The Down Syndrome International (DSI) adopted March 21^st to signify the uniqueness of Down syndrome in the triplication (trisomy) of the 21^st chromosome and is used synonymously with Down syndrome. The inaugural WDSD was held on 21 March 2006 in Singapore.

Our activities for this year’s WDSD events include an Inter House Sports Competition, Comedy Infusion and an Open House on March 21, 2011.

The INTER HOUSE SPORTS competition is slated for Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at the Sam Shonibare Community Centre, Off Ajao Road, Surulere, Lagos under the distinguished Chairmanship of Mr. Tonye Cole, Managing Director, Sahara Oil and Gas Limited. The Special Guest is the Lagos State Commissioner for Women and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs. Joke Orelope-Adefulire. The Father of the Day is Mr. William Pope, Principal, Grange School, while Mrs. Stella Nwankalor is the Mother of the day.  The event starts at noon.

The COMEDY INFUSION comes up on Sunday, March 20^th, 2011 at The Incubator, Ligali Ayorinde Street, Victoria Island, opposite RCCG Church (City of David) Lagos.

Comedian Seyi Law, Mrs Patrick Chibuzor CEO Meljenstin PR& Events,Mrs. Rose Mordi, National President DSFN, Comedian Funky Mallam &Emeka Smith.JPG

Participating comedians include Basketmouth, Julius Agwu, Gbenga Adeyinka d 1^st, Funky Mallam, AY, Gordons, Klint Da Drunk and Teju Babyface. Others are Seyi Law, Emeka Smith, CD, John, Elenu, Shakara. Music entertainment coming from Ice Prince, Buzopat, W4, Ray 9, Obiwon, Whiz Kid, MI, Liza and Jay One.

Press Conference on the 8 March 2011 at DSFN HQ

Guest appearance by Ali Baba and Master of Ceremony is Desmond Elliot.

Her Excellency, Mrs. Sarah Sosan, Deputy-Governor of Lagos State is the Special Guest of Honour and Mother of the Day is First Lady, Lagos State, Mrs. Abimbola Fashola.

The event starts at 5 pm. Tickets –Regular- N1, 500, VIP- N5,000 and V-VIP- N10,000- are available in all Tastee Fried Chicken outlets  Festac, V/I, Opebi, Ikoyi, Agege, Surulere, Marina, Omole, Ikorodu.

There are tables of 10 – N200, 000 and a table of 5 – N100, 000.

This event is been packaged by Meljenstin PR & Events, E-Smith and Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria.

The WDSD- OPEN HOUSE is on Monday, March 21^st, 2011 at the DSFN Resource Centre at 43, Adegoke Street Surulere. Time is 11 am prompt. The open house will feature several activities.

Let’s Show Them LOVE!

Ayo Omotade with DSA members

The first time I heard about the man called Ayo Omotade, I admired his courage; for standing up to restore the dignity of his fellow human being was not only courageous but religious considering the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

The incident was inside British Airways (BA) Flight BA075 on the 27th of March 2008 when Ayo stood up to stand against oppression of the worst nature being perpetuated by some officials of the British Immigration when they attempted to commit murder on board the aircraft of a Nigerian deportee by applying the same inhuman measures that got Osamuyi Aikpitanhi lying six feet deep today. Out of the many passengers on board that plane who were being traumatized by the cries of the man who was slowly being suffocated, Ayo stood up and said politely with respect to the fact that all human beings are born equal, “Please don’t kill him!”

That caution was later interpreted by the BA officials and the Metropolitan Police to mean many things; he was labelled a terrorist, accused of attacking BA officials and so on but thank God that the recent court ruling at the Brent Magistrates Court on Tuesday, 6 May, 2009, the District Judge, Deborah Wright, Ayo Omotade was found not guilty of the charge and he was therefore discharged and acquitted.

