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THE NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015
THE NORTH REPORT
Help for IDPs in Jos •Continued from page 29 they are living in there. We are making frantic efforts to bring them down to Nigeria. “But while we are making efforts to reach out to those in Cameroon camps, we are facing serious medical challenges at the Jos camp which we have to address, especially with the harsh cold weather of Jos, these people are coming from warm zone and they are finding the Jos weather a challenge, many of the especially the kids are already victims of pneumonia due to the effect of the cold, so many of them are down with malaria, Hepatitis etc. So, since I am not a medical expert, we have to reach out to another charity organisation to come to their aid by offering free medical assistance. That was when we got the consent of Tina Bawa Ministry International to help out. The NGO organised a three-day medical outreach in the IDPs camp to attend to various medical challenges. The medical team comprising nurses, doctors and community health workers, set up clinics to handle specific cases. There was an eye clinic, sections for children and women, and there was a dental clinic as well as surgery theater, a laboratory and dispensary. There was a section for consulting medical doctors. The team treated such cases as pneumonia, malaria, hepatitis, among but they also found that most of the male children in the camp were not circumcised at infancy. Now between the age of 5 and 12 most were made to face the medical procedure at the camp. More than 50 of them underwent the surgery of circumcision during the free medical outreach. Most of the adults at the camp were tested fro eye problems like cataract and glaucoma. Some were given lenses to enhance their sight while some were given eye drop to correct their conditions. The drug dispensary unit attended to all the victims based on prescription the medical doctors. As many as the IDPs that are in the camp had their health challenges were attended to within the three day allocated for
•Some of the IDPs during medical outreach
‘My most worry now is those IDPs that are still in Cameroon, there about 28,000 of them in Cameroon and they are in a very deplorable condition there. Recently there was an outbreak of cholera in the Cameroon camp and over 300 of them died of cholera due to the deplorable condition they are living in there. We are making frantic efforts to bring them down to Nigeria’ the medical outreach. The consultant medical doctor and head of the team Dr. Daniel Odom said the major challenge at the camp was malarial infection. Almost all the IDPs at the camp had cases of malaria, some diagnosed for Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C, pneumonia, eye problems among others. The coordinator of Tina Bawa Ministry International, Rev Mrs. Tina Bawa, who sponsored the free medical outreach said, “The ministry is a church run by me and my husband. But like a non-governmental organisation, we have programme for the welfare of the less privileged especially children and women. I was moved when I was told of the plight of the women and children in this camp. We help vulnerable women and children of this nature, and we have done it in
so many places across the country. It is a pity that in all crisis situations, women and children suffer the consequences. This is what is going on in this camp; these innocent children have been driven out of their homes for no fault of theirs. Now a Good Samaritan assembled the IDPs in camps for government to take over their responsibility. But as you can see, government has turned their attention away from these people. “So my ministry had to contact our volunteer medical personal across the country to come for another humanitarian work in this camp about 8 of them headed to the call, some are to busy to come, but those volunteer we have here are good enough to offer the best medical assistance to these IDPs. We know government have refused to cater for these innocent Nigerians, but we want to move from the level
of lamentation into the level of action. If all other Nigerians will come to the aid of these people, they will not need government for anything. So, let us stop lamenting government inadequacy of carelessness, let us help them the little way we can. “Like I said, over 8 volunteer doctors were engaged in the four-day free medical program, with the aim of bringing soccure to these women and children. We need to make them feel that despite their challenges there are people who care for them. That is what is expected of us as fellow Nigerians” The joy of the IDPs over the free medical program knows no bound, in spite of their deplorable condition, they could still put on some smiles to demonstrate their appreciation. One of them, Dauda Buba said, “I don’t know the last time I went to hospital for medical treatment, that should be over six months now. Since we were drove out of our homes by Boko Haram five months ago, I thought of only what to eat with my family, but today these angels of God decided to bring the hospital so close to us for free treatment. I ve been down with malaria since this new year, now I have been treated and given free drugs” Hamisu Dogo, 20, “I was treated for malaria, I was also screened for Hepatitis, but they said I did not have Hepatitis symptoms so I was given the prevention vaccine by the medical team” Founder of the Stefanos Foundation, Mr. Mark Lipdo said, “I will not be discouraged by government’s refusal to cater for these people, I will continued to do my best to assist them, we are even making efforts to bring other IDPs trapped in Cameroon back to Jos. Mr. Lipdo also revealed the school plans for the IDPs, “It is obvious that government is not ready to come to the aid of these people, but the children of the IDPs deserved to be in school. So we have concluded arrangements to organize classes for them. We have so far identified about 405 children in the camp. We have purchased some exercise books and other instructional materials and very soon, the lessons will commence.
•The medical personnel and the medications at the event
EFORE she enrolled into the Youth Empowerment and Skills Acquisition Programme (YESAP) sponsored by the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) 20year-old Marry Adams had lost the hope of furthering her education. Why? Her parents could not afford it. Mother Luck smiled on her. She was selected for a six-month skill acquisition programme run by YESAP in Kaduna. She was among the 150 unemployed youths who graduated from the exercise. Mary told The Nation that while on the training, she was getting contracts, even employing two of her neighbours as casual staff. She was among the 20 who participated in the Catering and Event Management. Beaming with smiles, she said that with the training, her hope of going to the university has come alive again. She said: “I am a secondary school leaver and I must say that, even though, we are just graduating today, I have benefited a lot from this YESAP programme. Initially, I lost the hope of going to the university because my parents are not financially buoyant; today, my hope has been renewed. While, we were still undergoing training,
Skills transform Kaduna youths B
From Abdulgafar Alabelewe, Kaduna
I had already started making cakes for my friends and family members at cheaper rates. When somebody has a birthday celebration, I use my already acquired knowledge to organise the event, plan for them and do little decoration. Before I knew it, other people started consulting me in my neighborhood for occasions. “So, as it is presently, I have two of my friends from the neighbourhood who beg to follow me whenever I have one event to manage or the other. In fact, they go telling people that, Mary is good in decoration and all that, because for each contract I get, they help me and they get their own percentage.” She commended the management of KRPC for the programme and urged the company to involve more youths, particularly young widows and orphans, adding that her first target after settling down is to sponsor herself to the university, since she now has a means of making money. Another beneficiary of the training, Manassehý Markus, who •Continued on page 31