Help For Those With Basic Survival Needs

A local man  stands among the growing seedlings.

It's a hard life, living in a rural area of a third world nation. Life becomes a search for the basics of survival every day, no matter how sick or well an individual is. It's quite difficult to focus on anything else.

Vigaho Phuombah Marcel and his organization, MOTHER CARE CIG, has been helping those who live in the northwest region of Cameroon to improve their lives, decrease poverty and become empowered. The organization also includes women as equal partners, since how women are treated is important in improving life for those on the margins. Members are encouraged to share their skills and best practices with others in order to improve and sustain results.



Because a number of those in the area are HIV+, or have AIDS, a project was developed to provide better nutrition in order to strengthen physical condition. The idea was to provide children and adults who live in the Belo and Njinikom communities with seedlings of the Moringa Oleifera tree. This tree was chosen because its pods, roots, and flowers are all edible. Then those who were given the seedlings were provided with workshops on how to care for the tree. That would mean at least one source of nutrition close to the family dwelling.

This year, Mother Care participated in a set of activities in Abuja, Nigeria. A women's forum was held at a local church. It started out with some basic health screening. Participants were able to find out their blood pressure level and a nonfasting blood sugar level. Then there was a presentation on diabetes and hepatitis by one doctor from the national hospital. A second physician spoke about HPV (human papilloma virus) which can cause cervical cancer. Then Well Project's Global Ambassador, Bose Olotu Oladayo, spoke about HIV. The attendees were then given an opportunity to ask questions, addressed toward the three speakers. The total attendance was 120 women.

A member of the health team providing blood sugar and BP screening.

Afterwards, Ambassador Bose visited a camp for internally displaced people in Kuchigoro Abuja. The refugees came from the northern part of Nigeria, where the Boko Haram is active. Most had lost everything due to the bombings and killings. A significant number had lost loved ones; there were children who were orphaned. More than a thousand children and young adults reside in this camp. They receive psychosocial, emotional, nutritional, and healthcare support. This is what has befallen Nigeria's young. The Love in Action mission from the US showed up to provide medical, social, and nutritional support for 300 families. All of this devastation in a land across the border from Cameroon.

A member of the medical team at Kuchigoro Abuja ministers to a child.

Thanks for information from this article by Global Ambassador Bose on The Well Project: http://www.thewellproject.org/a-girl-like-me/aglm-blogs/update-global-ambassador-bose; from this article on Pollination Project: http://thepollinationproject.org/grants-awarded/vigaho-phuombuh-marcel-sustainable-nutrition-for-people-living-with-hivaids/; and the above link.

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