Sheila is a dedicated Canada-based Business Analyst working within a government organization, and she is also the heart and soul behind PESBODS (Peachman’s Smile Boosters Organization for Children Living with Disabilities, Autism, and Sickle Cell). PESBODS is an organization committed to advocating for and supporting children living with disabilities, as well as providing care and assistance to their caregivers.
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With a profound understanding of community engagement, Sheila possesses a gentle and empathetic demeanor. Her passion is unwavering, driven by an aversion to witnessing anyone suffer or endure pain. This passion is deeply personal, as she has witnessed her soon-to-be 8-year-old son undergo numerous medical procedures since his birth, and he continues to face challenges with remarkable resilience. Additionally, Sheila has endured the heartbreaking loss of two cousins to sickle cell disease, pain etched into the memory of her entire family.
Recognizing the pressing need for support and assistance among families with challenged children, Sheila is motivated and inspired to extend a helping hand to these families. Sheila’s commitment to improving the lives of these children and their caregivers is a testament to her unwavering dedication and compassion. In this interview with Esther Ijewere, she shares her story.
Childhood Influence
Growing up my mum was always in the habit of giving to less privileged families every Christmas. Sometimes during her birthday, she would go to the Holy Cross children’s home and give donations of food and clothing to mark the day. She always stood up for injustice and never bottled up things (She airs her opinions and moves on). I learnt advocacy from her, and I must tell you I don’t regret 1 bit of it. I have always felt fulfilled and excited whenever I could put a smile on the next person. I found myself in the habit of visiting motherless babies’ homes every year just to play and relax with these less privileged ones. The passion from within found PESBODS.
The Inspiration behind PESBODS
For me, PESBODS is my 3rd baby after my 2 boys. Often, I try to visualize where we would be in 5 years, and how many lives and families the organization would have impacted by giving a reason to smile and I must say, that I am nothing short of excited to keep moving. For sure there have been bottlenecks here and there but I see us in the near future as one of the leading organizations that will have our slogan on all lips “SAVE A CHILD, PUT A SMILE.”
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Commitment to grassroots advocacy, children with disabilities and their families
Clearly, for me, PESBODS is a labour of love and dedication and for any community engagement to fall in the right direction, as an individual one needs to be intentional about its success and this is what I have done in all the events that we have rolled out in PESBODS. These acts would always at the end of the day bring a lot of emotional and loving memories to children and families at large, the tangible smiles I see at every event only go to show that these kids always want more of such exciting moments, that is the drive for us as a team to push and let them have that more.
Son’s journey and the loss of two cousins to sickle cell disease
I must say, moving on in life like nothing ever happened was not easy and even to date is not that rosy. As a young child losing the closest people you call friends and cousins was a blow, it was hard to understand I would never see them again, what will you say about the fear I felt, Oh Mine…coming to my son’s journey, while in Nigeria, I had times I had cried myself to sleep thinking of what my son is going through, times where my hope was all lifted that after a surgery he will be fine, I will brace up with all the inner fear and hours or weeks later we are back to the start. And this is what I get from the medics…” oh, I guess his case is a very stubborn one, we will have to try severally” not until we moved to Canada and got a better diagnostic of what it was arthrogryposis multiplex congenital.
Other times when my son desired to participate in activities and because of his inability to both stand for a long time and engage in a long walk, practically brought me to a position of explanation and encouragement. I had a time when I was walking from my room to his room and heard him say, “God please make my leg better because I want to race like my friends in school”, I peeped at him, and he was touching his feet and I worked back and wept uncontrollably. Also, an incident when a lady told my friend that maybe my son’s disability was a result of our bad deeds in the past and God is punishing us through that, now I think about it and laugh out so much.
Boosting the confidence of children with disabilities via PesTalent
In PESBODS Advocacy is our watchword, we tend to encourage children living with disability that their disability isn’t inability. It’s very important to equip and empower them early in life and that is why we have initiated our soon-to-be-announced project PesTalent, where we would discover the talents of these gifted children and spotlight them to the world. We also plan on developing a mentorship program that we intend to launch by the summer of next year for the youths, this will help sharpen their future.
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Work-life balance as a Business Analyst and a compassionate Advocate
In Life, we just have to find a balance in everything we do and that I learnt very early as soon as I kicked started the dream of PESBODS. During the day I try not to let my role at PESBODS interfere with my 8 am to 4 p.m. role as a Business Analyst. The meeting regarding PESBODS has to be scheduled after 6 pm except I am on vacation then I know my hours are added to PESBODS. In all this, I also find a balance between my family and my time. Once it is 11.30 pm my phone goes on silent till 8 am (it’s usually a set time for reflection for me)
Women who have influenced my journey
The no 1 female role model is my mother. At a very young age, she stood and wore shoes that so many men couldn’t have worn, at age 30 she had built one of the 1st estates in one of the choicest areas in my state which is still standing to date. She was and still is a hardworking woman (her friend nicknamed her a go-getter), the words always found on her lips have always been “FOCUSED” and the rest will be history.
Second on my list is my longtime Ezinne Okonkwo (Dewdrops Cakes), She is a great example of running with one’s dreams without looking back. Over 20 year years ago she had the vision that she would bake her wedding cake and she asked me to join her for baking classes in one baking school at Presidential Junction Port Harcourt, Nigeria but I declined the offer saying that baking was not my thing but then she went ahead to pursue her dreams regardless of discouragement from people around her and boom on her wedding day she was presented as the baker for their wedding cake to the astonishment of many. She pushed on and dined with people that matter in society today.
Other women who have inspired me in my journey as a founder of PESBODS are my aunt Cee Asogwa (Dec Enugu), Chika Uwadi (the founder of Global Empowerment Initiative for Women Inc and a Career lady), Mariam Muritala (Canada vendors), Prophetess Funmi Lucas, as a Business Analyst I have my dear friend Efe Alasa, Eddidiong who helped me see the bright side.
As a Business Analyst, my dear friends Efe Alasa and Eddidiong Essien taught me to see the bright side of this discipline.
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