Adetola Olusola Ahuoiza Makinde humbly describes herself as a caregiver, Play therapist and a creative counselor. She founded Moyinoluwa Rainbow Foundation, one of the very few Down syndrome centers in Lagos, Nigeria. She is a married mother of two boys and a girl Moyinoluwa, whose birth with Down syndrome changed the life of the family. Deeply concerned about her development, she gave up her 11 years career as a season banker and went into small scale self-employment before making a lifelong decision of devoting her time to ensuring that special needs children living with Down Syndrome and their families are encouraged so that they never feel alone on the journey. Although the lonely walk has been a very challenging experience that her family faced with her own daughter’s diagnosis in April 2011, she since rediscovered herself and found her purpose. Answering God’s call to add value to the lives of children born this way has changed her life.

Determined to bring the best out of the uncertainty, she turned her pain into passion focusing on volunteering by providing the right aid and assistance to children with Down syndrome through the foundation. In the year 2014, she started a weekly home visitation to few families in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area, sharing all the tips and training she received from the US when she left with her daughter in the year 2012. Early intervention is her passion as the crucial years 0-3 years must not be left unattended to. A strong believer that God has given her a mandate to impact the lives of kids with special needs, she affirms that to help these children to develop, she needs to continually learn, sacrifice and be ready to adapt to new situations and conditions.

She has attended various capacity building trainings /workshops in the United Kingdom and United states of America that develops her competencies of reaching out to children born with additional needs and supporting them from birth onwards. Tola has anchored numerous formal and non-formal talk on Down syndrome to different audiences and is also known as a strong advocate of early intervention, eagerly working towards changing lives of children with Down syndrome while juggling love between her daughter with medical concerns, her husband and her healthy siblings. She opens her door, house and heart to many who need her counsel and engages in home visitation. She gives free counseling, consultation and training to parents and support indigent children with therapy and total care.

From time to time, she takes in some of the children into her home to give respite care. In June 2016, she bagged a Life turn around Award at the 4th Wise Woman Awards in recognition of her contribution to creating Down Syndrome Awareness, setting up an early intervention center and using the experience with her daughter, who she exposed to therapy about a month after birth, to support children like her. Also in February 2017, she qualified as a finalist for the Women4Africa, International Humanitarian Award in the United Kingdom and three months later, received a Certificate of Achievement from the same organization. In the month of June 2017, she was listed among the 100 extra-ordinary women 2017 and bagged a Star Award from Lift Effects in the UK. In October 2017, she got a Service Award for community Development from the Young African Leaders Initiative, YALI.

Tola’s organization has gained National and international recognition being one of the very few Down syndrome support centers in Nigeria. MRF is a member of Down Syndrome International, UK, various groups in the United States and Tola has a dream that one day, children living with Down syndrome will have a place in the society, a future and be able to earn a living and all the sweat and endeavors would translate into beautiful testimonies. She is working towards building a one stop, state of the earth early intervention centre and a factory to provide training and jobs for teenagers and adults with Down syndrome because she wants them to live a fulfilled live despite the stigma which would one day be reduced to the barest.