Chairman of the UK based Calabar Forum, Engr Mkpang Coco-Bassey (1st L) and wife Mrs Helen Coco-Bassey (R) sharing great moments with some of the Elders during the visit to the Pope John Paul II Good Samaritan Home in Calabar at weekend
Calabar Forum, a United Kingdom based non governmental organization, has touched the lives of elderly people in Calabar, Cross River state.
President of the Forum, Engr. Mkpang Coco-Bassey, at the weekend presented items such as toiletries, wheelchairs, foodstuffs and cash to the elderlies, saying the group decided to give to the society by visiting the Pope John Paul II Good Samaritan Home in Calabar.
The President of the Forum, who is also the Chairman of Coco-Bassey Foundation, called on governments and individuals that are privileged to be blessed to extend a helping hand to the needy in the society most especially the elders that are abandoned by relatives.
“As the President of Calabar Forum, we look after the different sectors, helping the economy and different individuals. We have a holistic view of giving to society, and we chose to visit the Old People’s Home. We decided to send our team to the home to have a look to know how we can intervene. We decided to give this place a face lift by painting the building and also to help them in this difficult times with some items.
“It is a call for everyone’s hand to be on deck. The government has to put in their best to see that they remember these people. You can see the condition of the place, leadership is all about responsibility, so government needs to take that responsibility to help the needy in the society and we appeal to every Nigerian who is privileged to be blessed to take part in the recourse to help people at this critical time.
Engr Mkpang Coco-Bassey (L) with one of the Elders during the visit to the Pope John Paul II Good Samaritan Home in Calabar at weekend
“I and my wife believe that elders have to be taken care of, our fathers and mothers have to be taken care of, it is not when they die, that you build houses for them, kill cow and so on. So I appeal that we all remember our elderly ones, in our homes, and places like this, we need to take good care of them. You heard them saying their children and loved ones have abandoned them, they need all the care they can get at this period of their lives”, he appealed.
Overwhelmed with joy, the elders and Holy Family Sisters of the Home expressed joy with the donation from the Forum as they thanked Engr. Coco-Bassey for coming to their aide.
Speaking on behalf of the Old People’s Home, an elder and the Sisters who pleaded anonymity, thanked the Forum UK and the Foundation for coming to visit them, especially at this time when Nigerians are passing through hardship.
While praying that God should bless the groups, they said their children who they labored and cared for right from their birth to their adulthood “abandoned them in the hands of good spirited home of Holy Family Sisters of the Needy in the home”.
They said, “thank God for people like you who come here to help us, God will continue to bless you. We are really blessed when we see people coming like this to visit us. Some of us have been forgotten and abandoned by our relations. So when we see good people coming to see us, we know that we are still remembered. May God always remember you”.
