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2,000 More Satisfied Customers
The Epiphany Medical Mission team has just completed their latest medical mission in Nigeria. Three months were spent checking and treating more than 2,000 people. We conducted clinics in eight different locations, many of which were very interesting. We would like to share some of our experiences with you. Our first mission clinic took place in a very poor slum area in Onitsha, called Okpoko. People are living there in very small wooden huts without windows. The streets are littered with garbage and the constant stench is quite sickening. There is no facility for garbage disposal and therefore plastic containers, papers and other waste just keep accumulating on the streets. The roads in the main city Onitsha are little more than dirt tracks with huge craters – even large jeeps have huge problems getting from one place to another. When our team arrived in Okpoko, a huge number of bare-footed children greeted us. They were quite dirty, dressed in shorts, and happily playing in the streets. They welcomed us with the now familiar words ONYI OTCHA, meaning white men. Many people came along to the clinic, the vast majority in desperate need of medical treatment and glasses. Keeping the never-ending lines of people in order was always a challenge. Our fellow Domus members in Nigeria helped us with this and also with translation. A large number of our patients comprised children of all ages, and we were confronted with a lot of unusual cases. In one instance, a 3-year-old girl complained of persistent pain and reduced hearing in her left ear over the previous few months. After carefully checking her ear with an otoscope, we discovered a deeply embedded rosary bead! The huge smile on her face expressed the relief she felt when we removed it. The more common conditions we encountered were malaria, often accompanied with bronchitis or pneumonia, and also typhoid. Our second clinic was carried out in a bush village called Aquleri, located in a very rural area. The only way to get to this village was by crossing the river on a pontoon boat. When we arrived at the village we were stunned. It was like taking a step back in time to the 17th century- small mud huts without windows, no electricity and no running water! There was not even a single well for the entire village of 1000 people. They had to walk at least one mile to the nearest river and a lot of the people were then drinking this water, containing numerous parasites and bacteria, and falling ill. One of our first priorities there was to instruct the people on basic hygiene-raising awareness of the dangers of drinking river water before it has been boiled. Schoolteachers were given particular instruction on these points as they can then repeat the information to their students. Around 70% of the villagers were pagan. People constantly surrounded the house we were using for our clinics. One afternoon a nervous 40-year-old man brought his 5-year-old daughter Helene to the clinic. The child was shabbily dressed and very dirty. On her back was a 2 inch open wound, which was quite deep. Thank God in EMM we are equipped for minor surgery! After applying an anesthetic, the wound was stitched up and bandaged, and a course of antibiotic was given to the father with full instructions on when to administer it. The young girl was very brave throughout the surgery and was certainly the hero of the day. Some people there told us “We are so happy and grateful to God that you came from up there (developed countries) down here to meet and help us. It is giving us hope that we are not isolated and forgotten, that we are connected with you.” Our special thanks belong to all our Vinculum and Domus members in Nigeria. Domus members helped us so much with translating, preparation and distribution of medicines, and also in crowd control. Our many Nigerian Vinculum members provided transportation from village to village, food supplies, and were actively involved in organizing some of the locations for our clinics. We are particularly grateful to Mr. Omabu, Mr. Odike and Mr. Obadike for all their support during our latest mission. We as members of the EMM team extend a huge thank you to all our benefactors worldwide who continue to support our work with prayers, finances, and medicines. May the good Lord reward them all for their charity and sacrifices which allows the good work of EMM to continue to change the lives of many. |
