[ProgSoc] YOU CANT MISS

[menakaya mayaki <drmmayaki@nospam.yahoo.com>]

Dear partner,
Nearly fifty years ago, Dr. Frederick Loomis, an old
country physician wrote a short but memorable article
entitled “The Best Medicine” Though the author died a
short time after publishing his moving piece, he still
lives on in the minds of thousands of people. Dr.
Loomis wrote “each of us can lighten our own load by
for giving or performing some small deed for someone
else. In this manner, we can make the past recede as
the present and future will again take on their true
challenge and perspective. As a Doctor I’ve seen it
told many times and nearly always. It’s been a far
more successful prescription than anything I could
have ordered from the drug store.

YOUR MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION

With the idea that we are about to give you, you can
have riches beyond your fondest hope. This idea will
bring you a wealth of happiness. For your personality
will expand. And you will receive affection and love,
both of a quality and a quantity you have never before
dreamed possible. The principle is so obvious that
those who need it most may not see it at all. It is
simply this: Develop an obsession - a magnificent
obsession - to help others. Share yourself without
expecting a reward, payment or commendation. And
above all else - keep your good turn a secret. And,
if you do this, you will get in motion the powers of a
universal law. For, try as you will to avoid payment
for
your good deeds - blessings and rewards will be
showered upon you. Every living person can help
others by sharing a part of himself. You don’t have
to be rich and powerful to develop a magnificent
obsession. Regardless of who you are, or what you
have been, you can create inside yourself a burning
desire to be helpful to others. Your most preciously
valued possessions and your greatest powers are often
necessarily invisible and intangible. No one can take
them. You and you alone can share them. You can be a
part of a great cause. And you too, when you give,
can give generously. The more you share, the more you
will have. Now if you doubt this, you can prove it to
yourself by giving a smile to everyone you meet, a
kind word, a pleasant response; appreciation with
warmth from the heart; cheer; encouragement; hope,
honour, credit and applause; good thoughts; evidence
of love for your fellowmen; happiness; a prayer for
the godless and the godly, and time for a worthy cause
with eagerness. If you do experiment by giving anyone
of the above, you will also prove to yourself what we
have found is one of the most difficult principles to
teach those who need it most: how to cause desirable
actions within yourself. Until you do learn, you will
fail to reealize that what is left with you when you
share it with others will multiply and grow: and what
you withhold from others will diminish and decrease.
Therefore share that which is good and desirable and
withhold that which is bad and undesirable. Let every
occasion be a great occasion for you cannot tell when
fate may be taking your measure for a larger place!

Character is the cornerstone in building and
maintaining success. There is something infinitely
better than making a living. It is making a noble
life. Have you ever thought that you can develop a
magnificent obsession by becoming a part of a great
cause and by sharing a part of what you have! If you
have, you already realize that there are many college
and university professors today whose magnificent
obsession are to seek the truths in various fields.
So that all mankind may be benefited by their
discoveries. You can become a part of such a cause
and thus fulfill a magnificent obsession of your own.
You can find such a dedicated person in almost any
college or university. This world would be a better
world to live in if each person would leave, as an
inheritance to posterity, the philosophy and know how
that brought him happiness, physical, mental and
spiritual health and wealth. You live longer with a
magnificent obsession, of course it’s the old story;
the man who has something to live for lives longer.

My formula is to keep busy so that the years go by
unnoticed. To despise nothing except selfishness,
meanness, and corruption. To fear nothing except
cowardice, disloyalty and indifference. To covet
nothing that is my neighbour’s except for his kindness
of heart and his gentleness of spirit. To think many,
many times of my friend and, if possible, seldom of my
enemies. As I see it, age is not a question of
years. It is a state of mind and an attitude. You
are as young as your faith and today. I think I have
more faith in my fellowman, in my country and in my
God than I have ever had.

