10 Jun 2008 |
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It was an emotional show of gratitude, joy and thanksgiving
when the Down Syndrome Association of Nigeria (DSAN) held a reception and thank
you party for Master Andrew Duku on the Ist of June 2008 at the premises of the
association’s resource centre in Surulere,
The event which was held to celebrate as well as show
gratitude to the general public for supporting 16 month old Baby Andrew who
recently went through an open heart surgery in
Present at the reception were friends, families, staff and well wishers of both DSAN and the Duku family including members of the press that had been following the progress made by Andrew since the onset. The president of the association, Mrs. Rose Mordi while giving her opening speech said that the day was a very remarkable day as the celebration that of life and a good thing. “We are happy today that the journey that started with a lot of fears and uncertainty is being told today as good news. I am happy also to present Baby Andrew Duku formerly to Nigerians and everybody that was part of his success story both financially and spiritually and we say thank you for all your efforts and endeavours. We are very grateful to all of you,” she said. Master Andrew Duku was diagnosed with a congenital heart
defect last year and needed an urgent heart surgery. The parents who are
missionaries in Sagbama,
According to the association’s Media and Publicity department, there were fears if Andrew would hold on till the funds are gathered. In an articulated publication by the association entitled Baby Andrew; a journey to a new life which described the Baby Andrew story in words and pictures, the association described how they tried their very best amidst fears to get the required amount for the surgery. Baby Andrew left for Narayana Hrudalaya Institute of Cardiac
Sciences in
The activities of the day started with a dance presentation by DS kids of the association who entertained the audience before Mr. Chuks Etuka read his speech entitled, Six Hours, an emotional piece that graphically described the mood and tension in the air during the period when the operation took place. The
While giving their thank you speech, Rev. Duku disclosed that there has been remarkable improvement in Baby Andrew’s health condition. “Before now you can’t leave Andrew to sit up on his own, you have to support him with your hand but right now he can sit on his own; he can sit down on his own. The other thing is that he can now chew with his mouth unlike before when if you put anything close to his mouth he will be so weak to eat talk less of chewing but now he takes food on his own and has started chewing without aid. His teeth have grown and he can bite gradually and easily. These were things he could not do before he went for the surgery,” he said. The special guest artiste, Tony Ogaga performed a special track entitled There is a Giant in You specially dedicated to Baby Andrew before the floor was then thrown open for joyous celebration for Baby Andrew by the guests. The Duku family expressed their gratitude to all those who contributed into making Andrew’s surgery a success which included the Bishop of Warri Diocese, Anglican Church, Bishop of Western Izon Diocese in Sagbama, Bayelsa State, members of the Nigeria Village Square who raised $6141 (N720 000) for Andrew’s surgery. Others included the entire Down Syndrome Association of
Nigeria, staff of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and their
counterparts at the Narayana Hrudalaya Institute of Cardiac Sciences in
Opening prayers being said
Mrs. Mordi gives her speech
The Duku family
Baby Andrew poses
Chuks Etuka, Baby Andrew, Ahaoma Kanu and Mrs. Duku
We are very grateful----Rev. Anthony Duku The last time I saw you was when you came back to welcome
your family from your
It has been a thing of joy seeing them coming back and seeing some developmental improvement in Andrew; it is a thing every father will look forward to considering the circumstances. To see you’re your son doing what he wasn’t able to do before is very welcoming. I am quite impressed even though it is coming gradually; you have to let things come at their normal pace. But in all, there are changes that are evident that Andrew is getting better. Now talking about some changes that you have witnessed in Baby Andrew, can you elaborate on those things he was not able to do before that he can do now? Yes before now you can’t leave Andrew to sit up on his own, you have to support him with your hand but right now he can sit on his own; he can sit down on his own. The other thing is that he can now chew with his mouth unlike before when if you put anything close to his mouth he will be so weak to eat talk less of chewing but now he takes food on his own and has started chewing without aid. His teeth have grown and he can bite gradually and easily. These were things he could not do before he went for the surgery. That is good, can you tell us a little bit about your
experience when they travelled to