Well, I must confess that I was never afraid of Ayo being convicted because he was innocent in the first place and I was confident in the saying that a clear conscience fears no foe. So when I got an sms on the day the verdict was delivered from VOR,(the Agunwanyi 1 of Oboroland), I nearly jumped down from the Okada I was riding on at Awka, Anambra State where I had gone for an assignment.

That night my mind went back to the 19th of February 2009 when I met the Hero of March 27th 2008 in flesh and blood; all the while I had been talking to him on phone and he even called when I was on a live TV show a day after we commenced the Boycott of BA services worldwide and made the BA office in Nigeria understand how prepared we were on the campaign. That singular act made me understand a bit how dedicated Ayo was.

But on this day we were supposed to meet, I was expecting to see an Aluta kind of person but his pictures I saw on some of the interviews he granted concerning the issue in the UK was playing tricks on my perception of the man.

I gave up and waited for us to meet. He called later that there was a mild accident at the area he was staying so asked where I was and guess where I was; at the Down Syndrome Association of Nigeria (DSAN) office at Ogunlana Drive, Surulere office.

“Baby Andrew and Baby Victoria,” Ayo said excitedly and asked, “Will the children be there?” I informed him I am playing with one of the boys there.

Ayo came in about an hour later; he was on a golf shirt and jeans, a typical Aluta attire and was very cheerful. He was just everywhere and shook hands with all the staff and children at the centre unlike most of the people that try to be cautious on their first visit to the centre; Ayo was just different.

As we went into Mrs. Rose Mordi’s office, the President of the DSAN, Ayo started narrating what transpired inside the plane and we were all laughing because the story was more of a comedy than criminal as BA and the Met police wanted the world to believe.

Coincidentally, the day Ayo came was the day one of the latest babies in the centre with a hole in the heart came around; Baby Ajoke, the 6 months old baby girl lost her mother some few hours after coming into the world and her Aunt took over and has been caring for her since. They met with Ayo and I was watching his countenance; Ayo’s eyes never left that of Baby Ajoke and he carried her in his arms and said some things that were not audible. When he was told that we had another two babies that were not present; I think I saw some tears in Ayo’s eyes.

“Kanu, how far have you gone with the funds for these babies?” Ayo asked me privately.

“We are in a fix honestly,” I answered and told him that Baby Victoria’s surgery took away most of the fund and that the surgeries were hampering the smooth running of the association. The facility at Ogunlana was very small and with many of the children now staying over there in a boarding arrangement that most of the parents wanted them to adopt, the centre was kind of falling apart.

“The money we were supposed to use and get a bigger apartment went partly to Baby Victoria’s surgery so we are still here in the small place,” I let him know.

“How come they are increasing?” he asked.

“Since the Baby Andrew success story and recently Baby Victoria, LUTH refers families to us and these families come to us with a plea to help. It is difficult to tell them to go as we don’t have the funds to attend to their babies but then if you tell them to go, where do you expect them to go with their Down Syndrome children when we are the only association that takes care of people with DS,” Mrs. Mordi asked.

“The reason is this, nobody amongst us wants to take up the responsibility of telling these mothers and fathers to go,” I made him know.

“How can I help,” Ayo asked and made me know that his wife was working for a Charity organisation in the UK and could help in the aspect of fund raising for the babies exactly.

“Look, we might not provide all the facilities you need but these children especially Ajoke and the others, we need to fix them and let them live,” Ayo told me and I wondered what manner of man he was. This saying reminded me of Bono.

“I can help coordinate in the UK and I believe NVS members will help as well because they showed that zeal when you put the Baby Victoria story online,” He said.

We went on and on and talked about the various activities; the trial, the many protests and the fights we had in the BA Planning Committee room at NVS and laughed. I was thrilled that at least I was part of Ayo’s story in a way.

What moved me most about Ayo was when one of the children came to him; the child was about two years and had running nose with his face all messed up, Ayo gently got out his personal handkerchief and cleaned the boy up after which he carried him and continued our discussion. He might not be aware of that action but I exchanged glances with Mrs. Mordi who was watching also.