Henry J. Kaiser is another with a magnificent
obsession. He has done so much to make his world a
better world to live in. A quotation that hung on the
wall of a blacksmith shop in England inspired him as
it may also inspire you. It is “What! Giving again? I
ask in dismay.
‘And must I keep giving and giving away?’
‘Oh no; said the angel looking me through
‘Just keep giving till the master stops giving to
you’


There is something infinitely better than making a
living, it is making a noble life.

AKOMA HILLS
Akoma is a 39 - community settlement in Jada Local
Government Area of Adamawa State in the North -
Eastern part of Nigeria. Akoma is about 110
kilometres from Yola, the least time to spend on the
journey would be 5 hours on a good day with a really
experienced driver. Akoma district is characterized
by “rough terrains, rivers and deep gullies.” Tough
terrain” poses some special challenges in terms of
transportation and communication. The road to the
mountain top is narrow, hard, tough and slippery.
Many atimes you move with your two hands joining your
legs in a crawling situation. The longer you climb
the more afraid you are of falling into the deep by
your side. Like the journey of life, a focused
climber has little chance of falling.

For me, it was with a great expectation that I
embarked on the journey to Yola the Adamawa State
capital and the first Port of call on route Akoma. I
have lived in that town before, some 15 years ago for
the mandatory National Youth Service Corps year. I
longed again to be in the sunshine state as Adamawa is
popularly called. I have developed an obsession, the
magnificent obsession for the people of Akoma hills.

We organised a program for Akoma Hills titled
“Challenge 2000”. In which friends and old colleagues
were invited from out of town to participate in the
awareness program. The Akoma trip called for special
transport arrangement, for example, only Jeeps can ply
Akoma road and such vehicle needs to be driven by a
person who is quite conversant with the road. The joy
of being part of a vision and the expectation to meet
the unique people in the Akoma district made everyone
of the “challengers” forget or at least disregard the
rough and bumpy road when the journey from Yola to
Akoma began. The sight of young boys and girls, some
naked, others half naked, a few in the unique Akoma
helf-dressing gave the challengers the signs that the
long journey was about to end. Hill on all sides,
farmlands of guinea corn and beans, flowing streams as
well as tributaries of those are dried up, all made it
obvious to all that there had been a locational shift.
The Akomas are very receptive and friendly. They
seized every opportunity to show their love. Akoma
district is a very cold place. To the challengers it
is a freezing zone while to the natives everything is
normal for instance, while several people were wearing
what is termed. ‘Combined honours’ which is a
combination of several clothes to minimize the effect
of the cold, majority of the Akoma people were having
a nice time naked or half naked.

The dwellers had come out of their various mountain
side huts to welcome the challengers. There was a
girl who could not have been more than 14 years old
clutching to her back a baby said to be about 2 weeks
old. Never ever think that she helped anybody to
carry the baby. She was the mother and she and her
child were virtually naked except for the tiny piece
of cloth used to tie the baby to the mother’s back.
The cold weather and the lack of clothes led to what
has almost become a culture in the community. The
culture of pipe - smoking. Almost everyone has a pipe
fixed almost permanently in his or her mouth with raw
tobacco leaves. All these have their effects. A good
percentage of the population suffers from chest
diseases. Life span is very short as most of those
who were presented as the elders of the community are
between 30 - 40 years old. The program achieved it’s
principal of objective of creating an awareness for
the situation on ground at Akoma and sufficiently
sensitize the people to contribute to efforts aimed at
bringing hope and joy to the farflung land. One of
the 14 people who came for the program said this- Dr.
Jude Obanor - it is an eye opener because it has
exposed me to what rescue mission is all about. I
will also advise others to contribute their quota to
the development of akoma and enhance the rescue
mission work there. Another participant said this -
Arch. Mohammed Kano - “indeed, there is impression on
our hearts that there is need for more effort, in the
commitment of more resources to keep the work of the
rescue mission going on in Akoma and other similar
fields. Prof. Bello Momoh - the rescue mission work
needs not only spiritual, but also physical, material
and financial support. He declared that “it is
amazing to discover that at this time in our
generation there is still a lot of ground to be
covered. We should also make our hearts to reach out
beyond our immediate environment. If anybody,
stretches his heart, it will be a blessing unto
others and it may be where your blessing will actually
come from. According to him “there is a generation of
Akoma people that is phasing out. They are so rigid,
they are very conservative, they still want to go on
with their culture, no matter what. But the younger
ones are really changing.

