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Health |
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Of primary importance to us is the health of rural villagers.
Every 30 seconds a child dies of malaria in Africa.
This stunning fact is due largely to the lack of health care available to poor people, especially those in rural areas.
Free Clinics
Action Africa has been addressing this problem by holding free clinics
as frequently as possible. Our next clinic will be held in August for
our brothers and sisters in the rural village of Ubulu, Nigeria. Over
1,000 adults and children receive the vitamins and medications necessary
to be able to live a healthy life as they cannot otherwise afford to pay
a doctor or to buy reliable vitamins and medications. We carry the medical
supplies from the US directly to the village and physicians and nurses
from the big city come and volunteer their services.
Ubulu is a rural, tropical village, located in Imo State (the former Biafra region in southeastern Nigeria), composed of mostly poor people who are subsistence farmers. The people in this area are from the Igbo tribe, and children who attend school learn the official language of English there.
In collaboration with village chiefs and elders, teachers, African volunteer medical teams, and other village associations, Action Africa, Inc has served several thousand people yearly over the last 5 years through free medical clinics which incorporate HIV/AIDS prevention education.
Currently the cost per month to support the medication portion of each clinic session is approximately $1000, as doctors and nurses volunteer time to come 1½ hours by bus to help out. Villagers and medical personnel report that the most glaring medical problems are: malaria, worms, hypertension, arthritis, and typhoid and we buy those medications in Nigeria. NOVA Community, Arlington, VA, has been able to support 4 clinics a year.
We aim to hold these clinics monthly over the year as the need is huge.
We are inviting individuals, families, communities to join us in this
effort.
Multivitamins and Over the Counter Pain Relief Drive
St. Teresa of Avila Church, SE, Washington, DC. is partnering with Action
Africa in a drive for the August 2005 free clinic. Action Africa, Inc
is collecting multivitamins for children and adults and over the counter
pain relief medications for free medical clinics in sub-Saharan Africa.
These medications are carried directly to the village and distributed
at the clinic by physicians and nurses who donate their time. Contributions
are tax-deductible. We are very grateful for their assistance towards
the health of children and families in this rural village area.
We are fighting
for our lives…in Africa.
While you read this invitation, millions of people, including infants
and children, are on AIDS death-row as parents and grand-parents watch
in horror, despair, and hopelessness. Today, sub-Saharan Africa is facing
the greatest crisis ever: the imminent loss of a generation of its citizens.
With about 10% of the world's population, it has more than 60% of all
people living with HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS is not a moral problem; it is human
crisis. Millions who die of this disease have contracted this virus accidentally.
Africa weeps aloud. Join us NOW to fight this common enemy.
Action Africa's Response
Given the HIV/AIDS pandemic, we are integrating education about the disease,
risky behaviors, and how to care for those who are ill into everything
we do. It is very difficult, yet essential, to eradicate many of the misconceptions
about the virus, especially those that stem from ancient beliefs about
the spirit world.
In the free clinics, for example, while people are waiting, they are given
HIV/AIDS prevention and care education. Our prior experience with free
clinic programs in the region has proven that the people who are least
likely to be a part of mainstream education and who are extremely poor
are in attendance and receive the necessary information that they would
not otherwise get as they neither receive health care nor attend school.
The role of chiefs in this activity ensures that generally, everyone attends
receives prevention and care education.
The Terror of HIV/AIDS In sub-Saharan Africa
Springs of Hope Water Project, Ubulu
Thousands of African villages do not havea local source of clean drinking
water. In most cases only self-help projects are making progress toward
providing this essential human need.
One such project, which Action Africa supported, was started when villagers,
friends and families rallied to facilitate the digging of a deep well
in Ubulu, Nigeria. A certified geo-physical survey of the village area
determined what would be required for the well to serve people in several
adjacent villages. The budget was adjusted to reflect the findings: drilling
to 400 feet, sinking of pipes and a submersible pump, labor and materials.
The second and final part of the project was the construction and mounting
of a water reservoir tank which makes it possible for the villagers to
get water from the tank, taps and other distribution sites during the
eight months of dependence on the well. Essential retrieval, servicing
and repairs of the pump are an ongoing part of this project. Close to
11,000 people benefit from this water supply.
Since the time that water effectively ran at the well, life has changed for the better for the villagers in the region: the incidence of water borne diseases has drastically reduced, people do not have to carry so much weight on their heads for extended distances, nor do they have to recycle the same quantity of water for multiple tasks all day long.