Mother Theresa once said: “It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved.” She lived out her conviction. He touched lives that were hitherto untouched. She showed love to the unloved and moved into the slumps of Calcutta, India, picking up the uncared for and giving them a sense of being.
That example set by Mother Teresa, is now being replicated in Anambra state by Pro-Value Humanity Foundation, a charity organisation founded by high flying entrepreneur, political economist and The Sun Entrepreneur of the Year, Dr. Obiora Okonkwo, who prior to being so awarded by The Sun, had been recognised by the Business School of Nnamdi Azikiwe University as Business Philanthropist of the Year. Okonkwo founded Pro-Value Humanity Foundation with just one aim: To recreate humanity.
That, in itself, is a tall order. To recreate humanity is to answer to the divine call to be co-creators. In this regard however, Okonkwo is using Pro-Value Humanity Foundation to prove that even the most negligible of charitable acts, matter. He shows that humanity benefits more from those acts that touch the forgotten, the uncared for and the abandoned too. Prior to the launch of Pro-Value, Okonkwo had engaged in other acts of philanthropy like the awards of scholarships up to tertiary education level, building and donating schools as well as churches. But for him, the deeper meaning of philanthropy has to do with recreating humanity by re-emphasizing the importance of those little acts that made people to live for others and gave hope to the hopeless. They are little acts that matter.
In a world driven by materialism and selfish appeal, Okonkwo understands also that there are very many people who need personal care just as there are many who need someone to talk to. These are acts that may not count for much but the reality begins to hit home when it is understood that the Igbo society has no room for old peoples home. Parents, who have become vulnerable to age related illnesses, often live with their children till their end. However, some are left to destiny as their children wander off in search of fields where the pasture is greener. Such migratory habits leave certain old parents, who are most times sick, at the mercy of loneliness. Some have no children of their own and as such, have no one to care for them in old age. They rarely find company and often, do not have assists at home. The reality is one of pain. It is one of abandonment.
This is one area of outreach that is often overlooked because it is so insignificant that the society rarely notices. Of course, there is always fanfare and all sorts when a philanthropist builds and donates a school or a church building. William Shakespeare aptly captured this reality when he said “when beggars die there are no comets seen; the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.” But Okonkwo has determined to help change the narrative and draw attention to the very little things that call humanity back to itself.
Through Pro-Value Humanity Foundation, Okonkwo has engaged himself in outreach and care of the unloved and the uncared. Working through volunteers, the group has traversed so many communities and villages in Anambra state reaching out to the aged, many of who are lonely and looking out for who share their time. The group is also actively involved in attending to the sick, picking up their medical bills and ensuring supply of drugs to them. So touching was seeing volunteers of Pro-Value go into the bush to fetch firewood, or clean homes, for some aged women who have no one to assist them. For the volunteers, these are little acts that mean a whole lot.
One of the volunteers whom I spoke with said to me: “Oga, I am happy assisting these aged men and women. I see myself as their child and helping them satisfies my reason for volunteering to work with Pro-Value Humanity Foundation. It is not easy to go fetching firewood or water for these women, but we did so because we believe that we need to bring back our humanity”. The sights of the volunteers ferrying firewood to the homes of the beneficiaries are touching. As they volunteers said, such acts touch the soul of common humanity especially in a fast-paced world where the young flow more with the tide.
Executive Director of the Foundation, Emmanuel Mobiukwu, who is deeply rooted in volunteerism and management of charitable organizations, spoke to me about his involvement with the group. He said: “Joining Pro-value humanity foundation as a volunteer is like working in a familiar terrain. I have been deeply involved in humanitarian services especially as a leader in the Holy Catholic Church for upward of 25 years now. I have also been actively involved with prison ministry providing spiritual guidance and physical help for about 16 years. However, my involvement in Pro-Value Humanity Foundation has widened the scope of my operation. I used to focus on Onitsha Correctional Center alone but Pro-Value have extended this experience to all the four correctional centers in Anambra State. During the lockdown, owing to the corona virus pandemic, the founder, High Chief Obiora Okonkwo, in his usual character made available medical and protective supplies and we were able to visit the four correctional centers in Onitsha, Awka, Nnewi and Ekwulobia, all missionary hospitals in Anambra state -about 16 in number cutting across all denominations- That was a great opportunity that taught me much more new things.”
Measuring impact of Pro-Value’s activities in Anambra state, Mobiukwu said: “The impact of Pro-Value Humanity Foundation’s work of taking care of the sick especially those who do not have helping hands, the aged and the lonely is difficult to measure. But all the same, the work of the foundation has been returning hope to the hopeless, strength to the aged and sense of belonging to the lonely. One needs to witness the amount of joy and smiles that adorn the faces of these people whenever Pro-Value Humanity Foundation volunteers come visiting.” The smiles capture the meaning of Mother Teresa’s conviction that is not easy “to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved.”
Some of the core values of the Foundation is to “reorient values that inspire, encourage and equip individuals to not only be transformed but also to become value reorientation advocates and transformation agents”, and also, “to promote positive African cultural values”. These include lending a helping hand to the aged, especially those who need care but have no one to give them same. That is why Mobiukwu sees the efforts of his team as truly traditional. He said: “Pro-value humanity has been rendering tremendous community services especially the ones that our people were known for in the past years but are no longer there. In the past, elderly people who were childless or who do not have younger ones who could help out with certain domestic chores like, fetching fire wood, tidying the compound, washing their clothes and even preparing their meals do have other people doing these works for them. This has since been lost, but thank God for Pro-value humanity who among so many other things are bringing back this value and putting back smiles on the faces of our people.”
Pro-Value Humanity Foundation is doing a great work in Anambra State. It has successfully taken the message of hope to the sick, the weak and the forgotten of society. It is radically pushing its message of re-orientating society with those cherished human values that made the Igbo community distinct. Its volunteers are determined to make a mark for themselves using volunteerism as tool. Perhaps, Pro-Value, will, in the end, make it possible for philanthropists to change their focus and look also at recreating humanity through authentic living and directly putting smiles on the faces of the aged in their societies.