Second Story Regarding My Mission in Nigeria
September 29,2009
The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was:
" If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But...the
good Samaritan reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help
this man, what will happen to him?"
Martin Luther King, Jr.
BLOOD PRESSURE SCREENING
Checking Blood Pressures in Town Hall Checking Blood Pressure in Clinic After Hours
Children Learn to Take Blood Pressures Checking Blood Pressures at Homes of Villagers
Papa Suffering From a Stroke Mama Died 6 Months After This Picture Was Taken From a Heart Attack
As I trek through the villages visiting the sick and homebound I am stopped countless times throughout the day by villagers who, aware of the blood pressure cuff I carry in my backpack, ask me to check their blood pressure. On any given day, a walk that should take about 15 minutes, ends up taking over three hours, and what started as individual requests quickly becomes long lines of villagers eagerly and desperately awaiting their chance to be evaluated. At first, I was astonished with the number of extremely High Blood Pressure readings that I would get and the number of people walking around with undiagnosed Hypertension. Readings that would cause any Westerner great alarm because of their knowledge of the grave consequences of untreated Hypertension. Yet a test so vital, was not available to the poor within my villages and is commonplace and easily accessible in the States.
I found the number of strokes, heart attacks and deaths due to this treatable condition disheartening. Having only a limited supply of medicine, the only treatment I have been consistently able to offer is education on diet, stress relief and warning signs as well as meditative prayer.
Almost as shocking as the high readings, was how quickly the readings changed. To my great pleasure many of the readings when checked after only a few weeks had decreased significantly (those that remained high were encouraged to see a doctor). It was evident to me that there was an immediate need for regular-community-based Hypertensive screening programs and preventative education. And so began my attempts to offer free screening of blood pressures at designated times and areas in the villages and to the homebound, as seen in these pictures. The gatherings of villagers was also a way to incorporate preventative health education on AIDS/HIV, TB, waterborne diseases & hygiene, as well as a time for me to answer questions relating to their health and wellness concerns. It is my hope, upon my return to Nigeria, to bring back blood pressure cuffs, medicine and to train local volunteers to provide free ongoing screening in each village.
So again I am reaching out to all of my friends and family to see if together we can change the plight of these people. I assure you that every dollar I raise will go directly to the medical care for people in my villages.
If you have already donated, I thank you and the people of my villages thank you. If you would like to give, there is still time and your help is still very much needed.
Please send your donation to:
Ozioma Hope for Wellness Corporation
P.O. Box 2661
Attleboro Falls, MA 02763
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
All my love- which is a portion of God's love,
Ozioma of Igboland