Health Screening for 12 villages in Rural Nigeria

The world has been faced with a lot of uncertainties since 2020. The pandemic has affected the way things are done in every part of the world and there is no normal way of doing things and good timing anymore. The Medical Outreach was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic which impacted the procurement of medications and medical supplies needed for the program. ACHI continued the maintenance program for the management of Diabetes and Hypertension in the three communities that are centrally located and serve other communities. The needed for the maintenance during the pandemic could not be over emphasized because of increased poverty and limited medical supplies and medications.

The story this year is different. The program is being postponed as a result of the unrest, increased insecurity in every part of the nation. Also the delay in getting the needed supplies to the country by shipping is also being delayed because of the pandemic and the unrest in the nation. The suffering is on the rise, there is hunger and frustration among the citizens leading to a lot of uncertainty and insecurity. We are currently making medications available for the maintenance by purchasing medications locally at a very high price, to make sure the program continues, because it is highly needed by the population we serve. 

The need for funding has really increased because of the situation on ground as a result of the insecurity and prices of medications and food. We are planning a food drive again soon to assist the people in need, but need funding to assist us with this. Thanks for your partnership over the years, and looking forward for more assistance towards this desperate situation in Nigeria.      

Our mission of bringing health care to the people in need continues to be our focus even during this pandemic. The world is fighting a war that is affecting all humankind with the black population being affect the most. The third world counties are the most hit, due to lack of health care facilities or system in place to help in wedging this war against the pandemic. There are no testing supplies or centers, hunger and lack of support from the government in form of aid during this period.   

ACHI has continued to provide medications to the individuals in the program that are receiving monthly medications for their chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension. We have made food available to people and would like to do more if we have the financial support needed. We have the staff and a plan in place to achieve this goal but do not have the needed financial support to procure the food items. We also reinforce the need for social distancing, and masking and hand hygiene during the monthly maintenance program. We are hoping for a better year to be able to conduct our annual medical outreach in November 2021. Every dollar raised goes towards medications and medical supplies. We continue to thank our donors and wish more people would join this movement of helping the needy among us.   

This year has had a very significant impact on our annual medical missions. We are unable to have a normal preparation and normal year due to the pandemic. There is a very high need for the program now than ever due to the effect of the pandemic in the rural areas that had no access to health care and with no source of livelihood or money for their needed medications before the pandemic. We have continued to sustain the maintenance program during this period and have also added food drive to help the individuals that have none. Our plan is to extend the maintenance till next year without any gap till we are able to embark on another mission middle of next year. This decision comes with a heavy  price tag, we have to buy medications locally, and we have to make sure of what we are buying because of lots of fake medications in the country and this means more money for the best. We continued to need you support to keep this program going. We also want to thank each and every one of you for your prayers and continued  financial support over the years and ask you share our program with friends and families for more support. 

Our work is in the rural villages in Nigeria where there is no or limited access to health care. We were callings from the volunteers on ground about the effect of the COVID-19 on the population we are serving. They were very concerned and frantic about hour people are dying from starvation due to the lockdown with no income or hope of getting any help from the government being that they are in the Eastern part of the country. We ahd to act fast and started asking for help to be able to buy some food stuff locally and distribute to those in our maintenance program and families around the locations. 

During the month of May, we combined food drive and maintenance program at the resources center and other locations. We raised some money to buy raw food stuff for the population we serve. We were able to supply about 520 families with Rice, brown beans, black eye peas and tomatoes that will last them for two months depending on the size of the family. Our sincere thanks goes to Friends of Nigeria of America, Christ Episcopal Church in Woodbury, St Mary's Guild of Christ Episcopal church in Woodbury, ACHI board members and friends. We are planning conducting another food drive in July because the condition is getting worse in the villages we serve. There is always room for donation for us to reach more people.  

This year's screening started in the month of November. ACHI went into this year’s mission with mixed feelings of loss due to shortage of medications for the maintenance program encounter as a result of increase in the number individuals seeking for help. This in turn portrays the state of the country’s economy and priorities towards the health of its citizens. We lost some patients as a result of this. The mission itself was very successful. We were able to screen more than 3500 adults, dewormed more than 2800 kids and provided reading glasses to 1566 adults. The general condition in the eastern part of the country is getting worse; hunger, poverty and poor health and living condition is on the rise. We encountered lots of transportation due to bad roads. Most of our vehicles are not working and beyond repairs. Our main issues now is to but able to replace the vehicles, raise more money to be able to increase the quantity of medications needed to continue this mission, and the hope of establishing the laboratory this year. The organization continues to thank our friends, employers, co-workers, Friends of Nigeria, Christ Episcopal Church, and board members of Fr Gerald Onuoha foundation for their continued support and believing that more support come this year.