Celebrating the Small Wins



A little over 14yrs ago, God's mercy fell on me, the universe smiled at me, lines aligned in perfect places, and my kidney transplant turned out a huge success. It was September 5th 2005. My mom had volunteered herself to be cut open for the sole purpose of 're-giving' her last born child, her sick daughter; another lease on life. Doctors, surgeons, nurses, social workers, family & friends, had given selflessly of themselves, freely; so I could have a better quality of life. I PROMISED MYSELF I WOULD PAY IT FORWARD & ASKED GOD TO BE MY LEAD. Even if it was just one person who benefited I would be satisfied. The Iya Project and later the Iya Foundation and now The Iya Foundation Kidney Resource Center, was born out of that desire to pay it forward. To help give another person a better quality of life like I had. To demystify the concept of organ transplantation in my community. To give hope to all dealing with any kind of chronic illness, especially Chronic Kidney Disease. I had been given health and so I would give health. I would live, and live heartily, and out of my heart, I would give of myself fully. Yes, it's been 14years and two months of grace & mercy. I've had to ask myself how much I have achieved. I always have this reflection during my transplant anniversary. Everytime I've wanted to do this post in the past 2 months, I would talk myself down about it. So much to do at the KRC, managing operations, the stress from the dialyzer kits, overall funding etc. I FELT DEFLATED. Instead of celebrating life and how far I'd come, riding on my second lease of life, I allowed the stress of meeting goals consume me. That was until about a week ago when I saw the post of someone celebrating their entrepreneurial journey; emphasizing on celebrating the small wins. Where you started, and how far you've come. IT MADE ME THINK. It dawned on me that I would do this post, and I knew exactly what I would say. I would celebrate how far we've come since my transplant; I would remind myself of the gift of life that was so selflessly given to me. I would celebrate all those who've stood by me and made me and our work all that we are. I would in all that, honor my donor. After 14 years of my kidney transplant and 8 years of officially managing The Iya Foundation, I am glad to say: ▪ We've been able to set up our own Kidney Resource Center, with advanced screening equipments to test kidney function ▪ We are able to provide supplementary services such as counselling, dieting advise, social welfare, etc to kidney warriors and their caregivers ▪We have launched and successfully executed an annual sensitization movement called the GREEN Campaign, to promote Kidney Awareness and Organ Donation ▪We have ongoing educational and screening exercises to encourage prevention and early detection ▪ Through our social media platforms, we reach thousands of people daily with our health and wellness updates ▪We've been able to support more than 300 kidney failure patients ▪We've been able to collaborate with major companies, other NGOs and individuals for the purpose of sensitization and kidney awareness ▪We've provided employment at a time when unemployment is at an all time high ▪We are generating public health data that will become essential to the body of knowledge in reference to the prevalence of CKD in Cameroon as well as many other factors ▪There has been a significant increase in patient engagement in reference to their quality of care - keep an eye out for our patient documentary series. ▪Increase in the number of kidney health educators ▪Weekly seminars on kidneys and its related issues WE HAVE DEFINITELY COME A LONG WAY I say WE, and I say it intentionally because all these couldn't have been done without the selfless and loyal support of so many of you. We are only the messenger. We execute. You all are the real Heros, the wind beneath our wings, the real MVPs. ALL THESE COULDN'T HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT MY DONOR MOM - Rose Bekondo. To her, I remain forever full of gratitude. Every good deed I do, will forever be in her honor. Because of her, I AM BECOMING. SO WHAT NEXT? I am so excited to say there's so much more in-store. For now, we'll focus on our current ongoing Diabetes Info-Updates as we get ready to announce and start galvanizing for our March 2020 GREEN CAMPAIGN. YOU CAN BE A PART OF IT. Contact us for partnership opportunities. Expect us to come knocking soon too. Together Our Outreach Will Be Larger, Our Impact, Powerful. CHEERS TO CELEBRATING THE LITTLE WINS. WE ARE NOT THERE YET, BUT WE'VE DEFINITELY COME A LONG WAY. WE ARE CREATING SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING. WE THANK GOD FOR BEING OUR LEAD. If you've read this far, I am granting you a virtual medal for your loyal support. You've got to have the Iya Foundation at heart to do so. Thank you so much, and here's your medal  . We love you  #theiyafoundation #theiyaproject #iya #kidneyresourcecenter #transplant #kidney #donatelife



 

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