humanity bridge booklet {nigeria 2012}

8/3/2019 Humanity Bridge Booklet {Nigeria 2012}

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Humanity BridgeMEDICAL TEAM 2012

Humanity Bridge is a non-profit, community-based agencywhich offers community building services globally. Programactivities are organized into eight service areas: HealthcareBridge, Education Bridge, Spiritual Bridge, Adoption Bridge andorphanage Support, Economic Bridge, Agriculture/Food Bridge,Peace Bridge, and Clean Water Bridge. Program services areavailable to under-served communities and developingcommunities.

Humanity Bridge has provided quality medical services toother countries for many year s. The agency and its programs

have received local, state, and international recognition. Thefounders actively work in the healthcare industry to bring lifesaving services to women that they would ordinarily otherwisenot afford.

Visit: www.HumnanityNigeria.Tmblr.com

“Do all the good you can.

By all the means you

can. In all the ways you

can. In all the places you

can. At all the times you

can. To all the people

you can. As long as ever you can.”

― John Wesley

NNEWI, NIGERIA 2012

http://www.humanitynigeria.tumblr.com/

http://www.humnanitynigeria.tmblr.com/

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/151350.John_Wesley













Nigerian- American Doctor Returns Hometo Provide Health Care for his VillageNigeria is a place where you have to adaptquickly to spontaneous situations or else you willfind yourself asking what happened and whereare you. This West African nation borders the

countries of Benin, Chad, Cameroon and Nigercarrying the title of the most populous Africannation in the world. Archeologist have discoveredhuman habitation as far back as 9000 BCE withancient kingdoms spreading across central andsouthern Africa. Out of all the countries I havevisited Nigeria was full of complexities andadventures. I was in Nigeria documenting agroup of American doctors and nurses who wereperforming surgical procedures and volunteeringhealth care to a small village in the southernregion called Nnewi. The trip was organized in

partnership with the Tennessee based non-profitorganization, Humanity Bridge and a Nigerianowned business factory called the ChicasonGroup. Chicason is a local consortiumcompromised of thirteen companiesincorporating in manufacturing, trading andmining industries. This was not my first medicalmission but my first one in Africa. In 2003 Iworked closely with a group of physicians in therural areas of Haiti and witnessed first hand the

unfortunate realities that many people face indeveloping nations where health care is minimaland almost non existent.

Before visiting a foreign country I usually askpeople who have already traveled there what

were their experiences and what can I expect.The common answers for Nigeria was to “expectthe unexpected” and “donʼt use your credit card”,with that advice it was up to me to see Nigeriafor myself and learn why a group of Americanswere going to volunteer services in a village thesize of Cleveland performing surgery that wouldhave cost thousands of dollars in the UnitedStates. The group consisted of two anesthetists,four surgeons, four nurses, one consultant andmyself. Each morning we would wake up for anearly breakfast, jump in the taxi van and head to

two different hospitals. One anesthetist and twosurgeons for each location, with a luggage full ofmedicine and supplies that were cargo from theUnited States. In a town like Nnewi thestorefronts are lined side by side on dusty roadswith potholes the size of craters, and food neatlyshelved on top of wheel barrows selling bread,carrots, fruit and small packages of drinkingwater.

DR. AFRAM IKEJANI

Dr. Ikejiani was thefirst physician atStoneCrest MedicalCenter to beawardedHCA's prestigiousFirst HumanitarianAward.

CARIANNA JOHNSON

Carianna Johnson is the

2009 national employee

winner of Healthcare

Corporation of America's

(HCA's) Frist Humanitarian

Award.








People purchase their foodopenly and motorbikes run theroads with both men andwomen riding equally. Everymorning you see childrenwalking to school in smallgroups carrying their chairs orstools and wearing colorfuluniforms. We were in thesouthern region which is aChristian majority and you can

see churches located on everyroad and revival posters thesizes of billboards. Ourmission was even sanctionedby the local Archbishop whoformalized the partnership withpublic and privateorganizations to help thepeople of Nnewi receivedquality care.

In 2005 Nigerian Americans

Dr. Afam Ikejiani, M.D., anobstetrician/gynecologistpracticing in Smyrna,Tennessee and his wife,Uloma, a registeredpharmacist founded HumanityBridge with a vision to returnto their homeland bringing lifesaving services to people whowould not have the means to

afford them. There long termgoal is to establish a modernhealth clinic on the landdonated by the local chief inthe Nnewichi community.Currently 3,000 Nigerians arepracticing medicine in theUnited States alone, makingAmericaʼs gain, at the same aloss for Nigeria.

In Nigeria, I saw firsthand howthe malaria epidemic isimpacting millions of peopleworldwide and taking the livesof 300,000 children in Nigeriayearly. My task was to film thespecial team working underchallenging conditions inhospitals that were 60 yearsbackwards in supplies andadministration. When we firstarrived at one of the hospitals

we noticed that all the lightswere out and that patientswere sleeping in the dark withno access to painkillers ormedicine. Someonementioned to the staff that thedoctors were ready to operateand needed the lights on. Iwas then directed to ask ayoung man in the back of the

hospital to “turn the generatoron” so that we can get power.Right then I remember readingthat this oil rich nation is theworldʼs largest market forgenerators and electricity wasscarce for over 160 millionpeople. This was proof thatwithout the generator peopledo not have power.

