God | JOURNEYS OF HER

*Rahma Abdulmannan, co-founder of Creating Happiness and Assistance Foundation (CHAF)*

Rahma Abdulmannan, the co-founder of Creating Happiness and Assistance Foundation (CHAF), and a nurse by profession, is driven by her passion for making a difference in the lives of those less fortunate than her. As a humanitarian and a lifelong volunteer, her area of interest has always been focused on the empowerment of the girl-child and on orphans. Her story shows us that the privileges we may take for granted are not necessarily the reality of those around us and that oftentimes, it takes one person to make the difference in the trajectory of the lives of others and that we should never underestimate the power of the impact that we each hold within our hands.

This is Rahma’s story …

Being born in rural Kano State, Nigeria, a society in which cultural perceptions often dictate the lived reality of girls and women around me, stands in stark contrast to the home environment in which I was nurtured. As a little girl, the third child of five siblings born to a Yemeni mother and a Nigerian father, I have had the privilege of being raised by open-minded parents who were driven by an ethos of religion and not cultural beliefs steeped in ignorance.

Growing up, I always thought that the egalitarian values of my home environment extended to those around me, to relatives, close associates and family friends. I always felt that the treatment of girls and women as second-class citizens was the further reality, the reality of others, confined only to certain spaces within our society even though I was an active part of it as I was volunteering throughout secondary school at various organizations and orphanages. However, the veil of naivety fell from my eyes, when years later, I was preparing to attend university and my father sought out counsel, with his kinsmen, if he should send me to join my elder sister, to study in Cairo, at The British University of Egypt. I was of the former belief that our fellow kinsmen, males I regarded as second fathers, would be supportive of his intentions but alas! Instead, my father was met with disdain, mockery and patriarchal mindsets. They all laughed at my father, discouraging him, and saying that it would be a waste of his resources to continue spending money on me or any of his four daughters. They were clear in their worldview that the purpose of the girl-child is to be married off, to raise a family and to not have the liberty of a career. To their dismay, my father believed that all five of his children, both his only son and all of his daughters, should receive the same privileges and that just because men may have a degree of responsibility over women, in looking after them, did not mean that women should be deprived of their rights. Through the Grace Of God, my parents – both businesspeople – sent me to join my sister in Cairo, Egypt where she was already studying pharmacy and where I was to embark on a BSc Degree in Nursing.

From 2019 to 2024, I studied in Cairo and during semester vacations, I returned home, continuing with tuition classes and my volunteerism. In 2022, during one of these semester breaks, I stumbled upon a fifteen-year-old girl. It was one late evening, while returning home from lectures, when I saw her. Her face was swollen, and she was unkempt. I saw from a distance that she was sobbing but despite being by the roadside in a heavy downpour, everyone looked her way, saw her state, but no one did anything to assist her. After half an hour of keenly observing, I went up to her, saddened by the lack of sympathy towards her and driven by curiosity to assist her. I introduced myself, and asked her to follow me to the nearest possible shelter, since there were no shelters within walking distance, but she refused. After much placating and reassurance, I convinced her that she is safe with me. She eventually relented and we went to the nearest restaurant, where she washed her face and was served food. Upon finishing our meals, I encouraged her to share her story with me and her story was a tale I have heard all too often throughout my years of volunteering. Her story was one of maltreatment, physical abuse and violence at the hands of her own blood, her aunt. Six months prior to our encounter, she lost her parents to a land dispute and since she was the only child of her late parents, she was made to go stay with her mother’s elder sister. Escaping abuse, she ended up on the streets that night where our paths crossed. With all the details on hand, I then took her to the community leader, the next day, where arrangements were made for her better welfare. Fast forward to 2025, she is happier and is in the first year at university. However, not many of these girls have happy endings. There are many girls and women in the rural parts of Nigeria that face innumerable barriers with zero to minimal opportunities to education, employment and healthcare services while having to contend with social issues such as early marriages, domestic violence, rape and unwanted pregnancies.

