Blessing's Miracle
by the Very Rev Kenneth Nwaubani, (Director, Amaudo Itumbauzo)

Blessing was discharged in December 2022, but she could not be reunited with her family because she suffered severe traumatic memory loss. We had taken Blessing to two different locations that she had mentioned but nobody could recognize her.

Blessing watched on as her colleagues who were discharged alongside her went home and she became very worried that she would never be reunited with her family. Blessing remained at Amaudo.

The miracle happened when two ladies visited Amaudo and introduced themselves as being from Blessing’s family. The co-ordinator who received them was very surprised and inquired how they knew that Blessing was at Amaudo. They told how a pastor, who knows their family very well, informed them that she saw Blessing on television thanking Amaudo for her recovery from her mental health problems during the 2022 Amaudo discharge service. They were initially reluctant to visit Amaudo but after the burial of their late father, they decided to visit Amaudo to find out if the information given by the pastor was true. But Blessing did not recognize her sisters. Since we could not confirm they were related, we were unable to release Blessing into their care.

I decided to personally take Blessing to Umuahia to see if anyone there could recognise her. When we arrived at the community square a man, unprompted, joyously exclaimed “Blessing are you alive?”. The man identified Blessing as his elder brother's daughter. He led us to Blessing's family and her mother was overjoyed when she saw her daughter. The community gathered and Blessing was finally reunited with her family.

This amazing story demonstrates the importance Amaudo attaches to the family and community in mental health care and recovery.

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