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More on Family Care Association activities in Nigeria: Prior to undertaking their own medical relief programs, Family Care Association (FCAN) collaborated with other Nigerian NGOs to address the medical needs of Nigerian people.
On a typical medical project, Family Care assembles a team of medically trained volunteers for each weeklong project, gathering anywhere from 35 – 60 doctors, pediatricians, surgeons, anesthesiologists, ophthalmologists, optometrists, and logistical personnel. For the most part, state and local governments sponsor the prescription drugs used in the free clinic programs.
As a rule, the throngs of people seeking treatment will arrive in much larger numbers than the volunteer team is able to cope with. The usually quiet local hospital or building-turned-hospital becomes alive with activity, as many thousands of would be patients queue up waiting for treatment.
The dedicated team of volunteers will work tirelessly through each day attending to the plights of the many needy patients.
While many of the patients receive treatment for more basic ailments, some show up with very large growths and hernias, which have been allowed to escalate to such proportions due to the absence of proper attention. Carrying their burdening growths for up to a decade, the afflicted are able to find relief in the form of surgical attention without which they would have continued to painfully exist with their conditions with no hope of being treated.
Eye treatment is in the highest demand. Many Nigerians who previously had been completely blind can now see due to the many ophthalmic surgical procedures that have been carried out. Aside from eye surgery, large-scale eye testing and distribution of eyeglasses has greatly improved the vision of many, especially the aged.
Thanks to the generous support of Family Care sponsors, government agencies, participating NGOs, and countless volunteers, we anticipate a continual increase in the number of lives we are able to touch each year. This goal can be reached by generating an awareness of the need which will, in turn, inspire more organizations and individuals to become involved with these programs.
FCAN's humanitarian efforts, in collaboration with Hope for the Village Child (local NGO) in Kaduna, have been 100% successful. A dedicated staff of extraordinary, compassionate people who are determined to make things happen maintains each initiative. This year alone, mobile clinics:
The construction of a new health center/hospital is nearing its completion, thanks to the generous donations and sponsorship of caring individuals. This will be a monumental improvement over the present healthcare facility (a small thatched roof hut containing only one bunk bed, a desk and numerous medicine cabinets). Vocational Training Since 1999, Family Care has conducted Vocational Training Courses in Ibadan, Maiduguri and Enugu, training both orphans and handicapped youngsters: those physically and mentally challenged, and/or deaf and blind. The vocations taught include: tailoring, baking, poultry farming and secretarial work.
With each and every new undertaking, the main goal is always to educate the children and older students in trades that will enable them to become self-sufficient, giving dignity and purpose to the lives that held little hope before. For example, students are now managing the poultry farm above, with minimal assistance from their course manager. The students enrolled in the course also receive training in basic business and accounting, learning to maintain records of investment/selling costs, marketing, etc
In the case of the baking classes, young people learn the intricate and difficult task of large-scale bread baking. The brick oven can bake over 10 dozen loaves at a time, and the adjacent kitchen has been fitted with an electrical mixer and roller. The finished product will be used to supplement the dietary needs of the children, with part sold locally, thus turning the course into a self-supporting and revenue producing venture.
Family Care has seen many of their older students continue the vocations that they have learned at the centers. This training has enabled them to branch out on their own, with the prospect of finding good jobs, becoming self-sufficient, and being recognized as valued members of their families and communities, despite their handicaps or economic status. The blind students take a typing course using typewriters and Braille slates and stylus.
Rural Adult Literacy Courses FCAN's adult literacy courses (running daily in six villages) empower adults with the ability to read and write.
Other services Malnutrition in infants and children is on the decline, due to the large donations of milk, cereal and oral rehydration salts needed to combat this problem. Additionally, new crystal water wells were recently constructed in two Kaduna villages. FCAN's plans for the near future include constructing two village schools,
three wells and one small bridge for the previously isolated village
of Telele, whose dilapidated foot bridge made providing food, school
equipment, building supplies and medical assistance a real challenge. Orphanage Support Programs Instead of gathering an increasingly-greater number of
orphanages under our wing, that become reliant on our continued assistance
each month, our efforts are focused on enabling each of the centers
to become self sufficient, while continuing to
Mina To combat malnutrition, Family Care volunteers aid the Mina Orphanage Home by distributing healthy baby food and other necessary supplies. Improving the physical appearance of the center was accomplished by repainting sections of the orphanage; FCAN volunteers then instructed the local staff about the importance of properly maintaining the facility and of keeping hygiene standards that will protect the health of the children in their care.
Warri Family Care firmly believes in the proverb, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." Consequently, their main focus is to inform teachers and caretakers that giving quality attention to each child will have a lasting and positive impact. The Warri Orphanage Program is a prime example of this. FCAN has developed a series of seminars and classes to demonstrate how dedication and commitment are cornerstones in a child's development. In addition to donating needed supplies and educating Warri's teachers, Family Care invests in the children themselves through lively classes and lots of personal interaction, encouragement and love--the keys to success!
Ibadan Ibadan's Orphanage Support Program continues to flourish. With FCAN's regular donations of food, materials, time and direction, the physical standards of the orphanages and schools remain consistently high, as do good nutrition and hygiene.
Enugu At Enugu's orphanages and centers for handicapped individuals, the focus is on character development and friendship building. FCAN's child-to-child initiative programs often encourage the youngsters to actively participate in school performances, using upbeat songs to illustrate the messages. In addition to being a lot of fun for all, these interactive programs have proved to be a very effective learning tool. Each center also receives generous donations of supplies, equipment and foodstuffs for the children.