Coming from a privileged upbringing and with my passion for humanitarian work, I was geared to wanting to be an agent of change within my society. One year prior to meeting the fifteen-year-old girl, I officially became a volunteer at Creating Happiness and Assistance Foundation (CHAF), a non-profit organization that was established in 2019, while I was in Egypt. I would return home and actively volunteered in the organization until the principal founder, Mr. Aliyu Bello, proposed that I become a co-founder of CHAF as the team was looking to partner with someone with a medical background.

In 2023, I officially joined as the co-founder of CHAF and since then, we have expanded our networks and programmes with a primary focus on widows and orphans. As an organization, we work across four spectrums: personal development, healthcare and medicine, education, and empowerment. Through fundraising campaigns, we strive to create activities that are both educative and entertaining to foster the personal development of orphans, render quality medical assistance to widows and orphans by paying their hospital bills and buying medicine for them, create supportive learning environments, empower young minds for a brighter future and establish sustainable businesses for widows, with orphans under their care, by training and supervising them to be able to independently raise their own children.

Across the country of Nigeria, there is a high rate of orphans due to abandonment relating to poverty and because of children that are born out of wedlock, not because of the death of their parents. Many cases, both reported and unreported, are incidences of babies abandoned at the doorsteps of many residences, found in trashcans and across public places. In the case of reported incidences, these abandoned babies are brought in by the public to organizations, such as CHAF, who then report such incidences to the police and place these vulnerable children in orphanages. While our current focus is on orphans and widows with projects such as Our Kids to the World and Widow Empowerment and Ramadan Feeding, going forward we hope to expand even further by focusing on Back-to-School Drives, Menstrual Hygiene Practices for Girls and Health for All.

Besides my involvement as a co-founder, and being a professional nurse, I am also involved in creating public awareness through radio presentations and offer discounted prices on my products, bought for orphans, under my shoe enterprise, Sparklee Shoeroom. Everything in my life is driven by the question: how can I make life better for those less fortunate than me? Sometimes, I question why I have been given the opportunities that others may not have been granted but then I realize that better opportunities do not mean that I have to improve my lifestyle, it simply means that God is using me as a tool to help others. While I may not be able to change the world, I believe in the power of one person. It takes one person to make the difference in the life of another person and it takes one person to change the outcome of another person. If I am that one person that can make the difference in the life of another person, then I am not just changing that person’s life but also the lives of their coming generation and I would want to be that person.

If you are interested in learning more about Rahma or would like to get in contact with her, please reach out via the website https://www.chafoundation.com/, their Facebook page, Creating Happiness Foundation – CHAF, or email her at agadrahma@gmail.com.

*Sylvia Sanyanga, founder of The Nate Foundation*

Sylvia Sanyanga is a strong, endearing, and innovative woman who has sought a solution in every challenge. She is a proud mother of three young children who has been hailed for her dedication to service. She has been awarded both the Outstanding Community Pillar and the Local Community Based Organization ZCN Awards by the Zimbabwe Community News Network, in 2020, and is also a 2019 Finalist Nominee for the UK Creativity and Arts Awards for Best Event Organizer and Best Community Leader. Sylvia’s story shows us that the pains and struggles that Life present to us are not there for the sake of destroying us but are there to make us cognizant of the needs within a community and to awaken us to our purpose to serve others within that need.

This is Sylvia’s story…

Growing up, as the eldest of three siblings, I was always close to my mother. Everything she was as an individual was what I aspired to be and everything I have achieved since, has been through her undying love and support for us as children. We were, and still are a very close-knit family even after her unexpected passing in January 2021. Her death has hit us hard but her exemplary life; her involvement in the Ministry, her establishment of the Institute of Healing of Memories branch in Zimbabwe, her hospital visitations to the sick and needy has inspired us to continue her legacy of selflessness, compassion, kindness, and God-consciousness. We are because of her and I am because she is.

Since I had such a wonderful relationship with both my parents and seeing the sacrifices, they made for us as a family, I naturally aspired towards having my own family and after meeting my husband, Eddie, I became a mother to my first and only daughter, Natasha, at the age of 25. As a young mother, and from a family of no health complications, it never occurred to us the challenges that lay ahead. When Natasha was born, she seemed like a perfectly healthy baby girl, even to the doctors, but five years later and through many assessments, she was diagnosed with a hereditary condition called Fanconi Anemia, after experiencing bone marrow failure. It was then discovered that both my husband and I have the recessive gene, and this was a total shock. It was a very confusing and difficult period for us to have to not only discover that it is genetic but to also see our daughter suffer because of this condition.

