OIUSA Rural Community Medical-Surgical Mission

OIUSA/Canada's Medical Team is all set to go to Nigeria for her 2023 biennial Medical and Surgical Mission, and this year FREE Medical & Surgical Mission will be at the Ndele Health Center in Rundele, Emohua Local Government area of Rivers State, Nigeria, from October 9th to 13th, 2023.

Emohua is a Local Government area in Rivers State, Nigeria, comprising eight villages or communities.  The primary occupations of the majority of the people are Farming, Fishing, and Sand Dredging.  Rundele is one of the communities in the Emohua Local Government Area, where the OIUSA/Canada team saw the need to help the less privileged address their nagging health problems, helping them become more productive, able to feed their families, and positively affect the community.

The team has assembled Health Providers to address patients' needs in the following areas;

1.  Eye Team - Optometry and Ophthalmology, to provide FREE Ophthalmic Services during the 5-Day Mission.  The goal is to see 2,000 patients and provide up to 1,000 glasses.

2.  Surgery Team -To evaluate up to 2000 patients for various ailments, including Herniorrhaphy, Appendectomy, Lipoma, Ganlion, etc.

3.  Dental Services - The team is prepared to see up to 3,000 patients, doing a number of procedures, including Dental extraction, Minor surgery, Dental washing, etc.

4. General Practitioners - The team of providers intends to evaluate and treat more than 5,000 patients during the 5-day Medical Mission.

5.  Pharmacy - The pharmacy team is set with all the medications needed for the Medical Mission, including donations from Americares for humanitarian relief.

The team looks forward to a successful Mission and will give a comprehensive report after they return.

Due to the high cost of funding this worthwhile project, OIUSA/Canada members decided to do the Medical Mission project every two years, making 2023 the year for the second Full FREE Medical and Surgical Mission as a partner on the GlobalGiving Foundation’s platform. The Health Team has been working tirelessly to actualize it. The process is much smoother this time as we have gained more experience, and with our donors’ full participation, our expertise will continue to improve. Here is where we are now;

-          Date selection – the team has agreed and plans to have the Medical Mission during the week of October 9 – 13, 2023, in Rivers State, Nigeria.

-          Search for Mission Partner – Based on availability during the agreed Mission week, the team solicited prospective partners to partner with OIUSA/Canada to share the cost of the Medical Mission to benefit the Iwhnuruohna people in the rural and farming communities. And they have secured a Partner.

-          Solicitation for Host - The team solicited a Host Community by sending letters to the Government agencies in charge of the health facilities in the rural areas, outlining the criteria for hosting, including the upkeeping and full access to their facility, and they have a location.

-          Joint Medical Mission Implementation Committee - With the selection of a Partner and Host LGA in place, the OIUSA Health team and the Partner set up a joint implementation Committee to discuss the details of the Medical Mission. Those details include but are not limited to Mission Site selection, Medications Acquisition, etc., and responsibility sharing, leading to a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) agreement, which is still in progress. The OIUSA/Canada Health team is relentlessly working hard to meet our goal of treating more than 5,000 patients in the week of October 9 – 13, 2023. Kudos to the team!

The able leader of OIUSA/Canada’s outstanding Health team is Dr. (Mrs.) Josephine Court.

Another thoughtful dawn for making another positive difference in the health and lives of the underprivileged in our community is beckoning us again.  OIUSA/Canada is planning a FREE Medical and Surgical Mission in Ikwerre Rural and farming Communities in Rivers State, Nigeria, from October 9th - 13^th, 2023, and we are asking our GlobalGiving Family of donors to continue supporting us to achieve this monumental but joyous task ahead of us.

We are in negotiation with a potential partner in Nigeria with the clinical expertise to work with us to deliver the services to our audience.  We are also in the final stage of securing a venue for the mission and lining up volunteers from the United States to join us.

During our last Medical and Surgical Mission on March 8th - 12th, 2021, we treated three thousand six hundred and fifty-eight (3,658) patients in five days.  And this time, we are aiming to treat five thousand (5,000) or more.  Our team members are excited and can't wait to make an impact in the lives of many, including children of all ages, whose only chance to see a doctor is during these Medical Missions.  And we need your continuing support to reach and exceed our goal.

OIUSA/Canada had her 2022 Annual Convention and Fundraising Gala in Miami, Florida, from May 27 to 29th, 2022, to raise money for our planned 2023 Free Medical/Surgical Mission in Nigeria. During this convention, the Medical Mission team set up tables to update members about the 2021 Medical Mission and bring awareness to members about troubling findings and other health-related issues to focus on in 2023. We had health educational materials on different medical diagnoses such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, respiratory disease, and women's health.

We had a first aid kit on the table to help provide immediate intervention to resolve minor non-emergency issues during the convention. We had volunteer forms on the table to help source new medical/non-medical volunteers for MM 2023 and had a good number of volunteer signups.

The Medical Director presented a topic on preventive care, the importance of staying healthy, and follow-up health checks.
We look forward to your support to reach more people during our 2023 FREE Medical/Surgical Mission.

Thank you.

OIUSA/Canada Health & Media PSA

COVID-19 Vaccination Outreach

As a consequence of the growing worldwide spread of Coronavirus variants and the hesitancy by the Ikwerre and other communities in Rivers State to get vaccinated, it becomes imperative for OIUSA/Canada Health Outreach to team up with our Media to consider a Public Service Announcement (PSA) in Nigeria. At the same time, we continue to raise funds and prepare for our next Medical and Surgical Mission. Hence, a meeting was held on the 26th of September, 2021, to strategize and finalize the path forward.

The key decisions made at this meeting were as follows:

-          Banners and Fliers will no longer be used but rather the following shall be considered;

¨       Radio and TV PSA in Ikwerre and Pidgin English languages to be utilized

¨       Chiefs and Traditional Rulers to be utilized

¨       Community Opinion leaders to be utilized

¨       Women meetings and Women leaders to be utilized

¨       Social Media to be utilized

¨       Leaderships of older community Churches to be utilized

Emphasis shall be on the following:

1. That COVID-19 is real, and refusal to get vaccinated would be at one’s peril. They should note that dead people do not attend church services.
2. People should follow the use of masks, social distancing, and other guidelines from NCDC.
3. To exercise cautionary measures when visiting or attending burials. They should avoid being the first to visit peoples’ homes once death has been announced. If possible, people should avoid crowds and avoid attending funerals. If they must attend, they must follow the required COVID-19 protocols by NCDC.

OIUSA/ Canada mobilized resources to produce two PSA messages in Ikwerre Language and Pidgin English following the above decisions. These messages reemphasized the three safety points stated above on COVID-19. The messages have been on the local radio station, Garden City FM 89.9, as radio jingles since November (25th - 30th) and December (04th - to date). In addition, these video messages have gone viral on social media effective November 25th, 2021 to date.

Knowing the prevalent hesitancy among the people about COVID-19 vaccination, the committee established a mechanism to monitor progress/response and make amendments as necessary to ensure success. A committee member was also available on the ground that coordinated the performance of local efforts and confirmed progressive response to the message.

Indeed, some members of OIUSA/Canada got positive feedback on the impact of our message, which made a significant number of people get vaccinated.

This helpful field report further confirmed that the second phase II mission was essential to enhance the local messaging efforts from key government agencies like the NCDC.

This report will be further updated once additional information is obtained from the local team on the ground.

OIUSA/Canada is gearing up for our next Free Full Medical/Surgical Mission to help the underprivileged, and we will continue to need your support.

Thank you,

Adolphus Omodu

Chairman Media/RR Committee.