Career
#BellaNaijaWCW Samira Sanusi is the Survivor Who’s Catering for Sickle Cell Warriors
Our #BellaNaijaWCW this week Samira Sanusi is a sickle cell awareness advocate, author and philanthropist.
Samira has first-hand experience living with sickle cell disease, which took over most of her childhood and life. At age 15, she developed serious health complications due to the disease, and this sent her on a 7-year journey to fight for her life.
She eventually had a bone marrow transplant in the middle of it all, in 2004, which cured her of the disease.
Now, Samira has devoted her time and life to catering for warriors living with sickle cell anaemia. She founded the Samira Sanusi Sickle Cell Foundation to achieve this purpose.
Samira’s bone marrow transplant didn’t come at a small cost and she recognises that not everyone will get the opportunity to undergo the procedure. To this end, Samira’s SSSCF raises funds to cover the costs of care, basic medications and hospital treatments for people from low-income families living with sickle cell disease.
SSSCF also provides affordable routine checkups, blood count and health evaluation for patients; encourages patients to become advocates in their schools and communities; and encourages genotype tests in pre-marital screenings.
SSSCF is a fully unified team of members who share same values when it comes to sickle cell disease; volunteers who donate their time, expertise & resources towards executing the initiative’s agendas and student-based community development building.
Samira is the author of two books, “S is for Survivor,” and “I Wrote This For You”. Samira recounts her experiences with sickle cell disease and her journey to the cure as well as her work in activism in S is for Survivor.
Samira has always been passionate about social responsibility – she was a volunteer at Sickle Cell Aid Foundation between 2012 and 2013; also in 2013, she served as a social worker with AlUmmah Foundation; and in 2014, co-founded Water for Sustainable Living Initiative which aims to provide safe and clean water to rural communities that lack access to it.
Samira is a 2018 nominee for The Future Awards Africa (TFAA) Prize for Advocacy.
Samira’s books have won Marine Platform Prize for Writing in Northern Nigeria (2015); and Nigerian Writers Award – Advocacy Book of the Year (2017).
We celebrate Samira for establishing a pillar of support for sickle cell warriors and their families.