As time went by, my husband and I started to learn more about Natasha’s diagnosis. Fanconi Anemia is a rare and life-threatening illness and is the most common variant of a disorder called Aplastic Anemia. Fanconi Anemia affects the bone marrow and its inability to produce bone marrow stem cells which in turn produces all types of blood cells that are responsible for the reparation of damaged cells within the body. When an individual’s body does not produce white blood cells, the body cannot fight infection, the red blood cells cannot provide oxygen to the body and a low platelet count cannot stop bodily bleeding. The symptoms of Fanconi Anemia range according to age and person from growth deficiency, abnormal skin pigmentation, unexplained fatigue, easy bruising, nosebleeds and leukemia or solid tumors. However, some children born with Fanconi Anemia, do not show physical signs of Fanconi Anemia and therefore no one could determine anything out of the ordinary with our baby girl.

After Natasha’s diagnosis, in 2013, we were advised that she needed a bone marrow transplant. Quite sadly, there was no medical institution in Zimbabwe that could perform bone marrow transplants and there still is none. As we conducted further research, we discovered that not only was a bone marrow transplant a life-threatening procedure, but it is also very expensive one. It was a very difficult and stressful period for us as a family because we did not have the resources to give our child the best treatment available, but my husband and I decided, to walk in faith and, that we were going to do everything within our power to give our daughter a fighting chance.

Since Zimbabwe did not have the available facilities, and South Africa was too costly, we then shifted our focus beyond borders, to a cheaper option, and found India to be able to assist with our daughter’s condition. We began a fundraising campaign to raise US$100,000 which was required for the bone marrow transplant (US$45,000 for the transplant, US$35,000 for the donor and US$20,000 for airfares and living expenses in India for the entire family for six months). With only two days before the scheduled day of departure to India and having raised only US$23,000 we later received incredible news that an anonymous donor paid for the full transplant cost and was ready to pay US$35,000 if any of us were not a match for Natasha. They also advised us that we could use whatever we had raised for travel and living expenses while in India. It was an absolute miracle!

As a family, we travelled to India. Both my husband and I were not a match for Natasha but our 3-year-old son, Raymond, was. Raymond is our miracle child; he was born perfectly healthy despite Fanconi Anemia being a hereditary condition and us as parents having the recessive gene. Raymond was the perfect match for Natasha, and she received her life-saving treatment without any major complications. As parents, it was never easy to ask Raymond to be his sister’s keeper, but we took that decision as a family because by the end of it all, family is everything to us.

While the operation was a success, the bone marrow transplant does not cure the sufferer of Fanconi Anemia, but it extends their lives beyond the life expectancy of 18 years. As a mother, it does not matter if the doctors say your child has 18 years to live or 40 years to live. As a mother, you will give your child everything that you can to give him or her the best chance at Life, no matter what. I felt that God has bestowed us with this privilege of raising a special child and to treat this Gift of Life with the greatest honor.

In 2015, two years after Natasha’s successful treatment, we were gifted with our third child, Nathan. Nathan, which means God’s Gift, was also born with Fanconi Anemia but unlike Natasha, Nathan was born with physical deformities, which made it easier to detect. His physical deformities included bilateral club hands, an absent radius, no thumbs, an absent right kidney, and severe hearing loss. When he was only two months old, he had to undergo surgery as he had a right inguinal hernia. At six months old, he had corrective surgery to centralize his right hand and one and a half years later, when he was 2 years old, he had another centralization for his left hand. The corrective surgeries would have cost us US$40 000 but were performed pro bono by a team of plastic surgeons from the University of San Francisco that were based in Zimbabwe. We are forever indebted to this amazing team for their selfless contribution because ever since then, Nathan has had full use of his hands and is a thriving and budding artist.

In 2018, when Nathan was 3 years and 6 months, his bone marrow failed, and we once again required a bone marrow transplant in India with Raymond pulling through for us once more. However, there were complications that came with the surgery. Nathan endured numerous infections such as a terrible adenovirus (a common virus that causes a range of illness and cold-like symptoms), a graft versus host disease as he was a haplo-identical match (with his brother Raymond), and had to be in ICU (where at one point we were told to prepare for the worst).