Hope for the Blind and Aged
At the Mina Home for the Blind and Aged, Family Care organized workshops
that teach weaving and other simple crafts. Mastering a creative skill
has sparked renewed confidence in the hearts of elderly and vision-impaired
people who had given up any hope of becoming self-supportive. Children's Programs: Lagos State Family Care participates in several volunteer programs to aid Lagos State orphanages and centers for the disabled. It is also involved in joint projects with the New Era Foundation, a humanitarian effort launched by the First Lady of Lagos State, Chief (Mrs.) Oluremi Tinubu. In close collaboration with Chief Tinubu, FCAN participated in festivities to mark the celebration of "International Children's Day". With donations of many needed supplies (including special chocolates and snacks from local sponsors) and lots of personal interaction and love, the day was a very special event for children and adults alike. FCAN's other collaborative efforts with the New Era Foundation and Lagos State donated desperately-needed goods to the centers for destitute children, and many more joint programs are being discussed that will effectively meet the needs of underprivileged and impoverished people in Lagos State.
Emergency Relief and Aid Work: Delta State On several occasions, FCAN volunteers have rushed to Warri, Delta State, to render aid to victims injured in the many petrol pipeline explosions that occur here, and to minister to the countless children who have lost their families in these disasters.
After a recent such catastrophe, the Warri people feared being arrested, and although injured, hid themselves within their community-which significantly inhibited the efforts of the FCAN team to transport them all to the nearby hospital. However, FCAN was able to bring medicine, food, clothes and other goods to the orphaned children, and spent many hours counseling and comforting those who had lost one or both of their parents. Family Care developed a program to place the children with relatives or in nearby orphanages, and will continue to assist with their future security and care.
Family Care has approached local donors to solicit support for these children, whose relatives have little money and will be stressed by the addition of another mouth to feed.
Archive article: Bringing Peace to Liberia, a Land of War By Scott Ward & Phebe Whyte Talk with anyone in Liberia and the conversation will soon lead to traumatic firsthand accounts of horror, cruelty and heartbreaking loss. Because of the fighting, the nation had reverted to a primitive state of chaos, murder and even cannibalism. Many buildings throughout Monrovia (the capital and largest city of Liberia) have been destroyed by fire and shelling. The warring factions have killed scores of civilians and many more have died of starvation in the last eight years of war. We first visited Liberia in the latter part of 1996 when our small team stopped in Monrovia for a week during a fact-finding tour of West African countries. In late 1997 a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Liberia appealed to us for help, asking if we could send a team to assist in opening four schools for orphans. Our assignment was to create four schools from virtually nothing. One school had no building to operate from! The other three were in very poor condition.
One school was located far outside the city in the "bush." Just getting there was an ordeal. We often had to drive along roads where the mud was 60 cm. (two feet) deep! Building this particular school was a community effort. It was the only one for miles around. Many of the students were sixteen or older, yet they lacked even a first grade education. All the community leaders, as well as many parents, willingly volunteered to help with the work. They had suffered so much loss and clearly recognized the importance that the school would have in the lives of their children.
We interviewed over 750 children who were registering for school. Their sad, gut-wrenching tales often brought us to tears. The young and innocent are the most tragic casualties of war. We include some of their testimonies, not to drag you through the terrors of the war, but to illustrate just how much these children have to overcome. Rome Collins, age 11: "My father was a policeman who was accused of taking government money. My uncle, my father, and I were taken together. Some of the soldiers who arrested us took my father behind a building while they told us to wait. A couple minutes later we heard gunshots. It was then that the soldiers came back without my father and ordered us to approach them. Instead of listening to them, we ran as fast as we could back to my village. Little did we know that the village was under attack as well. We found my brother dead, and later my uncle was shot, too. My mother and I escaped. We walked through the bush for two days until we made it to Monrovia. "I’m happy to be here. In the future I want to become an engineer. That way I can do what my uncle was doing before he died." Yeaphan Mensah, age 15: "When the war began, my whole family escaped together to a nearby village because ours was under attack. On the way, my cousin was shot and killed. We met up with a group of ladies who said they’d help us escape by river, and they provided us with canoes. My mother and baby brother drowned when the canoe they were in tipped over. "I’m very sad. Every day I think about them and I feel alone. I don’t know what I’ll be when I grow up, but I definitely won’t be a soldier." Markpah Copper, age 14: "During the time of the war, Johnson’s [rebel] soldiers took control of our village and no one was allowed to leave. A couple days later Charlie’s [President Taylor’s] people came in and got rid of Johnson’s people and arrested all of us civilians. My sister’s husband and myself were arrested. I was accused and punished because one soldier said he recognized me as one of Johnson’s soldiers. I begged them to let me go and denied ever being a soldier. They didn’t listen to me, but instead they had me sit in swamp water for many hours. "When they pulled me out, I continued denying being a soldier. They stabbed my legs over and over again, until they saw I wouldn’t stop denying it. Then they took me to the nearest checkpoint where they stuffed me in a building packed with other hostages. After being there for a couple of hours, they came and started slaughtering everyone. I escaped and returned to my village where I found my sister had been shot to death. "I’m very happy for this school. I’m going to learn to be a doctor just like my father is. I want to be a doctor because a doctor can save people’s lives."
To donate to this Family Care Foundation Project, please note Project NAME and then click here. |
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improve
their infrastructure with little outside help other than the initial
investment and training. In Oyo and Enugu States, this has been achieved
by the construction of mini poultry farms, where the staff is trained
to raise and sell the chickens - keeping half the profits for reinvestment
into a new batch, and using the other half to raise the standard of living
for the children in the Homes, be it with school books and uniforms,
more nutritional food, home renovations, etc.
