Agony of blind widow who also has 5 blind children
If one has the power to challenge fate, many people would have asked why they are treated very unfairly. But Henry Miller would say: Destiny is what you are supposed to do in life. Fate is what kicks you in the ass to make you do it. So we can’t challenge fate.
Mrs. Nkechi Clement Ugo, a native of Oshigbe Community in Ezza North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, would have been one of those to challenge fate if the opportunity had provided that. Fate has indeed kicked her in the ass with the precarious situation she finds herself in.
A blind widow with six children, who lost her husband some years ago, struggling to take care of her five bind children, has been very difficult, especially with the present economic situation of the country.
At the Ebonyi Remand Home located at Mile 50 in Abakaliki, where she and her blind children are currently taking refuge, Nkechi said out of her six children, five are blind like her.
The eldest of her children is 13 while the youngest is 5 years old. She explained that her first child is in the School for the Blind at Opefia in Ezzi Local Government Area of the state.
According to Mrs. Ugo, her ordeal started at a tender age when she woke up one morning to discover that she could not see any longer and all efforts made by her father to enable her regain her sight proved abortive.
“My world came to an end when l lost both parents to the cold hands of death”, she lamented.
However, according to her, succour came her way when a man approached her for marriage despite her condition. But as if she was created for ill luck, her life was further stretched when she lost her husband years ago leaving her and her blind children in a world full of loneliness, suffering, and an uncertain future.
She said that life has been unbearable as her condition makes it difficult for her to engage in any meaningful activity to earn a living. “As you can see, l am blind and all my children except one, are blind. My first blind daughter is currently in the School for the Blind at Opefia through the help of good-spirited individuals. The only one who is free from blindness cannot go to school regularly because she is our eyes and legs as of now, so anytime she is not around, we would be crippled until she comes back”, she narrated.
Mrs. Ugo lamented her inability to train her children in school and recalled how she had the ambition of raising world-class men and women who would contribute to the development of the larger society and wished she could have her children regain their sights.
But all hopes seem not lost for the family as the wife of the Ebonyi State Governor, Mrs. Mary-Maudlin Nwifuru has located her and commenced the construction of an ultra-modern bungalow for the blind woman and her children as well as donation of food items, clothing, and cash gifts to cushion the effect of the present economic hardship on the blind woman and her children.
Mrs. Nwifuru got information on the pathetic circumstances of the blind family during her tour of the 13 Local Government Areas of the state for the inauguration of her pet project, “Better Health For Rural Women, Children, And Internally Displaced Foundation”, BERWO.
Touched by the plight of the family, the Governor’s wife who couldn’t hold back tears after seeing and hearing from the blind woman, pledged to take care of the family. She promised that a greater part of her life would be committed to humanitarian services, adding that her foundation would always be at the forefront of the activities geared towards the well-being of the downtrodden in society.
She disclosed that her foundation has enrolled over 4,750 pregnant women across the state into the Ebonyi State Health Insurance Scheme aimed at ensuring safe delivery and adequate health care for the women among other projects.
Responding, Mrs. Ugo thanked the governor’s wife and also appealed to other good-spirited individuals who could come to her aid to further assist her blind children go to school and have quality education like their peers and earn a living without having to depend on people through street begging. “I can’t question God for what He has made me and these children be; we are His creatures and we are grateful to Him”, she said.
