Project Charilove: Keeping the faith with destitute children in Benin

Hendrix Oliomogbe

 

At 70, he has no doubt ran a respectable race, kept the faith and fought a fair fight for the least privileged. No hurdle is too high to scale in his long run for the emancipation of the poorest of the poor. Tucked in an obscure corner of an existentialist world, right on the fringes of life, the society certainly does not care about their plight. In a cold and cruel world where the crude law is eat or be eaten, they have to learn to fend for themselves or fall by the wayside.

For Mr. Chris Omusi, reaching out and touching the lives of handicapped people to make their world a better place is his lifelong passion. He is ever ready to exchange all the gold and silver deep down in his pocket just to be in the company of the wretched of the earth. Not even their stigmatization, stereotypes and prejudices could hold him back. Their company gives him immense joy.

Only few Nigerians have a warmer soul than Omusi, the founder of Project Charilove, Benin who would rather describe himself as a servant leader said that the organization is all about doing good to people. 31 hard years down the road, toiling and tilling for the physically and mentally challenged persons, he confessed that the last three decades have been the very best years of his life. He will gladly throw in his lot with these rejected people if he has the opportunity of living his life all over again.

Having travelled round the world in quest of a better life, Omusi heeded an inner voice. He left everything behind in the United States and headed back to his home town of Benin City, Nigeria in 1990. He didn't waste time in setting up the charity organization which caters for a motley collection of the deaf, the dumb, the blind, the lame, the mentally challenged and people with different ailments.

For Omusi who clocks 71 in December, nothing gladdens his heart more than reaching out to the downtrodden. Deep down at the bottom of his heart, he had always felt for them.

Omusi

Over three decades down line, he confessed that it has been a long and winding Odyssey but his faith in God and steadfastness has kept him going. Against all odds, he said that he has soldiered on from a handful of inmates to well over 300.

Omusi, a Catholic, who spoke in his office at the sprawling premises of Project Charilove located on Sapele Road right opposite the five star hospital built by ex-Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole said that having kept the faith through the years with destitute people, he has no shadow of doubt that, laid up for him will be a crown of consciousness on judgment day. He has always been a boy for others, a youth for others and is immensely fulfilled to be a man for others, a cause which he is prepared to die for. That is where he gets his joy; his fulfillment.

Sitting in the serenity of his modest office, he intoned: “Project Charilove is an organization that is all about doing good. It was founded specifically to try draw attention to and action as well for the good, liberation and empowerment of the least privileged. We try to focus attention usually on people with disabilities and children with special needs.”

He said that the obstacles have been hard and high as he was determined to debunk the myth surrounding people born with physical disabilities who were almost consigned to a whole lifetime of begging, that is if they were not thrown inside the bush or kill out rightly by their parents. With a whole lot of negative superstitions around them, he tried to do everything he could to demystify the superstitions which people had about disability.

He declared: “Many people believed that disabled people were suffering from the sins they committed in their previous world if there was anything like that and if people re-incarnate, they had to change which was not. . What motivated us was that there were too many superstitions surrounding people with disabilities and children with special needs.”

Way back in the 90s, Omusi wailed that in the whole of Bendel State (present day Edo and Delta States), there was nothing on ground for the training of physically challenged persons and children with special needs. The only thing that had a semblance of facility for their training was at the leprosy centre at Ossiomo in Orhionmwon local government area, a community that was created for lepers and ex-lepers who were ostracized and no longer welcome back to their communities.

Determined to correct the belief held by so many people that disabled people suffer from the sins they committed in their previous world, Jesus’ answer in the scriptural texts in the New Testament where his disciples asked him when they saw a man born blind whether it was him or his parents that were the cause of him being blind, readily came to mind. The disciples were curious and wanted to know from Jesus who straight away told them that neither the man nor the parents committed any sin but it was so, so that the power of God will be made manifest. Jesus healed the blind man!

Omusi explained that the meaning of Jesus’ answer can be expanded as much as possible, noting that the man was born blind so that the power of God will be made manifest.

He enthused: “When we see anybody that is born blind today in a society that is sick as the Nigerian society of today where things are so challenging, we try to bring out the good in that person who is disabled. We are challenged to bring out the best in that which appears to be very weak.”

