“We are not just offering services we are restoring confidence; Confidence in Healthcare, in trained professionals, and in the idea that safe childbirth should be normal, not a privilege.” – An Interview with Nchedo Paschaline Ani.
Nchedo Paschaline Ani is the Programs Director of GEANCO Foundation Nigeria, a non-governmental organization focused on helping underserved communities access quality healthcare and education. In this exclusive interview with PACESETTER, she spoke about GEANCO, its key interventions, surgical missions carried out, scholarships for girls in conflict-affected areas, the training of local surgeons by its international medical team, and support from international partners.
Can you briefly tell us what GEANCO is all about, when it was founded, and the areas and states in which it operates? We would also like to know the key interventions GEANCO is involved in.
GEANCO Foundation is a non-governmental organization founded in 2005 by Dr. Godwin Onyema and his family with a clear purpose: to save lives and restore dignity in communities where access to quality healthcare and education remains a daily struggle. Since our inception, we have worked across Nigeria, with a broader vision for impact across Africa, focusing particularly on women, children, and underserved populations. At our core, GEANCO exists to bridge critical gaps, whether that gap is a woman who cannot afford safe childbirth, a child whose education has been disrupted by conflict, or a patient living with a condition that requires specialist surgery but has remained untreated for years due to cost. Our work is organized around a few key interventions. One is our free surgery missions. Every year, we organize free surgical missions in Nigeria, primarily led by U.S.-based medical professionals who volunteer their time and expertise. Alongside providing free surgeries to indigent patients, we intentionally invest in capacity building, offering hands-on laparoscopic training for local doctors so these life-saving skills remain long after the missions are over. Last year, we pivoted to local surgeons for our surgery missions, most of whom have actively participated in our laparoscopic training. Another major focus is girls’ education and leadership development through the David Oyelowo Leadership Scholarship for Girls. This program supports brilliant girls affected by terrorism, displacement, and gender inequality, providing full academic sponsorship in quality schools, leadership summits, capacity development and leadership training, including structured internship opportunities. The goal is not just to educate girls, but to raise confident, capable leaders who can shape their communities and the continent. We also run an extensive maternal and child health program, operating a network of 6 solar-powered maternal and infant health clinics in Enugu and Anambra State. Through these clinics, vulnerable women are able to access safe, free deliveries under skilled care. We complement this with anemia treatment for women and children, distribution of safe sterile obstetric delivery kits, often referred to as Mama Kits, and periodic training for health workers to strengthen the quality of care at the frontline. Across all these interventions, our approach is deliberately collaborative. We work closely with communities, health facilities, and partners to ensure our programs remain responsive, cost-effective, and sustainable. Ultimately, our work is about building systems at the grassroots that work for people who have been overlooked for far too long, and doing so with excellence, accountability, and compassion.
How do you select the beneficiaries of all segments of your interventions?
Beneficiary selection is one of the most careful and community-led aspects of our work. We do not arrive with already made lists. Instead, we work closely with local clinic staff, community leaders, missionaries, and social workers who understand the realities on the ground far better than we ever could from a distance. For maternal health, locations are identified through rural health centers that already serve populations with limited access to skilled birth care. For education, we focus on children whose schooling has been interrupted by terrorism attacks or extreme economic hardship. We also apply clear vulnerability criteria and verify cases through home visits and local references. This approach helps us ensure that support goes to those who truly need it, while preserving dignity and avoiding dependency. Importantly, we continually review and adapt our selection processes as community needs evolve.
What makes you feel most proud and fulfilled when you reflect on your work with rural clinics, where women give birth free of charge under the care of trained midwives?
What stays with me are not the numbers although they matter but the moments. A woman arriving at a clinic early in labour instead of waiting until complications set in. A midwife confidently managing a delivery because she has been trained, supported, and equipped. A newborn crying strongly, and a mother who survives to hold her child. Many of the women we serve had already accepted childbirth as something to “endure” rather than something to be safely supported through. Seeing that narrative change, seeing women trust the health system again, is deeply fulfilling. I am most proud that we are not just offering these services, but restoring confidence: confidence in healthcare, in trained professionals, and in the idea that safe childbirth should be normal, not a privilege.
Your sponsors and supporters include some of the biggest names in Hollywood. How have you been able to gain the confidence of some of the most famous people in the world? What is your “magic formula”?
There really is no magic formula, what we have is a well-defined structure and a strong sense of trust built over time. Our CEO is based in Los Angeles, and he does much of the heavy lifting when it comes to engaging and building relationships with our supporters there. Being on the ground in that space allows him to have meaningful, face-to-face conversations with people who care deeply about impact but also want to be sure their support is going to work that is credible and effective. Here in Nigeria, our role is to ensure that what we present is real, well-documented, and worthy of that trust. We provide detailed accounts of our programs, the communities we serve, the challenges we face, and the outcomes we are achieving. That clarity allows our CEO to speak confidently about the work, not in theory, but in lived reality. What earns confidence, even with very high-profile supporters, is consistency. We do what we say we will do. We remain transparent about both successes and limitations. And we keep the focus on people, not publicity. Over time, that honesty has resonated with individuals who want their support to lead to tangible, lasting change. In many ways, the trust we receive from well-known supporters reflects the integrity of the work being done on the ground every day by our teams, partners, and communities.