AKOMA HILLS FOUNDATION
The akoma Hills Foundation is a non-profit
organisation with a mission to consistently reach and
assist the underprivildeged children (building of
their character) and senior citizens of Akoma Hills.
The average resources for inspiration, education,
training, and development are provided to these
important members of our society by all who
participate in the foundation activities. The
foundation is a lifelong dream come true for Dr.
Menakaya Mayaki. A committed philanthropist since the
age of 10, he has worked extensively with the boys
scouts club in Kaduna, Kwara, as well as with homeless
individuals in Warri, and the Port Harcourt Area.

“RIVER BLINDNESS” ERADICATION PROGRAM.
Among the foundations most inspiring endeavour is the
“River blindness eradication program. While visiting
Akoma Hills in 1997, Dr. Menakaya fondly and mostly
called Dr. Akoma was so touched by the Hills,
children, senior citizens and volunteer staff that he
made a singular pledge; he would provide the social
amenity (clean water) which will cost $8,000 singly.
In response, the children Dr. Menakaya set out to help
have become helpers themselves, tutoring other
children, volunteering in nursing homes, staffing
shelters, and participation in many other
philanthropic endeavours. With tears I write this
part, just two weeks ago we lost two kids to a wild
animal, we are yet to figure out what animal it is,
the kids had gone to get water from a flowing stream
in the forest, and they were attacked and torn apart
by this wild animal. That is why we determined to
provide the social amenity of water.

I solicit for your
assistance to consistently distribute food and
other provisions to those in need in Akoma Hills.
Within the last few months alone Akoma Hills
Foundation has reached out to more than ten thousand
individuals (mostly children) in over 20 communities
throughout the Akoma Hills. The birth of this
foundation is necessarily good omen for Akoma Hills.
It is clear that God has chosen to use this foundation
and its mission as a signal of development for this
people. A few months after we arrived in 1998, Akoma
Hills became a United People, all communal clashes as
a result of disputations overland ownership seized.
One year after the establishment of this foundation in
Akoma Hills, Akoma Hills celebrated its first party
tagged ‘United Akoma” with every family in attendance,
and also one year after the establishment of this
foundation, Akoma Hills on September 17, 1999, acceded
to begin its first school of learning. Accredited by
the Corporate Affairs Commission of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria in April 1998, this foundation is
making a clean new beginning with a personal
volunteer staff of fifty (mostly mothers) and
September children enrolment of projection of 6,000
kids. The spread covers the Akoma Hills, with kids
participation and representation from every family in
Akoma Hills, and there are definitely certainties of
guarantee results. This foundation keeps the vision
aflame and vision afloat in commitment to God and
selfless service to humanity.

THE CHALLENGE
Life is a gift, and all of us who have the ability
must remember that we have the responsibility to give
something back. Your contribution can truly make a
difference. Please join us now and commit to helping
those less fortunate enjoy a great quality of life.
People interested in more information about the
foundation may write to the Akoma Hills Foundation at
this email address:drmmayaki@nospam.yahoo.com

Your generous gift takes us closer to the goal. Give
generations of Akoma Hill yet unborn a chance in the
millennium. Please say yes to Akoma Hills Foundation.
We need building materials, we need funds to do
several things. The tough terrain here calls for 4
wheel drives such as jeeps and several other things.
There is a vision for about 12,000 kids from different
families, tribes and cultures, to gather together and
school. We the workers in Akoma Hills have the
vision, we are sharing it and working for it to become
a reality.

