By Hazeez Balogun Lagos
“If nature has made you for a giver, your hands are born open, and so is your heart; and though there may be times when your hands are empty, your heart is always full, and you can give things out of that warm things, kind things, sweet things help and comfort and laughter and sometimes, kind laughter is the best help of all.” These words of Frances Hodgson Burnett rings true, especially when there is not much to give but the thought and action matters most.
Dan, students of Pacelli, Masha, Sister Agnes and Olisa
Last Wednesday, at the Pacelli school for the blind and the partially sighted in Lagos, the students were treated to a time out with two top radio presenters, Olisa Adibua and Dan foster. There was also a quiz session when the children were asked questions and they won prizes for the right answers -none of the children gave a wrong answer. The children themselves gave a heart rending performance, singing medleys of Christian songs.
Pacelli School for the Blind and Partially Sighted is a fully residential, special needs school established to cater for blind and visually impaired youths, most of whom face significant academic and psychosocial challenges. The school is an initiative of a former Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Leo Hale Taylor, and was officially opened in 1962. Pacelli has maintained a policy of maintaining its non-governmental and non-fee paying status.
Despite the economic challenges the country has gone through over the decades which have seen several government schools turned into fee-paying institutions, Pacelli continues to fund their students’ education, maintain their facilities, and provide for the welfare of the learners.
Hence, the school relies on the Catholic Church who established it and charity from the public to educate and cater for the students. The OLX team who did not have much to give, came up with a unique and ingenious way to support the school while encouraging others to take a leaf. They tagged it the ‘OLX Give Back Campaign’. The idea is to have celebrities sell what they want on their platform and give the proceeds to OLX who in turn doubles the money and then give to the charity home.
The first of such campaign was held last year with radio presenters, Mannie and Yaw of Cool FM and Wazobia FM taking part. It turned out to be a huge success. Yaw sold his car on OLX and a total of N1,000,000 was donated to The Down Syndrome Foundation, Bethesda Home for the Blind and Modupe Cole Foundation on his behalf by OLX. On the other hand, Mannie sold his Juice Maker, Flat Screen TV and generator. With OLX, he presented a cheque to The Modupe Cole Foundation and the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy for N96,000
This year, it was the turn of Olisa and Dan Foster to give back. The duo were also generous as well. Together and with OLX, they were able to raise, N746,000 and it was all given to the Pacelli School. Dan sold his Armada car, his flat screen television set and an exercise bike which he has not used for a day. For Olisa, he also sold his TV set, a washing machine and wristwatches.
Dan Foster was a bit emotional while giving a speech at the cheque giving ceremony. According to him, when he first stepped into the Pacelli School, he saw how organized and neat the whole compound was, he thought to himself that the school seems to be doing well and does not need his help. “But when I saw those children, without eyes holding each other and flowing all around the school un-aided, my heart sunk. I could tell the teachers are doing a good job. Also, I learnt that Cobhams who is a good friend attended this school. I mean these are people without eyes and they are smarter than I am. I know I am doing the right thing, giving all I can to them,” Dan said.
For Olisa, he thought he was being dragged into a regular celebrity charity scheme at first, but he later saw how genuine OLX was with the campaign. “I ‘m not the one to do these celebrity charity things. I am not like those who on their birthdays take food to homes and now take pictures and showing off. It is classier to give and don’t even look back. I like the way OLX is going about this campaign and I am very proud to be a part of it,” said Olisa.
Speaking at the event, the OLX country manager, Lola Masha said; “we recognize the importance of supporting our local communities and that is why we partnered with Olisa and Dan because we appreciate their commitment to supporting the youth through their work on radio and in the community.” The principal of the school, Sister Jane Onyeneri was happy at the gesture and urges other well meaning Nigerians and corporate bodies to emulate OLX.
In addition to providing better opportunities to its students, the Pacelli School supports visually impaired students from other primary, secondary schools, and tertiary institutions across Nigeria. This is done by making Pacelli facilities available for their use. The school runs a one-year rehabilitation program for them to help them adjust to life with their disability. The participants are offered courses like Braille reading and writing, daily living skills, art and crafts, music, orientation and mobility.
OLX is a classifieds platform and is available in more than 40 countries. It connects local people to buy, sell or exchange used goods and services by making it fast, easy and free for anyone to post a listing through their mobile phone or on the web. The platform operates in fast-growing markets around the globe, where it helps people improve their lives through smart person-to-person trade. OLX employs more than 1,200 employees world-wide located in places like Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Delhi, Jakarta and Nigeria.
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