Theirs is the worst picture of poverty you
may have ever imagined. This poverty eats
so deep into their lives, that, according to
neighbours, it is hard to see them as normal
human beings. Worse is the fact that it
recently robbed them of their two sons
(within the space of eight days) and
currently threatens their third, a baby girl. In
fact, it currently threatens their very
existence.
Their neighbour and church member, Jean
Nnagozie Obiwan, who has assumed an
advocacy role on their behalf, paints a grim
picture of squalor, which she beheld the
first time she visited the ‘lady of the house’,
Mrs. Hannah Nwankwo. It was a reality that
would jolt anyone out of their cocoon of the
ideal.
Ironically, 31-year-old Mrs Nwankwo is not
dampened. Well, not totally, as she managed
to put up a cheerful face when these
reporters went visiting. Behind the smiles,
however, were eyes full of pains – pains that
only a woman who has suffered her kind of
loss and bears her current bleak reality can
understand.
On the day of this visit, it also seemed their
story had begun to change, though still
critical. The picture of a bedroom and bed
literally floating on murky green water had
changed. They had bailed out the water –
apparently; they also now have a fridge – a
gift from their neighbour, Obiwan. And their
surviving baby-girl was also clothed in fine
apparel; another product of Obiwan’s
goodwill.
But their floor was still bare and bore the
dampness of a room just freed from
invading water. The compound however
remained flooded and these reporters had
to wade through to get into the room for
this interview.
Hannah Nwankwo’s story:
“When I gave birth to my first child
Chukwuebuka Christopher, he had a
condition which caused him to convulse
regularly. We were managing it traditionally
with palm kernel oil and some other things;
but one day in March 2017, Chukwuebuka
again began to convulse. On this occasion,
we had unfortunately run out of the
medicines, due to lack of money. To make
matters worse, my husband was also not
around to do the running around for cash.
I was also eight months pregnant and
Chukwuebuka was going to be three. I
became afraid, panicky and started looking
for people to help me. With neighbour’s
help, we rushed him to Isolo General
Hospital, where he was given injection and
he immediately went into coma, which he
never came out of.
