volunteers to carry you on the shoulders.
Over the last ten years we’ve given away over 3,000 wheelchairs. The people who have received the wheelchairs have gone back to school, they’ve learned a trade.
How are you and other polio survivors spreading the message of immunization?
When we meet with people I raise their awareness about polio immunization and ask them to spread the word. There’s been tremendous effort. People are doing this in their communities, in their churches, wherever people are gathered. There are so many people who are taking the initiative and they are doing an excellent job in reaching out to people.
What message would you like to share with the world about polio eradication?
I would plead with the world community to sustain the tempo so that polio can finally be eradicated.
Growing up in my village we had an adventurous lifestyle. A part of that adventure was going to hunt for birds with our slingshots. Sometimes we would aim at a bird and shoot and miss. We’d say, “Oh! I nearly got it!” And the tendency is to want to celebrate because you nearly got the bird. An elder friend of ours said, “Nearly does not kill the bird. You have to hit the bird and that is when you should celebrate.” When it comes to polio eradication, if the global community stops today because we have done 99% and they say, “We deserve an A,” that doesn’t end the matter. We have to get 100%. If we all stop today, polio will roll back and we’ll go backwards. We’ll lose all of our achievement. So, when it comes to polio, “Nearly does not kill the bird.”
We have to say we eradicated polio . . . not that we almost eradicated polio.
|