The association has presently four DS babies with holes in the heart requiring surgery but unfortunately, one of them, Baby Favour, died yesterday, 13th May 2009. We will be starting the fund raising campaign next week and hope that every villager will be part of this life saving effort.

And from all the members and staff at the Down Syndrome Association of Nigeria, we want to use this opportunity to congratulate Ayo Omotade on his victory.

Baby Victoria and a surgeon

by Ahaoma Kanu

Some hours after more than one billion people worldwide witnessed the historic swearing in of the 44th and first African-American President of the United States of America (U.S.A), Barrack Obama, a group known as the Down Syndrome Association of Nigeria (DSAN) kept vigil at night offering prayers and supplication to the same God not for the new President who had ten balls to attend thousands of miles in Washington, they were spiritually clearing the way for one of their babies who left the shores of the country to have her defective heart corrected.

Baby Victoria and her mother

Baby Victoria Ajayi is a 14-month old Nigerian child with curly hair and a chubby cheek, her complexion was appealing and she radiated a smile that was infectious, she was the fourth child of a retired Post officer worker, Prince Ajayi and  mother, Kemi who was a  full time housewife who confessed that the joy of having another daughter was short lived on knowing she had a genetic disorder; a condition known as Down Syndrome where one has an extra chromosome than the normal 46 as well as having a hole in the heart, can now smile as brighter days looms ahead; Baby Victoria Ajayi has undergone the corrective heart surgery at the Narayana Hrudayalaya Institute of Cardiac Sciences in Bangolore, India and all went well.

The journey towards repairing her ailing heart started when the couple came in contact with the Down Syndrome Association of Nigeria (DSAN), the association which assured them that they will take the child for corrective heart surgery in India , according to the father, that seemed like a joke.

“When I met the association at their Ogunlana Drive Office at Surulere, Lagos , they assured me that my baby will be taken for the surgery, I had never believed such group existed in this country,” he said.

The Association held a fund raising drive for Baby Victoria during their Awareness Week Dinner in September last year and with the help of Rosabel Advertising Agency, which took the matter to some private organisations for donation towards the surgery, the required amount of N1.8m was raised and on the 30th of December, 2008, Baby Victoria, her mother and a chaperone of the association left for India for the surgery.

One getting to the hospital which was where Baby Andrew Duku, another DS baby with a defect was taken to earlier last year for the same problem, Baby Victoria was put through all the tests in preparation for the heart surgery.

She underwent the first step towards her corrective heart surgery on Friday, 17th January which is a process called Cath Test; a procedure where the doctors insert a top through her laps up to check her heart and the dimensions of the hole before the surgery and by the 21st of January, she was taken into surgery where the operation was carried out by a team of Indian surgeons lead by Dr. Devi Prasal Shetty. The surgery lasted 5 hours and Baby Victoria had her heart restored again.

She was discharged form the Intensive care unit on the 26th of January and is waiting to be discharged which might likely happen within the week.

The President of the association, Mrs. Rose Mordi informed that the association is happy with the development is the success of the surgery will now give the association chance to move on to attend to the other babies with heart defects lined on for surgery.

“I am happy that Baby Victoria has come out of surgery and is doing very well in the ward, we are expecting them back this week and this will give us the chance to take care of the other babies lined up for surgery in our centre,” she said.

She also used the opportunity to disclose that another DS baby with heart defect, Baby Josephine Joel has joined Baby Victoria at the hospital in India and is awaiting surgery.

“I will also like to use this opportunity t inform you that Baby Josephine Joel has joined baby Victoria at the hospital in India for her corrective heart surgery, she had to leave at the hospital she was admitted in New Delhi when it seemed the hospital couldn’t handle the situation. I will like to urge everyone to pray for her success too in her surgery” she pleaded.

Early last year, the association with the help of the Nigeria Village Square family, raised more than $6000 for Baby Andrew Duku, a DS child with a hole in the heart to have a corrective heart surgery done on him.