The truth is that I became a loner; I was very lonely, it was just the grace of God that kept me then but I was so optimistic that by the time they come back all will be well; they will come with good news, it will be testimonies all the way and the God that kept them over there also kept me that I did not feel lonely as such. I just knew certainly that I will reunite with my family certainly. It was God that kept me during those lonely trying moments; you wake in the morning and remember that you are all alone. You know that we were family and I had gotten used to them. It was really the grace of God that kept me, his grace was sufficient for me. Now Andrew’s story is quite an exceptional one in the sense that you saw an association’s program on TV and that started what we are rejoicing about today, do you think that if you had seen the program, this story would have ended like it did? Actually it was in my house that I saw the program; a friend came to visit me and was the one that asked me to put the TV on another station to watch Newsline on NTA (Nigeria Television Authority). The truth of the matter according to the bible, ‘The path of the righteous is ordered by the Lord, he chooses the things that crosses our path and knows what we need even though we cry here and there. He knew that was the right time for me to be hooked up at that particular time so he allowed the circumstances to just work in my favour. So I will say that it was predestined by God to happen the way it did and was not a coincidence. The first time you made contact with the Down Syndrome
Association of
The truth of the matter is that is that I felt that I was disturbing a people I have never crossed path with before; why should my pains become their pain. I usually told the president, Mrs. Rose Mordi, that I was very insufficient for the course; it wasn’t what I really bargained, I wanted to be educated about Down Syndrome but now, it was taking me beyond education to support, rehabilitating Andrew and all that so I really see it is the hand of God that was directing all that was happening from the start of the whole story up till now. I can’t really regret any moment of all that happened because it was not something I could have done alone and I will say it was a desire on our own part coming to pass with the help of people. When you were informed that Andrew had a heart condition that required surgery that was urgent, how did you feel? What was going on in my mind was how the money will be raised; will I run into debts trying to raise money for the surgery? I was afraid of being called on to declare what I have as collateral. These were some of the questions running through my mind at that moment. At the end of the day, when I was told that the association be remitting some money for Andrew’s upkeep until the fund for the operation is raised, I was moved to tears. I was afraid if they would raise the fund. A lot of things were running through my mind all the time. In fact, there were times I will tell them to take it cool because of the way they were running around for the surgery but they kept assuring me that they would get the required fund for the surgery; they exercised such faith that really energized me during that period. I kept telling them t hat I was afraid; not that I was afraid that the fund will not be raised but if I would be able to pay back if I am told that this is how far we have gotten and this is how much you will remit or pay back. These were my fears then. I did not just now understand but I was afraid. I was praying to God to provide but inside me, I will keep reminding him that I don’t have money to pay back. Even when I would call during the fund raising period and will be told this how much has been realized, my heart was still beating as I was afraid if at the end of the day I was asked to get some amount of money to consolidate to the amount raised. When you saw Nigerians both at home and in Diaspora responding to the appeal for Andrew which you monitored, what kind of prayers were you saying then? Yes, at that time a passage of the bible became so real to me; I remembered when I finished my degree examinations at the University of Calabar then, we were having a joint campus fellowship and a passage in the bible clicked on me and that is the passage I held on to all the while, the passage read, ‘A people you do not know shall serve, as soon as they hear about you, they shall submit to you’ I believe that God knew where I was going ahead of time and when he was saying surrender everything to me, I felt that I should give him my all, you will raise people for me. When those that were close actually seemed not to have the means, God was raising people for me in fulfillment to the words he gave me then. I can still remember that passage and it is still real to me that I can visualize that evening when we stood in that refectory in Calabar. And that passage has really become alive to me and my prayer is that God knows the need of all the people that came to our aid; all those people that were dropping their donations through credit cards, their cash and their cheques, I cannot bless them only God that owns the world can. And what they did has become a memorial to me and I will forever be grateful to them. I cannot regret serving God. When you received that call to get your family ready to
leave for
