Past Projects
Mission 2008 Report
GRACE PROJECT INTERNATIONAL 2008 MEDICAL AND DENTAL MISSION
TRIP TO NIGERIA
Grace International medical team arrived Nigeria Friday November 13, 2008. On arrival, the team traveled to the campus of Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State. The University Pastor, Dr. Israel Olaore, welcomed the group on behalf of the institution. The University provided accommodation on Campus.
Sabbath November 14
The first event of the team was to participate in the institution’s week of spiritual emphasis. Pastor Robert Edward (of Valley Fellowship SDA, CA) to open the student week of prayer at the Babcock University’s Law School at Iperu campus of the Institution.
Monday November 15-16, Akure
On Novemeber 15 our team moved to Akure where the medical team started her community health program. The team attended to the medical needs of people of Araromi Village in Akure, Ondo State. We organized two stations in the school where both the medical and dental needs of over 300 patients were attended to. We also distributed reading glasses to older people to enable them read and see clearer. The group traveled to an orphanage at Oba Ile, Akure, our team spent time with the children and encouraged the care takers. Majority of the children at the institution were either abandoned or lost their mothers or both parents after birth. We donated children medications worth $6,000 to the institution. Over 20 local volunteers and health workers participated at the Akure mission. The local volunteers were encouraged to organize follow up programs in future.
Tuesday November 17, 2008: Ado-Ekiti
Another mission location was at Ado-Ekiti the administrative capital of Ekiti State. Two local dentists joined our team at the Oke Aro center where we worked. The people waited patiently and were attended to by our health care personnel. With the help of a local dentist, we were able to attempt a lot of difficult cases and had the opportunity of referring some patients to the local dental clinics for necessary follow up. Arrangement was also made with the local dentist to treat all the referred patients free of charged. A local dentist we worked with joyfully said, “If you guys can donate your time and money to minister to the needs of these people without any compensation, the least I could do is help out to finish with the referred patients.” He even refused the supplies we offered him to help the patients who needed follow. He said, “My office will take care of that.”
Apart from treating the people at the center, our dental team also visited three schools close to the center. We gave oral care education to over 1,000 pupils; most of the teachers including one of the principals of the school later visited our center for treatments.
November 18, 2008: Ipoti- Ekiti and Ijurin Ekiti
The group performed dental and medical interventions in Ipoti and Ijurin Ekiti, about 350 people were treated there. Over 25 of the screened population have severe high blood pressure and were advised to seek major health care after their initial treatments. The group also set up satellite station in Ijurin Ekiti where we attended to people. A local nurse volunteered to screene and treats the people on site. Those with dental complaints were transported to Ipoti for care.
November 20, 2008: Ikun-Ekiti
The team screened and treated over 500 people in Ikun-Ekiti. They received dental care, had medical checkup, medical counseling. Reading glasses were given to some of the older patients who needed it. There were volunteers from South West Nigeria Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Church that participated with us in the programs.
November 21, 2008: Ile ife.
The team had Friday off for sightseeing; we visited Ikun Dairy Farm, Ayetoro Adventist Medical Center and Ile Ife Adventist Hospital. We also took time off to visit Ayetoro Medical center, a medical center that served the people of the community but has been abandoned. After our evaluation, we concluded that Grace International will join with the community to revamp the institution in the near future.
Our evaluation shows the center needs the following:
1. Upgrade of the physical structure
2. New hospital equipments for the center
3. Enhanced staffing and effective management team
4. Financial support to cover the overhead for a period of 12 months
The residing pastor of the Seventh-day Adventist church in the community has been asked to work with the necessary body to come up with estimated cost of the items listed above.
November 23, 2008: Oke-Ado, Ibadan
Our team also conducted medical and dental intervention in Oke Ado, Ibadan, Oyo State Nigeria. Our host at the Oke-Ado site was the West Nigeria conference of Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Conference executives had a warm reception for the visiting members at their office headquarters. Over 100 people were treated at the center. Oke Ado center is a huge building owned by the West Nigerian Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Church. The building which was donated to the Conference has been designated for medical and dental clinic. Grace Project International in collaboration with West Nigeria Conference hopes to set up a dental center at the site in the near future.
November 24, 2008: Sabbath Off
Babcock University and Victory Sanctuary:
The group attended the final stage of the Babcock University’s Week of Spiritual Emphasis. A special Sabbath worship was organized with the divine service starting at 6:30 am. About 70 students gave their life or rededicated their lives to Christ and declared for baptism that day. The final baptismal service was conducted later that evening and a total of 247 people most of them students got baptized that day. Some of those baptized were from Muslim families. Since that divine service at BU ended at around 9:20am, we traveled to Lagos to attend another divine worship at Victory Sanctuary Seventh-day Adventist Church, Lekki, Lagos.