Buttressing his point, the servant leader explained that a careful look at a chain reveals that its strength is determined not by the strongest part but by the weakest link. It usually snaps where it is weakest if pulled hard but can however be made stronger if the weakest link is reinforced.

 For Omusi, strengthening a society means that there should be a critical re-examination of the weakest link who are usually the poorest of the poor with a view to reinforcing it. If empowered and strengthened, a stronger society emerges.

His words: “You don’t have a stronger society by giving more and more to those who already have. You don’t have a stronger society like that and that is what is happening in Nigeria today. The rich wants to be richer by the day while the poor are made poorer. All you have in such a situation is a weaker society. The more you take from the poor; the less attention you give to the poor, the weaker the society becomes. If you want to make a society strong, if you want to make a society healthier, look for those who are weakest and try to strengthen them. That is the only way you can make a society stronger.”

In his quest to tear down barricades surrounding people with disabilities; some people dismissed his attempt with a wave of the hand, calling him all manner of names when he started. To some he was merely out to use the association to collect money but he was never bothered as his detractors never knew his past.

A Catholic, Omusi remarked that his Christian upbringing and belief in the redemptive power of God has helped a lot to strengthen this natural disposition of him to try to make where ever he is better by touching the lives of others.

Speaking with a little bit of bravado, he said that if money was his pursuit, he would have been a rich man, having worked at Anglo-Dutch multinational oil giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company, rejected a Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation top job and left the United States with all the opportunities that he had. He only hearkened to the voice of God who commanded him to leave behind everything he was doing and come home to Nigeria in obedience to God’s calling to be far more useful to those in desperate need if he truly wanted to serve Him.

He raised his voice: “My life is all for the one who created me. People didn’t trust me in the first instance because they didn’t trust me. They didn’t know where I was coming from. Americans pleaded with me to stay with them but I refused. I had the best opportunity to make it to whatever heights in the US that I desired. It was a temptation but God kept telling me that I will be more useful to the less privileged in Nigeria than in the US. He told me that if I remained in the US, I’ll only be enjoying what people over there labored for. Thy thought I was coming to make money from handicapped people and run away. I could have stayed in Europe, having received part of my education over there but I was not bothered about their ignorance.”

Some even though he was into sorcery and straight away referred to him as a wizard while others thought he was a mental case. Their conception then was that handicapped people were witches and wizards. It was a general notion. Some said it in his face. They couldn’t just figure out why an upwardly mobile man with a vision as broad as broad as the sky, will just wake up one morning, throw away all the good opportunities that he had to go work these classes of people, if he was not mentally deranged.

He sighed: “One of my former colleagues at Shell even told me that if he was a member of my family, he would have bundled me and take me to a psychiatric home for treatment. He was at a loss as to why I will descend from such lofty heights to start working with handicapped people. I have absolute belief in God. I also have the belief too that God created us to serve him through serving the poor. He created us to have fulfillment through helping those that are most in need.”

The philanthropist however explained that the leap of faith was not easy as his American friends passionately pleaded with him to stay with them but he was adamant. He had the best opportunity to make it to whatever heights that he desired in the US. Torn in between serving mammon and God, he defied the temptation and listened to God who kept telling him that he will be far more useful to the less privileged in Nigeria than in the US.

He said seriously: “God told me that if I remained in the US, I’ll only be enjoying what people over there labored for. Thy thought I was coming to make money from handicapped people and run away. I could have stayed in Europe, having received part of my education over there but I was not bothered about their ignorance.”

Going down memory road, he said that the concept of Charilove date back to almost sixty year ago as a child of about 13, 14 in historical Benin City where he was born and raise at Ikpoba Slope neigbourhood just by the river. As a boy, he received mails from a Christian group, Church of Christ, based in the US in a correspondence course starting with the Book of Genesis which he read voraciously only for his American handlers to follow up with questions which he readily answered, before it was sent it back to him.

After Exodus, he moved on to the next book in The Bible and so on and forth until they sent him the Book of Corinthian 1and 2. The biblical texts were brought in form of booklets. As I read through, they will ask questions as I said which I answered and send back to them for marking and corrections. One a particular evening (he can’t recollect the exact day), he read through I Corinthian, chapter 13 which deals with love. Years back, it is still the happiest evening he ever remembered in all of his teenage years.