All through this, and my children’s struggles, I was also battling with my own issues. In the years since Natasha’s birth, I have suffered from cysts and adenomyosis. While Nathan was undergoing his treatment in India, I was in severe pain with the growth of a cyst. As a mother tending to a sick child, I put his health before mine and that nearly cost me my life. The growth became life-threatening, and I ended up having to undergo surgery, in India. I also suffer from fibromyalgia, a rheumatic muscular condition which leaves me in constant pain and discomfort.

However, as a mother my pain means nothing to me if my children are well-adjusted and happy. I have and always will put them before me, and it gives me the greatest pleasure to see how full of life and resilient they are. Natasha, Raymond, and Nathan are my life’s greatest joys, and they are in good health, are doing well in school and continue to inspire so many people, both young and old.

Eddie and I went through the most difficult times, watching our children Natasha and Nathan go through pain, particularly with the side effects of chemotherapy that came during their bone marrow transplants. We moved around with a begging bowl, I slept on the floor in general hospitals because that is what you do if you are the primary caregiver, I have had sleepless nights and medical bills piling up because of their condition while having 8 major surgeries of my own. I have been to some of the best hospitals and some which have left a lot to be desired. I have experienced the agony that a parent goes through and the stress that comes when the treatment required is way more than you can ever afford, even if you sold all your possessions. I have been in that place where all you have is hope and faith because your loved one is so ill.

Following our ordeal, Eddie and I agreed that no parent should ever have to go through what we went through, so we founded and registered The Nate Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports children with Aplastic Anemia and related conditions. We also established a subsidiary crowd-funding platform, called Raindrops, to help and assist parents with children suffering from other health conditions that are not related to Fanconi Anemia or Aplastic Anemia.

However, within The Nate Foundation, our support extends beyond fundraising for Aplastic Anemia. We provide psycho-social support to children with Aplastic Anemia and their families and/or caregivers. We also work together with medical personnel in our country to raise awareness of Fanconi Anemia within Zimbabwe and have been able to assist by sending over 6 children to India to receive bone marrow transplants. Over the years, we have assisted patients in countries such as South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, and Nigeria and approximately 20 children have been recipients of The Nate Foundation.

We have done this work with minimal donor support as our government and most people in our country have a limited financial capacity to assist. However, we are excited to announce that we recently received, in August 2021, our first ever grant of US$10,000 from the US-based Fanconi Anemia Research Fund. This huge show of support will ensure that we continue to raise awareness of Fanconi Anemia and provide support to patients, their families, medical personnel, and health facilities.

We also established a special needs preschool called Caterpillar Clubhouse, when we had difficulty in finding a preschool that would accept our son Nathan. Caterpillar Clubhouse is open to all children with various special needs and fosters inclusive learning in mainstream school. We offer a safe and developmentally appropriate environment in which our special children can learn, with a focus on making learning an enjoyable experience for them and to inculcate in them the ability to become lifelong learners. Caterpillar Clubhouse is a self-funded endeavor that charges US$25 per month, per child, and so far, 80 children have entered and left our school grounds and gone on to successfully integrate into mainstream schools with Caterpillar Clubhouse currently hosting 33 children.

Nothing ventured comes without its challenges, but we have been called to serve, and diligently we shall. In addition to continuing our current work, we want to expand by establishing an Aplastic Anemia Treatment Centre, with a bone marrow unit, a learning center for children with special needs, research facilities and a resource library. Our journey of a thousand miles began with one step.

When we count our blessings, we count our children twice. It is such an honor to have beautiful, brave, and loving children and they have taught us so much. The biggest lesson we learnt is that no matter what life throws at you, stand up and fight. There is a blessing in the storm. When we started our journey of a thousand miles, who of us knew that our story of pain and struggle would turn into a tale of beauty and service to others?

If you are interested in learning more about Sylvia or would like to get in contact with her, please reach out via her Facebook pages, The Nate Foundation or Caterpillar Clubhouse, or email her at svsanyanga@gmail.com