Monday November 25, 2008: Jakande Estate, Lekki, Lagos
Jakande Estate was our final point of call; it turned out to be the most overwhelming of the centers visited in Nigeria. Jakande Estate is a little island of poverty surrounded by wealthy neighbors and forever forgotten by the system. Over 200,000 Lagosians reside in this slum under the most unhealthy condition we ever witnessed on our trip. The medical mission was conducted at the only school in the slum. The school was about the only good sight, and was invested by mosquitoes and rodents. The memories of the people visited at this site and stories shared by some of them hunted us for the remainder of the day. It will take more than a million mission tips to make a dent on the crushing problem been faced by this population.
Send Off Banquet, Victoria Island, Lagos Nigeria, November 25
At the end of our mission, the family of Dr and Mrs. DejI Adeleke treated the Grace Project International and the Valley Fellowship SDA church member (who also came to Nigeria on mission) to a wonderful banquet in one of the best restaurants in Lagos. It was an evening of laughter and sharing of experiences, we were also able to witness to many people at the restaurant through our testimonies, songs and prayers. To the glory of God the banquet concluded the 2008 Mission Trip.
Our appreciation goes to the following who supported the 2008 Mission trip in cash and kind:
Print Pros
Intervol
Pediatric Dentistry
Dr. Omowumi Osinubi
Young Dental
Dental Supplies
Medical Mission Supplies Inc
Dr. Omotunde
Elder and Mrs. Opio
Tinu Omotunde
Ms Nancy
Axxess Health Care Services
Pastor and Mrs Dele Olaore
Dr and Mrs DejI Adeleke
All Nations African SDA Church
Ms Andrews
Mr. and Mrs. Famuntimi
Elder and Mrs. Okwandu
Dr. and Mrs. Alaba Fawole
Dr. and Mrs. Lidson Thomas
Dr. Andrea Lewis
Pastor and Mrs. Michael Mufawa
Babcock University
Mission 2010 Gallery
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Classroom.
Grace Project Mission Trip October 2010
Grace Project International (GPI) Mission took 8 volunteers from the USA and UK and 12 local volunteers to 7 villages/ towns within 4 states in the western part of Nigeria. These are Babcock University community in Ogun State; Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital in Ogun State; Erunmu in Oyo State; Ile-Ife in Osun state; Akure also in Osun state; Otun in Ekiti State and Ipoti also in Ekiti State.
Three main areas of health work were utilized during this mission: Medical consultations and free medications; Eye clinic using the auto refractor, optometry testing and giving of free eye glasses; and the Health Expo which is more than an ordinary health screening. It is health screening with computerized Health–Age appraisal. With scientific research uncovering the fact that premature aging and disability are largely the result of the way we live, the Health expo aside from taking the usual vital signs uses professional analysis of body fat and body water composition based on sex, age and height to give participants a lot of awareness of what is going on in their bodies. In addition, participants at the health screening were not just made aware of what’s wrong, they are shown how to practically do simple things to prevent disease and reverse it if already present
Babcock University Community (BU)
The Health work started at Babcock on Sunday October 10, 2010. We worked in collaboration with the Babcock Health centre and the department of nursing and public Health. It was primarily opened to members of staff of the University although a few students came also. The sixteen Health Expo banners were set up at 8 different tables plus two extra to take care of consultations with medical personnel and taking of blood samples for cholesterol and blood sugar testing. About 120 participants were evaluated. Details of participants responses cannot be analyzed as the papers were lost. In addition to health expo the eye clinic saw 40 people. However glasses could not be given as we were still awaiting clearing of this from the airport.
The health work at Babcock was repeated on October 22nd and 23rdessentially doing eye testing and giving of free eye glasses.
A total of ---- were examined for eye problems and glasses were given to those who needed and also had matches with the glasses in our inventory.
Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH)
Grace Project International volunteers were welcomed to the first Health expo at OOUTH by the teaching hospital at about 10 AM Monday October 11. After a short speech from the President, volunteers were also introduced. It was a great welcome as the Friends of OOUTH also were there to show so much appreciation for our time.
A record total of 144 participants were taken. Of these 125 completed each exercise, consulted with our doctors and were assessed for health Age.
A breakdown of the statistics showed that 100 participants have ideal blood pressure of 130/80 and lower. 18 participants were border line of above 130/80 to 140/90. And a total of 26 participants had blood pressure greater than 140/90. A distinction could not be made using sex as many participants did not indicate male or female.
Another indicator assessed for health is sleep patterns. The picture at OOUTH from the responses shows that most of the participants get 7-8 hours of sleep at night - (74 participants). Research indicates we need to get the much for optimum health. There were 35 participants who are close to the ideal with at least 6 hours of sleep most nights and 24 who gets only about 5 hours. There were however, 10 participants who manage to go beyond to having more than 9 hours most nights. Research indicate that health problems are imminent and therefore premature aging when one gets less than 5 hours or more than 9 hours most nights.
