From December 16 to 21, the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe and her husband took free medical outreach to Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State. In this interview with FRANK IKPEFAN, Mrs Ochekpe discusses her driving force and desire to care for people at the grassroots. Excerpts:
How did the mission begin?
There was a young man who had a case of appendicitis that when he went for examination, was told he needed to be operated upon. He did not believe it. The doctors assured him of the success of the operation. He was offered free surgery in the end and he went home telling people about it.
At the end of the programme of last year, we had drugs worth more than a million naira. We had to give it to them so that they can extend. My joy with this process is the spirit of volunteerism that it has rekindled in the minds of our professionals especially doctors and paramedics. We used to hear of doctors without borders; most of them white people. But this is something we can do within here among us. All we need to do is encourage one another. We are not equally endowed in the society. Some are better off than others and also government cannot provide everything for our citizens. We have to look for other ways of doing that. The services that the doctors volunteered if we are to quantify that in monetary terms, if you think of how much you pay in a private clinic or even in a government clinic for consultation, how much you pay for drugs or how much you pay if you are admitted, you will discover that it is so much money.
When our people are well, they will be able to contribute positively to the economic development of the country.
What informed your decision to reach out?
I discovered that there are people in the rural community that need access to free medical care but they don’t have the wherewithal. What actually motivated me was an activity my sister in-law was involved in. She is a medical doctor. She is a consultant at the Abuja teaching hospital and she participated in a similar project. She came to me soliciting for support and I asked what exactly were they going to do and she explained the kind of services they rendered to rural communities and initially they would go for about five days. One of her colleagues was doing that in memory of her husband who was a medical doctor but has passed on. So I asked if it was possible to also replicate it in other places and what the requirement will be. She explained to me that what was needed was some form of transportation, accommodation and some form of assistance to acquire the medical items and equipment that will be needed for the mission.
How do you get volunteers?
Well, through these different organisations including Sotaria Afrique, Urban Frontiers, Afrique Foundation and the Association Resident Doctors. For this year we had 130 volunteers on the mission comprising doctors, nurses, paramedics. The initial idea came in through the Sotaria Afrique. Some of them also have doctors working with them and those doctors have their friends that they can easily mobilise to come on board. Like the exercise that we just completed, some of the volunteers had to mobilise through the local government. On the first day of the exercise when they started the operation, they discovered that they did not have enough nurses. They only had about two or three nurses and that was not going to be enough to run shifts and attend to those who have been operated. So I spoke to the Barki Ladin Local Government Chairman for assistance.
Did you offer specialist or general treatment?
It was general medicine and when they have complications, they refer them to tertiary health care facilities but we didn’t have complications because we had specialists with us so there was no need for referral.
Did the team follow up on surgery patients?
For men it was mostly hernia related surgeries. For women it was fibroids, appendicitis. Those were the kinds of surgeries that were carried out. For those who had surgeries, what the medical team did was to make sure that they provided adequate drugs for the period that such a person who had undergone to recover. They also referred them to nearby clinics for removal of stitches. For this year 91 surgeries were performed while 3,784 people where treated. In 2012, they treated 5000 and performed 45 surgeries. On the last day, over 10 surgeries were conducted. The doctors had to explain to them that they were no longer to be available. Did they have alternatives? Most of them opted for the operations and called on their relatives to take them to some other clinic where they will be followed up till they got better. The team made sure they got enough supply of drugs till their time of recovery. So all they needed was a bed till the period of their recovery.
How do you source funds for the mission drugs?
Well, we all go to some friends who can easily support with either a little cash or drugs. So where we did not have drugs the little cash provided was enough.
What inspires you?
I am inspired by the spirit of volunteerism which is not very strong in Nigeria. Sometimes people will want to know what is in it for us. They are not looking at it from the point of saving lives. For me, our experiences of 2012 and 2013 are sufficient for us to begin to build a core of volunteers to make Nigerians aware that our brothers and sisters have no reason to suffer if we all put our expertise into use. We might not be able to reach everybody at once but if a small group of professionals decides to pay one community and work with them over time, that community will not remain the same.
Are you are working on any other project?
I have been working with a different group of widows. For this year one of the groups trained 30 widows. Most of them were trained in tailoring and we have been able to support them with 10 sewing machines.
Are you going to extend the medical outreach to other local governments?
We are looking at senatorial zones. In April 2014, we hope to move to Pankshin Local Government. We are looking at moving to each senatorial zone. In July we will go on to Kwampan Local Government which is in the southern senatorial zone.