ADOPTING IN AKOMA HILLS
Support FOUNDATION ACADEMY, AKOMA HILLS.
Please be a part of an original rescue work at Akoma
Hills.
To be a partner
PROJECT OF “ADOPTING IN AKOMA HILLS”
Pledge and send your contributions and donations via
Western Union Money Transfer to Dr menakaya mayaki
Akoma Hills Project
C/o Office of the mother in Israel
2 mission road, Benin-city, Edo State,Nigeria


All donations addressed payable to “adopting in Akoma
Hills”
Your money will go towards the
(1) Civilization (Clothing, feeding, housing)
(2) Water project (eradication of River Blindness)
(3) Education (School resources, books etc)
(4) Evangelization(provision of Bibles,materials.)
Be a part of an original rescue mission assignment.
This kind of opportunity does not come all the time.
Adopt a child today by sending AHF funds to support
Foundation Academy. Adopt 10 children and so provide
them with education and health facilities for $500 US
dollars. You can contact WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER
UNIT in your area to support a great cause - Akoma
Hills
Foundation.

I commend you with a blessing from the Lord which is
in the book of Ephessians chapter 6 verse 8. “Knowing
that whatsoever any good thing any man doeth, the same
shall he receive of the Lord (Greatest giver of all)
whether he be bond or free.

God bless you dear partner.

Dr. Menakaya Mayaki.

Note: When you send your donations, also notify Dr.
Menakaya Mayaki with the email address:
drmmayaki@nospam.yahoo.com

When you send your donations to assist this children,
we will in turn send you the photograph of the
children you are adopting for you keeping and also we
will establish a means of communication with these
children for you if you please.
Please receive with love the focused desire of a child
reaching out to you for adoption.It is always a
special experience to receive something brand
new.There really isn't anything like having something
new,sometimes we need to handle or appreciate the new
people we recieve.Did you ever see a small child
stretch his arms up to a parent or grandparent?Anyone
looking on knew exactly what the charge had on his
mind. He wanted to be picked up. He knew who he wanted
to be picked up by and he knew when he wanted it to
happen-right then! that was his total focus at the
moment. These children are reaching out to you to be
picked up and cared for.We can all reach all the way
down where they are because they are reaching up to
us. We must make
choices about what we will reach out for as we go
through life. It becomes a question of priority and
importance. If we had our hand full of somethings that
were only slightly important to us and then something
of great importance was suddenly available how quickly
we would drop everything in our arms to reach out for
that important items. God is asking us to make that
choice today.

Sometimes we do not handle or appreciate as we should
the new items we received. It is so easy to say, "if l
only had it to do over again, I would handle it or
care for it a little differently". We may even do with
successive new years that come and go. At the end of
the year, we may look back and say, l wish l had taken
advantage of that opportunity or, l wish l had spent
more time doing thus and so during the past year. In
today’s times, we have the opportunity of experiencing
the uniqueness of giving love through provision for
this chiIdren. That is a picture of the kind of
reaching that Paul the Apostle was referring to when
he wrote the believers at Philippi, "Brethren,i count
not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing i
do,forgetting those things which , are before; …… Paul
was a convinced man when he penned feeling these 
words. He did not mean that he was reaching out with
some kind of a blind-hope. Mentally that “Today wasn't
such a good day, but maybe tomorrow will be better” It
is all right to look at tomorrow in a positive way,
but Paul was talking about a lot more than positive
thinking He was talking about a positive action that
would bring positive results – in fact formula. Your
wages in life will come from your work but your
rewards will come when you reach to the needy. And
wages are nothing compared to rewards.
I have made up my mind to be habitual in expecting to
reap after l had sown and not confuse my needs with
rights to receive.I therefore present to you an
eternal law that guarantees results through action and
flawless success. God bless you.
Children have more need of models than of critics.
JOSEPH JOUBERE(1754-1824)
ESSAYIST






















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