The responses from participants on exercise is that those who exercise almost every day and those who rarely are about the same numbers (55 and 53). There are 35 who responded as exercising less than three times per week. It is encouraging to note that the incidence of smoking and alcohol consumption among this group is heartwarming. 6 participants indicated have quit smoking and only one person claim to smoke more than a pack a day. The rest never smoked. The picture for alcohol use is similar. Only one person indicated using more than 10 servings or 3-10 servings per week. 16 agreed to use 1-2 servings. The rest indicated abstinence from alcohol use.
Breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day. Majority of the participants take breakfast regularly only 46 participants do not practice this habit regularly. One area that this group can improve on is snacking. 19 participants admit to rarely or never snack, 16 say they snack almost every day. All others claim once in a while. Eating several times in a day has been implicated in long transit time for proper digestion and adequate bowel movement.
The above factors are the principal issues that research has found to be responsible for early aging and therefore poor health. When they are observed there are tremendous improvements in health and longevity.
The health expo ended earlier than plan as there was a disruption in power supply. It is the earnest belief of Grace Project international that continuous awareness, promotion and running of health expos at more sites on campus and at different times to cater for different categories of population will go a long way to create better health awareness. Healthy workers are happy and efficient workers.
Erunmu at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church
On October 12, 2010 GPI volunteers arrived at Erunmu at about 1.30 PM. The exercise started at 2PM and ended at 6PM. Here both the medical and the optometry clinics were utilized. However the 16 banners were set up changing the entire environment to a beautiful informative one. The pictures speak for themselves and the few words on the text banners were great for those who could read.
A total of 150 participants were privilege to be there and to receive what we had to offer.
With reported incidence of high blood pressure we consider a close look at this. A breakdown of blood pressure from the participants showed 55 people had a normal range of less than 130/80mmHg. There were 42 considered border line with readings of 130/90 and another 55 had what is considered hypertension. They had blood pressure of 140 systolic or higher.
Sixty seven participants were tested using the auto refractor and also seen by the optometrist. The church had an electricity generator which provided constant electricity. We had no interruptions making it possible to do as many as 67 eye tests. No one was turned back. We were able to attend to all who came for eye testing.
The little challenge we had here was that it rained and the roof leaked so we had to move tables around in a crammed space.
Ile-Ife - at Oni’s palace and SDA Hospital
GPI volunteers arrived at Ile-Ife the night before the mission date, so was able to start early. The effort at Ife was in collaboration with ADRA with venue at the Kings palace. Volunteers were welcomed by the Kings representative.
The optometry test was stopped as the crowd became uncontrollable. This exercise was rescheduled for the next day at the SDA Hospital.
Akure - At the SDA Church and the SDA headquarters
At the SDA church, Oke-Ijebu on October 15, 2010. A total of 115 participants were attended to at the church. Of these the picture of blood pressure was similar. There were 48 with normal range (130/80mmHg), 13 with borderline systolic readings (130- 140), and 44 with readings over 140. Prescribed medications were dispensed as available. There were some problems with room used for the optometry and changes had to be made. A total of ----- were tested for eye problems and some were given eye glasses.
The evening of October 16th 2010 after sun set a total of 48 people were seen at the headquarters. The low attendance could be that there was not enough publicity and the venue was out of town.
Otun-Ekiti
GPI volunteers arrived at the palace of the Oba (King) of Otun-Ekiti at about 12.30PM on October 17, 2010. He was informed of our intentions to see the people of the community and helped in organizing for attendance. At the palace participants were helped with both the medical work and the optometry. Sixty persons were seen by doctors and given medications. Twenty seven received eye examination. The low attendance can be attributed to lack of publicity.
The Seventh day Adventist Comprehensive School also welcomed GPI. About 70 students and 20 staffs were attended to. Most of the complaints were Malaria fever.
Ipoti- Ekiti
October 18, 2010 was when the volunteers reached Ipoti SDA church about 11:20 AM. A total of 135 persons were helped with the medical service and another 53 had eye tests.
A close look at the blood pressure phenomenon showed 59 participant had normal blood pressure range of less than or equal to 130/80mmHg. 14 persons had border lines reading. and 57 had high blood pressure of greater than 140mmHg. The poor attendance is also lack of publicity and promotion before arrival of the volunteers.
Ikun Ekiti
At 10:30 AM the Ikun town hall became the first venue to start the mission work on the 19th October 2010 for Ikun residents. However, the venue had to be moved to the SDA church. The hall was too small and the crowd could not be properly managed. Both the medical and optometry work commenced. A total of 400 people were attended to with the medical team. Another 126 had eye test and some were given glasses.
There were signs of high blood pressure in this group. Data collected showed 171 persons had elevated pressures of 140mm Hg or higher. 42 persons are border lines and 112 had normal blood pressure.
Setback for this venue is lack of ground work prior to volunteers’ arrival and not enough hands to manage the crowd.