I hear that you have done so well that Bill & Melinda Gates have decided to support you to do more. Can you tell us about this wonderful partnership and what it means for our women, girls, and children?
The support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is both an honour and a responsibility. It is a recognition that our model, community-rooted, evidence-driven, and focused on women and children, works. This partnership allows us to scale what we already know saves lives: strengthening maternal healthcare delivery, improving access, and supporting front-line health workers. For women and girls, it means safer pregnancies, safer births, and better chances of survival. For children, it means mothers who live, families that stay intact, and communities that grow stronger.
You seem to have achieved so much in providing free education to children affected by conflict. As you aim to do even more, would you say you are receiving sufficient support from the government at home? What challenges are currently holding you back?
Our work with children affected by conflict has largely been driven by partnerships with private donors, international foundations, and individuals who believe deeply in the power of education as a stabilizing force. At the moment, our programs are not directly supported by government funding. That said, we recognize the complexity of governance and the immense pressure on public systems, particularly in conflict-affected regions. Our approach has never been to work in opposition to government efforts, but rather to complement them by reaching populations that are often hardest to serve. The absence of structured public-sector support does present challenges. It limits the scale at which we can operate and places significant responsibility on nonprofit and private partners to sustain long-term interventions. Insecurity in some regions, infrastructure gaps, and the psycho-social needs of children emerging from conflict further compound these challenges. Despite this, we remain committed to collaboration. We believe that stronger alignment between government institutions, civil society, and development partners would significantly accelerate impact. Our hope is that, over time, our on-the-ground experience and demonstrated outcomes can contribute meaningfully to broader policy conversations and more integrated solutions for vulnerable children.
What do you wish had been in place that would have made GEANCO’s work easier?
If a few things had been more firmly in place, our work would have moved faster and reached further. One is stronger, more consistent infrastructure, particularly in healthcare and education systems serving rural and conflict-affected communities. Reliable facilities, staffing, and data systems reduce the need for emergency interventions and allow organizations like ours to focus more on strengthening and scaling impact. Another important factor is flexible, long-term funding. Many of the challenges we address do not fit neatly into short project cycles. Flexible funding allows us to respond to realities on the ground, adapt programs as conditions change, and invest in capacity building rather than only immediate outputs. We also see great value in deeper collaboration with other well-meaning NGOs, private sector partners, and local institutions. No single organization can address these issues alone. When organizations align their strengths, whether in technical expertise, funding, or community reach, the result is often more sustainable and far-reaching impact. Ultimately, the combination of strong systems, adaptable funding, and intentional collaboration would significantly reduce duplication of efforts and help all of us serve communities more effectively.
Let us in on some of your achievements for the 2025 year.
This year (2025), we supported at least 2000 women to access safe, free childbirth services through partnered rural clinics. In education, we helped about 11 girls affected by acts of terrorism and hardship return to school, many for the first time in years, by covering tuition, learning materials, and psychosocial support. We also deepened partnerships with local leaders, clinics, and international funders especially the partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, laying stronger foundations for scale. We successfully executed 11 mental and menstrual health workshops for teenagers, young adults and mothers, funded by Prince Harry and Meghan through The Archewell Foundation. These sessions went beyond awareness; they created safe spaces for young people to have honest conversations about mental health, menstruation, self-worth, and bodily autonomy, topics that are often silenced but critically important. Within our maternal health network, we invested heavily in capacity building. We conducted Advanced Practice Nursing (APN) training for nurses across our clinic network, strengthening clinical skills and improving the quality of care available to women at the front-line. In addition, we facilitated a neonatal resuscitation training for health workers in collaboration with 4Breath4Life. This training equipped health care providers with practical, life-saving skills to respond effectively during the most critical moments after birth, when timely intervention can mean the difference between life and loss. In addition, we are currently in the process of executing our annual surgery missions, targeted at providing free surgeries for at least 70 underserved individuals. These cases cut across conditions such as hernias, thyroid disorders, fibroids, and other treatable but often neglected surgical needs. For many of these patients, this intervention represents the first realistic opportunity to receive quality surgical care. Beyond numbers, one of our biggest achievements has been trust from communities, partners, and supporters who continue to believe in this work
Considering all that GEANCO achieved in 2025 , as well as the challenges faced, what are your plans for 2026?
In 2026, our focus is on scaling responsibly. We plan to expand access to maternal healthcare in more rural clinics while maintaining quality and accountability. We also aim to reach more conflict-affected children with education support, particularly girls who are at the highest risk of dropping out permanently. We will continue strengthening partnerships with governments, funders, and local institutions, because no single organization can solve these challenges alone. Our goal is clear: to deepen impact, extend reach, and ensure that more women and children are not just reached, but truly supported.