Two-day medical mission brings relief to Nigerian village
POSTED: August 10, 2007
By John Patrick
OBI recently held a medical mission for the impoverished people of the Ushaffa village in Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory.
People braved the scorching heat to be seen by physicians. A total of 1,186 patients were treated during the two-day mission, including 325 people who received new glasses.
Two of the patients included 75-year-old Tani and 95-year-old Saratu, both of them great-grandmothers.
"We thank God for sending you to help old people like us," said Saratu, who received medicine at the mission.
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NIGERIA - Rose Sakoma knew she had a problem when she could no longer recognize her son.
"I couldn't read at night because of my poor eyesight," she said. "But you can't imagine the pain I felt when one day my son walked up to me and I did not recognize him. My anguish was indescribable."
As a member of the Ushaffa village in Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory, Rose lives in a community of 5,000 subsistence farmers.
For years, Ushaffa has remained underdeveloped, despite receiving some attention from the Ushaffa pottery center – a popular tourist site that sits among crops of corn, cassava, yams and groundnuts and once hosted former U.S. President Bill Clinton and other foreign dignitaries.
There is no potable water available in the village, and a small health care center struggles to care for the growing population.
In response, Operation Blessing recently conducted a two-day medical mission in the village. Rose, who braved the scorching heat to wait in line, received a new pair of glasses at the mission.
"I want to thank OB for coming to my aid," she said. "What you have done in our community by helping both Christians and Muslims is very good."
Rose wasn't alone. A total of 1,186 patients were treated by the medical team during the mission, including 325 people who received new glasses.
"We are happy and grateful to you, and pray you will continue to touch the lives of the poor," Rose said.
Two patients included 75-year-old Tani and 95-year-old Saratu, both great-grandmothers. Hobbling along on knobby walking sticks, both received glasses and medical treatment.
"We thank God for sending you to help old people like us," said Saratu, as she held up her bottles of medicine.
"May God bless you for your act of kindness to an old woman like me," Tani said.
At the medical clinic, local government leader Alhaji Mohammadu Baba explained to the medical team that although Ushaffa is a mix of religions, the community itself enjoys relative peace. He said that such humanitarian activities in Ushaffa help to strengthen the peaceful relationships in the community.
"I don't know of anyone else who could have done what you have done here," Baba said. "Only God could have sent you here to help the Ushaffa people."
How You Can Help
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