Caring for the elderly at home can be quite a daunting challenge for caregivers in rural areas of Enugu State, Nigeria. Most elderly people do not ask for much. Most elderly people simply want to be heard. They want to be cared for in a way they deserved.

Happy Ageing Project works with the elderly in Ugbo-owa community of Enugu State, Nigeria. The project aims to improve the quality of life and care is given to the elderly.

Forgotten, voiceless, abused, neglected was our center name until now! Lacking a sustainable source of income, I would want to walk around but find myself losing balance, prefer to eat eba and would be given something else, always receiving corrections from an impatient voice. When will this end? 

Caring for the elderly at home can be quite a daunting challenge for caregivers in rural areas of Enugu State, Nigeria. Most elderly people do not ask for much. Most elderly people simply want to be heard. They need caregivers who are skillfully equipped, they need enrollment in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) so that their health needs can be catered for.  They want to be cared for in a way they deserve.  The elderly live through challenges that sometimes seem confusing to them.  A lot of elderly people are neglected and seen as a burden.  The voices of the elderly are ignored and seem like they do not matter.  This leads the elderly into deeper depression.   

”I am more confident now as an elderly person and look forward to ageing gracefully with all the knowledge I have been able to acquire from the Happy Ageing Project. My family members now give me more attention and treat me with more respect. I am now allowed to express myself and make my own contribution when it comes to decision-making. The young Adult in my community now look up to me for advice, settling of dispute, etc. I also do a step down training for the upcoming elderly within my reach. I feel my dreams are coming alive!”. Patrick Eze (Age 64). 

Happy Ageing Project, implemented by Lift Saxum Limited works with the elderly in Ugbo-owa community of Enugu State, Nigeria. Lift Saxum Limited is an Organisation that transforms the lives of youth and women through entrepreneurship development, good governance, life skills and gender awareness. The project aims to improve the quality of life and care that is given to the elderly.  Self-acceptance is key.  The Organisation has worked towards creating an environment that is friendlier to the elderly.  Elderly people friendly information is disseminated through organisation websites, bulletins, community mobilisers and Right Holders give step down training to their various community groups.  The elderly themselves have also embraced learning new things and one of them quipped, ‘Learning is an unending thing just like aging until one is no more.  Brace up to the challenges, do not give up in order to have a happy end’. 

Though the organisation is catering for the upkeep for the elderly, the dream is to have families commit to the upkeep of the elderly.  The home environment might be the best place for them.  Despite the obvious challenges that the communities face the villages, need to be conscientised on the needs of the elderly whereas the aging members of the society must see aging as an opportunity to help the society to become better by sharing their positive experiences.  Creating such an opportunity has brought the elderly from being forgotten to being special and achievers. Ndi nkogeri aburu ndi oma ooo (Voices that never mattered are now on the table).   

The project interventions led to an improvement in the quality of care given to the aged, through the training of their home caregivers, who understood the needs of the elderly with the help of experts in the area of caregiving. The rightsholders also acquired new skills including but not limited to improved farming involving application of fertilizer, herbicides, sourcing of seeds, planting of seeds, spacing of crops, poultry; housing of birds/ space, poultry vaccination and feeding as well as budgeting literacy skills. Moreover, entrepreneurial, life skills and skill acquisition trainings for the caregivers were conducted. These skills are now assisting right holders generate income for themselves and their dependants.  

Through this project, it became evident that a lot needs to be done to enhance the wellbeing of elderly people. Their participation in societal development improves their well-being and it was clear that there is a need to continue working to promote support and respect towards the elderly to enhance their quality of life (physical, psychological, social, intellectual, and financial) and self-determination. There is also a great need to support, protect and strengthen human rights for the elderly including the elimination of all forms of abuse and material exploitation, neglect and abandonment.