Nigerians Receive Health Care, Clean Water and Job Training

Last November Nigeria’s dusty town of Kagara welcomed an indigenous medical team from Operation Blessing. The predominantly Muslim community had a history of ophthalmic, fungal and respiratory problems. Desperate for medical care, many underprivileged patients walked for hours to reach the 2-day clinic. Abubakar was one of those people.

Abubakar is a part of the Fulani nomadic ethnic group. He and his family are constantly in search of greener pastures for their cattle and settle for a few months of the year only to do seasonal farming. They live too far in the bush area to have access to basic health care. Stooping as a mark of respect, he expressed his gratitude to our team for treating his symptoms and pain as well as giving him medicine to take home so the problems did not persist. He said, “May God richly bless you for what you are doing.”

Blind but Hopeful
Both of Mabaruka’s parents are blind. But it didn’t seem to matter to the happy 4-year-old as she waited her turn to see the doctor. She was delighted to be receiving all of her parents’ attention as she is one of ten children! All three were given medicine they couldn’t have afforded otherwise. “I am grateful to you for providing me and my family with free medicines,” said Mabaruka’s father, Mallam. His wife was so grateful she made and sent ‘dokwa’ or local ginger cookies to the Operation Blessing team the next day.

Fresh Water at Last!
Bilharzia, a water-borne disease, was threatening the lives of people living in Moekat, Biembiem, Demshin and Shargang. Villagers in Biembiem had been fetching water from a stream far away. Those in Moekat Village made a meager living by farming and fishing. Every day they hauled muddy, brown drinking water from a pit located only a few feet away from a foul-smelling fishing pond. They also shared this source of water with animals like cattle and hippos!

Our team came in and dug a deep well in each of these four villages in February 2005. In Biembiem, an excited crowd welcomed our team for the dedication ceremony. The Operation Blessing team had traveled 50 minutes on a dusty, rocky bush track to get to the village. A local food seller named Gani was thrilled when she saw the clean water gush out of the pump. The mother of four said, “I wish you well. May God give you good health.”

Clement’s voice was laden with emotion when he said, ‘I thank God for you. We have been trying to get fresh water here for a long time but the wells we dig are too shallow to get good water.”

Children of the village joyously drank their first taste of the cool liquid as they had fun sprinkling each other. One little boy exclaimed, “Thank you Operation Blessing. Fresh water, at last!”

Kate’s New Life
The Nigerian village of Otukpo had been home to Kate all of her life, and she was sick of living in poverty. She didn’t want to end up farming like her parents all her life. With a friend’s promise of a job trading fabrics, she decided to leave home.

Within days of arriving in the city, Kate’s dream was dashed. Instead of getting the job her friend had promised, she was thrust into prostitution. With only the clothes on her back, Kate managed to run away but all who offered to her help tried getting her back into the same business. With no other options and no money to buy a bus ticket home, Kate was forced to become a prostitute and moved into a brothel.

Next to the brothel where she worked was a church. One day the pastor called her over. Thinking he was a potential client, Kate went to him. Instead, her life changed for the better. The pastor told her about Operation Blessing’s Salon and Sewing Center.

Soon, Kate was learning how to sew along with other former prostitutes. “I am very grateful to Operation Blessing for helping me,” she expressed. “They have trained me so I can do an honest business and start life afresh. I don’t know where I would have been now if God had not used you to help me.”

Now happily married and mother to a baby boy, Kate wants to start her own sewing shop. She also wants to train other young struggling women who don’t know there is an alternative to prostitution. Partners, thank you for helping women like Kate begin again!

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