Tales of the unexpected from the children of UNICEF Nigeria
- Rebecca Irani and Roselyn Itodo
- Jun 30, 2018
- 4 min read
A dynamic duo show how they can influence the top leaders in the world
I was competing in the UN Games in Florence. Yes, as much of a cliché as it sounds, it was a dream. Little did I know that the experience would be further and memorably enhanced by meeting two incredible siblings, Shishe and Agebe, eight and seven years old respectively, and their mother Roselyn, from UNICEF Nigeria. After an eight hour car ride from Geneva to Montecatini Terme, a beautiful town at the foot of the hills one hour from Florence, my colleagues and I were exhausted. We made it just in time to the reception to gather with all excited UN colleagues, most of whom who’d made the much longer journeys than us from far flung corners of the world. There on the steps sat Shishe and Agebe, slightly despondent. After all, there were no other children with whom they could interact. We began a conversation and we laughed a lot. Spirits soared. I learned their story; the very essence of what UNICEF is about. Roselyn started work with UNICEF Nigeria as a GCO Assistant (greeting cards operations) in 2000. In 2006, she became a finance assistant and is currently a programme associate in Polio communication in the capital, Abuja. She met her husband Benedict Terkula Alagh (who was a medical doctor with UNICEF Health team, Nigeria and Liberia) and they had their first child (Shise, Marie- therese, Alagh) in 2009 and second (Ageba Jose-Maria, Alagh) in 2011. However, before Ageba was born, Ben returned ill from a UNICEF workshop trip in Senegal and never recovered, passing away in 2012. Shise and Ageba were two years and eight months respectively. It was tough for Roselyn not having her best friend and husband close by and she descended into depression. In 2014 to overcome this, she started volunteering weekends to work with IDPs (internally displaced persons) who had fled from the North East Nigeria as a result of the insurgency. The children joined her to spend most weekends working with women and children in the camps (Shise and Ageba taught the alphabet and two letter words to the toddlers, while Roselyn and her good friend, Zainab Aliyu, trained the women in multiple skills). They built a network of other volunteers because the demands were enormous including poor sanitation, unclean water, high mortality rates, no schools, disease, and food shortages. It was then that Shise came to ask her if she could write to Bill Gates for funding and Roselyn said, "Why not?" So, she went to a quiet corner of their home, where noone would distract her and wrote her first letter to the greatest philanthropist in the world. He responded personally saying that he was going to support them by setting up a crowdfunding website at US Fund for UNICEF, remarking in his letter to Shishe:
“While there are challenging and sometimes scary things happening today, there is also so much good happening. You and your brother are proof of that. I encourage you both to keep up the great work, because you are making a real difference in our world.” Roselyn did not initially take her children seriously, presuming it was a passing phase in their lives but through friends and colleagues they have now raised a total of about $3,400 for UNICEF. In a country where the per capita GDP is estimated at $840, this is quite remarkable.
Prior to this she had written to Mr. Anthony Lake (the former UNICEF ED and whom they now fondly call Mr. Lake ‘Grandpa UNICEF’) that she would encourage 100 people to support her water project for the children in the IDP camps and Mr. Lake responded encouraging her. This resulted in a trip to New York to visit ‘Grandpa’ UNICEF. The friendship has continued with a promised trip to try and visit them in Nigeria. With their story of hope and utmost generosity shared, in return, I invited them to run with me the next day as I was due to compete in Athletics. How could UNICEF not have children involved in some way? We exchanged numbers and lo and behold, early next morning at 7am, my phone flashed “We are at the track! When will you get here?” Greeted by their enthusiasm, I asked the race organiser if they could compete, and he confirmed sadly that children were not allowed. However, I had to involve them in some way, so I decided to do the last sprint in my team and take them on a victory lap. Four hours later and we were on our way. The organiser did the lap with us and cheered Shishe and Agebe on. The victory was ours. As the week ended, and we said our sad goodbyes, Shishe gave me a bracelet, a gift from the heart, and I have continued to keep in touch. I hope to meet them again when I’m based in Africa this year.
Competing in the UN Games was a challenge and an experience I’ll never forget. However, meeting this dynamic duo and their mother, listening to their incredible story, all told with the greatest humility, capped it. This is a story of endurance, hope and courage, qualities that also determine the greatest of all athletes.
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