Without power, productivitybegins to decrease so peoplequickly adjust without anyoutcry or panic. “Last year afew times we had to use aflashlight to operate”, saidDavid Johnson, a certifiedsurgical nurse who often takeshis vacation days volunteeringin places where health care isa bare minimum. In 2010 heand his wife Carianna, also a

registered nurse as wellpacked up just days after theHaitian earthquake to help thesurvivors and assist a globaltask force of doctors,humanitarians, nurses anddevelopment workers.

Patients usually camp out days

before the start of the mission with

lines streaming down the streets.

Surgical procedures and readingglass programs are carried out

from sun-up to sun-down in an

effort to make an impact on this

population that otherwise could

not afford health care.

Dr. Alvin Singh talking to patients








Clockwise: Top left: His Highness Obi George A. Onyekaba (Obidiugwu),

with Dr. Ikejani. Top Right: Ana Cobiella Olson working the reading

glass program. Local nurse assisting with surgery. Local doctor consults

his patients. Operation under challenging conditions







“When we arrived in Haiti, all of the hospitalswere destroyed in Port-Au-Prince” saidCarianna who was welcomed with open arms inNnewi because of the friendships sheestablished last year with the hospital staff andlocals.

As I maneuvered between the two hospitals I

rode with our driver who was also an employeeof the Chicason Group and we visited the localmarkets so that I could see what an average dayis like for Nigerians. At the hospitals many of thepatients were waiting for over a year to receivetheir operations ranging from uterine fibroids,tumors, hernias to a six pound ovarian cyst on a13 year old girl. Sometimes during theoperations the electricity would turn off and theonly light or air would come from the windowsinside the “theaters” or operating rooms. Theexpertise and quick thinking by the surgeons andnurses was astonishing and edgy at the sametime. Watching them do what they do best underchallenging conditions was like watching a fullseason of ER in one hour without commercialbreaks. I advise any medical students looking tolearn their craft to spend a week working on amedical mission just as some Army medicsintern in urban cities for trauma gunshot woundsbefore going into the battlefield. There is noshortage of people to help and many of thepeople of Nnewi just have basic questions and

concerns that often go unanswered due to thelow ratio of doctors in the area.

Dr.Ikejani was born in Nnewi and although livingin America he still finds time to return to hisvillage and help the people who inspired him tobecome a physician. He has worked tirelessly tomake sure that as a civil society organization hebuilds the correct partnerships and invites thosewho have an open heart to helping people indeveloping nations. He often spoke about his“vision” of building a state of the art medical

facility that would one day make a majordifference to many lives in his home state. Fornow he calls upon friends, co-workers, andvolunteers to join his medical mission andexperience the local culture of Nigeria everyyear.

Every day at the Chicason-Mannyon Hospital,Dr. Umeh is the administrator, head physicianand full time coordinator managing patients, thehospital staff and the specialist team visiting for aweek. With his Nokia phone in hand he madeand accepted phone calls from sun up to sundown. When one of the surgeons asked for aspecial instrument in order to continue the

operation he sent a runner to the market to getone. When the doctor asked how long will it takefor them to get it, Dr. Umeh replied between“15-20 minutes.” This is the organized chaosthat many people speak about in Nigeria but toNigerians its a way of life and a means ofsurvival. Which is why Humanity Bridge wantsto close that gap when it comes to quality healthcare and continue to bring medical professionalsso that the people of Nnewi can live healthier.

Organizations like Humanity Bridge give peoplea sense of hope and optimism to know that theycould live longer than the disheartening low lifeexpectancy ratios. That despite their povertythey are worthy to have a skilled professionalassist them with a threatening dilemma. Smallacts of kindness make huge impacts in villages,hospitals, and refugee camps across the worldand Humanity Bridge represents a small portionof this elite group. The real heroes are the menand women who take the time to listen ad withlittle support or equipment they still perform their

best for those who need it the most. Themission didn't stop at performing over 49 surgicalprocedures and included donating supplies andblankets to the Nnewi Motherless Babiesorphanage, a reading glass program where over700 pairs of reading glasses were dispensedand a site visit to the land allocated for a futureclinic. To see the pictures and video clips fromthe mission visitwww.HumanityNigeria.Tumblr.com . If you wantto learn more about Humanity Bridge and waysyou can help contact at 615-768-9004 or visit

www.humanitybridge.net or [email protected]

Alvin Singh II is a multimedia journalist who resides in Johannesburg,South Africa and has a blog www.Bookido.com Contact him thru email: [email protected]


mailto:[email protected]

http://www.bookido.com/


http://www.humanitybridge.net/

















Q&A

What is Humanity Bridge and the work you do?

Humanity Bridge organizes, leads, and carries

out medical missions. We seek to develop and

manage hospitals, clinics, comprehensive

healthcare centers, rural health clinics, assisted

living facilities for low income adults, and other

healthcare facilities. Humanity Bridge educates and

trains medical and nursing staff. HB also develops

programs aimed at prevention and management of

HIV/AIDS and other preventable diseases

What were some of the accomplishments of the

2012 mission trip to Nnewi, Nigeria?

We performed 49 surgical procedures,screened and fitted 700 pairs of reading glasses,

consulted and advised 25 patients. Donated

blankets and supplies to the Nnewi Motherless

Babies orphanage.

How can I volunteer or support

your medical missions?

Contact Humanity

Bridge:

For more information

please contact

Humanity Bridge at

615-768-9004 or visit

www.humanitybridge.net.

Contact Afam Ikejiani, M.D.

Office 615-768-9004Email [email protected]

Website

www.HumanityBridge.net










humanity bridge booklet {nigeria 2012}

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