He reminisced: “There was a footnote which explained that in some translations, the word charity is used and in others, love. I was so thrilled and started asking myself with the message of that chapter and started thinking that if they call it either love or charity, it is fantastic. It resonated with everything about me and I asked myself if it was not better to just join the two names together to form one word. I started juggling with the two words, charity and love until I arrived at charilove. I exclaimed. This is great!

 “I was only 14 then but I kept the name in my heart and I told myself that if I grow up, I was going to start a transport company to be called Charilove Transport and the vehicles will transverse the length and breadth of the country. By so doing, I intended to promote the concept of charity and love. I initially wanted to venture into transport business but as I grew up, God led to start a project for the care of the less privileged but I still resolved to give the name of the organization, Charilove.”

With over 320 hungry mouths to be fed daily at the complex in Benin and at Ossiomo; salary of caregivers and teachers in the school within the complex to be paid, Omusi said that it has been rough and tough, but had only managed to wade through due to the magnanimity of kindhearted persons, some churches and the Edo State Government.

At Charilove, very kobo counts and for his zero tolerance for corruption, he stepped on toes. Times there were when the servant leader almost surrendered after finishing all his savings on the project but for the fatherly role of Oba Erediauwa of blessed memory. In desperation he took a paid job so that he could use his salary to augment whatever donations he got from kindhearted people. The Oba of Benin was ever ready to dip his hands deep inside his pockets to support Charilove

He wailed: “I finished all my savings on the project. I never wanted to live on Charilove. My intention was to register a company and use my contacts in the oil industry to solicit for contracts but the demands were too much. Charilove was almost dead. For the few months that I left Charilove for a paid job so that I could sustain Charilove, it almost died when I left it in the hands of some persons.”

As a way out, he told his American Christian friends of his challenges who advised that he quit the job and focus on Charilove.  Ironically, like politicians, some of the beneficiaries started castigating him. They tried to pull down some of their fellow handicapped persons down in order to climb up.

He was amazed, noting that society only grow when those below try to emulate those at the top but in this instance those below tried to pull those at the top down so that they could take over their positions.

His only regrets: “If I had started Charilove elsewhere in the world, with all the effort, knowledge and determination that I have put in, today, Charilove would have been a global association. Nigeria is a most difficult place to work. That we are still surviving today shows the enormity of the power of God and the amount of strength, perseverance that he endowed us with.”

Omusi however disclosed that some of the inmates with very low IQ who cannot learn any skills to sustain them in life and those were picked from the streets without any known address are trapped in the place which was supposed to be strictly a transit place where they stayed briefly learn a trade, before moving on to fend for themselves.

Beneficiaries of Project Charilove

 He lamented: “Our plan was to make it a transit place where people stay, acquire skills before moving on. Some of the inmates were rejected by their family and have nowhere to go. We are trapped with some of them. These are people who cannot learn any skills to sustain them in life because of their IQ. They can never learn anything to make them self-reliant. We can drive such people away.”

He continued: “Some were brought by the family, others by the ministry while some were picked by the road side, bush with no link whatsoever. Their history starts from where they were picked from. Where do you send them to? These are the ones that are trapped. Only 20% stay here while the remaining 80% who were brought from home by family members go back to their various homes at the end of the day.”

At three scores and ten, Omusi let it be known that he doesn’t have much fears because no matter what happens, he has done his very best, serving God and humanity and so is not afraid of staring at tomorrow, boldly.

He declared: “Whatever happens, God is on the throne and he knows what to do after me. I want to involve Catholic bodies to be more involved. I tried to prepare people. My initial plan was to serve for a few years and hand over to capable handicapped person who will run it after which they will hand over to another set of handicapped persons just like in a relay but Nigeria is a very peculiar place.

 “What is abomination in other places is celebrated in Nigeria. By now, I ought to be resting instead of coming here every day to run it. One dies of a heart if he thinks of the problems of Nigeria. When the foundation is broken, what can the up do? My own is to do my best and not entertain any fear. Let people know that there is God. Let people know that we should not sell our souls for material things. One day, we will drop dead and answer for our deed. Treat others the way you will like to be treated. If you don’t want to cheat, don’t cheat others. . I have fought a good fight, ran a good race.”