Why I’m passionate about the elderly – Toun Giwa, Businesswoman

Toun Giwa is a woman of many parts. She’s a politician and business woman who also runs an NGO for the elderly. In this interview, she gives us a glimpse into the world of the el­derly, why she is so passionate about them, her chal­lenges and other issues.
Excerpts:
Tell us about your NGO?
The name of my organization is Third Age Initia­tive For Elderly People’s Rights and Welfare. “Third age” is the age of retirement. Like the name indi­cates, we are here to help the elderly get what is rightful for them and support their welfare as far as we can in the Nigerian environment.
Why is the elderly your focus?
At a point, I realized that most NGOs were for women, children, AIDS and all that. I looked around and found out that there weren’t many people tak­ing care of the elderly in our society and those who were doing it weren’t doing it properly. So, when I came up with the organization, I realized that it would be easier for the government to do what they are expected to do for the elderly, because they have a wider reach through the local governments and even the states. To an extent, I realized that, if you will make them do what they should do, they will do half or more of what they should do, so at Third Age, we have decided to tackle this and work with the government so that they can do what they should do. For instance, the ministry of health and that of social development deal with the elderly and we try to ‘intervene’ in the sense that we look at what they are doing, what they can do better or how they can be more effective.
So, you work hand-in-hand with the government?
No, not exactly. We work on the outside, but we believe that the government has the reach espe­cially at the local government level. We don’t work  hand-in-hand, because our organization is a non- governmental, non- political and non-religious organization. So, we try to do it in such a way that government doesn’t take us over. We complement government’s efforts because we are like their eyes.
How have you impacted on the life of an average old per­son in the country?
That’s a tough one because there three categories of the elderly. The first are the ones up there who are okay, they are not looking for anybody to clothe, house or feed them. They are okay because they have children abroad , they have several sources of income like rentals and stuffs like that. These are the ones who want leisure and they want to go the cinemas. The second category are those just retir­ing, or those who have sources of in­come somewhere, they are also okay and they are not hungry. The third category are those who need help.
If they can feed themselves, they can’t pay their rent, or they don’t have good food to eat . This category is our major focus.
The indigent ones need the welfare ef­fort per se, and we give them food stuffs . We also realized that some of them still need transportation assistance to go home . You will be surprised that some of these people dress gorgeously and it isn’t exactly like we are sharing bags of rice but they will still want to partake in it. The problem we encounter is insufficient data on the elderly.
How do you reach out to them, do you go to old people’s homes?
There is only one old peoples home at Yaba and government is doing enough there. In reaching out, we adopt a settle­ment or community and our first point of call is where I come from, which is Lagos Island.
But sometimes, the problem is politics. When you come in, they ask you which party you’re coming from.
The saving grace is I come from that community, so I have easy access to them and they trust me. Otherwise, they might be thinking it’s somebody from the House of Reps that’s doing it.It’s a very difficult terrain, because there is insufficient data, lack of trust, and then you have to think of sustainability.
If you decide to give them food you have to do it regularly, if it is clothing it must be regular. So, many times, people who care for the elderly always end up looking for their homes. Some go to Majidun, some go to old people’s homes or go through politicians. Churches work beautifully with the elderly though . Someone I know who is an Anglican says the church has a retreat for the elderly, where they meet and socialize . Everyone knows each other in the church, so it is much easier.
In this part of the country, many people believe that an old woman is a witch. Are they correct?
That’s one of the problems in the Afri­can setting. When you are talking about witchcraft, you think of an old, ugly look­ing woman but it doesn’t work like that, we have heard stories of pastors “expel­ling witchcraft” from young children and it later became a problem. The fact is that we have God and the best intentions.
Many times, people can tell you “that person is a witch”, but I believe it’s a mindset because you don’t even have to touch that person to affect their lives. If you believe that, then you can’t work with the elderly. That issue came up recently and we’ve organized a seminar on it for November. It’s themed Witchcraft, the new name for dementia. In our set­ting here, we know little or nothing about dementia.
Dementia occurs when an elderly per­son starts to forget things that ordinar­ily he/she should remember. One of my mum’s aunties, we call her mama Abeo­kuta, is aged but we didn’t know she was very old. She came to Lagos and forgot our address and while she was looking for our house , an Okada(motorcycle) hit her and she started talking and mum­bling. People thought she was a witch but thank God somebody who knew her was close by and saved her from being lynched. People should know that when the elderly mumble or forget things, they’re not witches but are suffering from dementia.
What are your challenges?
Like I said earlier, insufficient data is a major problem, but thank God in Lagos State ,we have a listening government.
The minister of health is also willing to listen to what we have to say. They are willing to make helpful policies. How­ever, some local governments are not exactly as responsive because if the local government can say , let’s use the local government hall and let’s hang out with the elderly and bring refreshment for them, then that will be good. In most cas­es when you come with such idea, they ask you what political party you belong to and if you’re from a different party from theirs , they won’t let you use the facilities there. Another challenge is lack of funds and that’s because I am not very good at fundraising.
I can’t even ask anybody for money to save my life, so I have decided that it is the elderly that will do the work them­selves when it comes to fundraising . I do know people but the aspect of soliciting is the problem with me.
Some people have made promises that they would help and we hope they will. Our major goal is to set up a club for the elderly, so we are planning to build a center for the elderly where they can hang out. There is another project we’re planning, the third level project , for peo­ple down there and that is very important to me. Since we don’t have a day centre now, we are looking at getting a bus and we will do it in such a way that old peo­ple on the outskirts of Lagos, like Igando, will receive their basic needs as well as watch movies in turns in the vehicle.
It’ssomethingIamreallypassionateabout right now and we have adopted like three to four communities.
You know I can easily invite the top elderly to cinemas and they will come because they have drivers who will take them around. The ones down there don’t have people to take them to the cinema.
What was your childhood like?
I grew up with my grandmother, who inculcated in me the family African and British ways of life. I think that motivated the idea of the Third Age initiative. She was a philanthropist who loved education with a passion as she visited houses and inquired why some children couldn’t go to school and at times paid their school fees and if she couldn’t, she made arrange­ments for children in the neighborhood to attend school.
She also had lesson sessions where she taught her grandchildren and other chil­dren who needed it and she gave them free books .
That was my maternal grandmother. My great grandfather was Dr John Randle who I learnt was a philanthro­pist too. My parents also gave too, so I come from a family of givers who gave freely and not minding about themselves.
This has really helped and opened doors for me. Wherever I go and men­tion my background, I get instant help and I am very comfortable around el­derly people.
Can you tell us about your experience in politics?
Well, I guess that can also be traced to my lineage.
I was told that many political meetings were held in the Randle’s compound in those days and my hus­band is a politi­cian as well. So, it was easier for me to go into politics and what is politics really? Politics is ser­vice and if you are used to serving then you will have no problem getting into it.
My motivation was primarily my desire to serve and give. So, in 2006, I decided to contest a seat in the House of Represent­atives on the platform of Peoples Demo­cratic Party, because that’s where my husband belongs . However, most people like me were in the opposition, so it got me into trouble with many of my friends. Right now, I will say I am apolitical, I just want to serve, I don’t want to know what party, I just want to serve. In politics, I re­alized that it wasn’t about being credible, it wasn’t about having what it takes.
It’s about how much you have and how much they can make from you. Even the leader had the mentality of who he could use, who he will tell jump and he will ask how high? I don’t work that way. If you ask me to jump 10 feet, I will ask you why I have to jump 10 feet.
I am an intel­lectual but because of where I am c o m i n g from, I can operate at the grass root too.
From: SUN