That particular day I had mixed feelings; I was happy and sad, happy that my son will be going to going to be away for some time. It was not easy for me. I had a lot of fear not that they will not come back alive but imagine the distance? My wife was like how are we going to cope without you? How will I be able to cope? I encouraged her to go since it was for good but at the same time I was sad to stay without them for some time. It was sweet and not so easy for me at that time. Can you paint a picture how you received the news that Baby Andrew’s surgery was successful? Oh! My brother that day my Bishop sent me to my Arch-Bishop in Asaba and that was the only day I did not call India because I used to call them everyday; I called them every morning but that particular day, on the 20th of March, I woke up that morning and said God all is well; my wife did not inform me but she was telling my reverend colleagues saying that they should help her pray. When they asked her if she has informed her husband, she said no as she did not want my heart to leap. So that day was an unusual as I was humming songs as I travelled that I did not bow to say prayers for all of them. Actually I had returned back from Asaba and was sitting with my Bishop at the Bishop’s Court, it was around 8pm and I was giving him the report on the assignment he sent me when suddenly you called and informed me that the surgery was successful. Immediately I broke protocols; I screamed and fell on my knees and kept saying ‘Praise the Lord’, those were the words that I could mutter. Tears of joy were coming out of my eyes and I kept repeating praise the Lord. My Bishop could not stop me and was confused what was happening to me until I said thank God the surgery was successful. Immediately he heard me say that, he shouted and stood up from his chair and started shouting ‘Father we thank you, the hope for the hopeless, we thank you and so on.’ We knelt down and thanked God. I received the news with joy and my Bishop was caught up in that reflex action of mine and that moment will forever remain green in my memory. It was a time that I could not control myself. Before your family left for Andrew’s surgery, you said something on national TV that due to Andrew’s case and the manner the fund was being raised; you had some kind of friction with your family. How is the relationship with them considering the fact that the surgery was successful? Yes, my family were around in the course of the thanksgiving in the church and I later discovered that the means was not there for them to help me. I realized this immediately they (my family) left; they were calling me and encouraging me all while. They actually explained to me and really appreciated what fellow Nigerians did for us. It was really a misconception on my side, they meant well for me, I thought all thought that the money was there and they were hiding it from me. How has this whole experience affected your life and perception towards Nigerians as so many are of the belief that Nigerians don’t help one another? Personally from the onset, I don’t carry the mentality that
Nigerians don’t help themselves, it’s just that we paint ourselves black again
and again especially when certain things we want are not gotten immediately;
maybe some gratifications are not there readily. I am a Nigerian and I am proud
to say that Nigerians share a common humanity and we assist ourselves. And till
tomorrow, I cannot say that we don’t care; we care for one another because with
the support received I am rest assured, we sit in our closet and say no one
cares for us. I visited the internet and was seeing love, care and support
being shown on the Nigeria Village Square Andrew’s condition really opened your eyes towards the Down Syndrome (DS) condition, how are you going to use your experience and knowledge to create awareness and help other people in that condition? Actually since that day Andrew’s features were made known to me, I have come across a lot of people with DS and I have approached their parents to see how I can help but one problem with our people is that a lot of them are so myopic in the issue; we don’t like taking a venture that we don’t ask questions. We remain in our little world and put the blame on our so called enemies; I will be happy if Nigerians and the government in particular will give a helping hand to the Down Syndrome Association of Nigeria to be able to spread to other parts of the country, it is not an easy job they are doing especially in the rural areas, many are DS but their people don’t know. I was surprised to meet a man that was over 40 years who had DS and met with his parents but his mother told me that that was how he was born and that the witches in their family punished them by attacking their son. We need more awareness and the government must give support. When the fund-raising for Andrew’s started, there was so
much hope on the governments of
I was not too impressed but what we need to ask ourselves is
this, were they informed? But I felt that they pick up national dailies because
all the people calling me read it there; I was even surprised when someone told
me that it was beamed on CNN. So I don’t think should be an excuse but what I
say that that will not stop me from praying for God to give them the wisdom to
rule us well. I know that the
Do you have people you want to use this medium to show your gratitude? I have a lot of people I want to say a big THANK YOU to; I
will start by thanking the Bishop of Warri who came down from his base to be
with us during the thanksgiving service of Andrew on the 25th of May, I am very
grateful to him for being present there, for him to come down from his height
to be with us was amazing and he followed everything that was happening on the
Nigeria Village Square and printed it out and read it to the congregation. I am
talking about Rt. Revd. Christian Ibeh and the entire Warri Diocese for their
support. I am also grateful to my Bishop, Bishop Emma Meizi and his wife and the
entire Western Izon Anglican Dioceses. They really supported me when my family
was abroad. My gratitude also goes to the Arch. Bishop in
This interview was conducted by Ahaoma Kanu
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