The Bump On The Street With HERS Care Initiative (Makoko, Lagos Edition)

For the first time in 2017, I intentionally wrote and shared a Bucket list on the blog. The idea was to get inspired to do something new as often as possible any time I go through the list.

I had included ‘Visiting an Orphanage’ as one of the things I would love to do, but what I did not know was how much my first experience was going to change things.

After visiting the Correctional Center /Welfare Home for Girls in Idi Araba, Lagos with an NGO (HERS Care Initiative) I volunteer with, it became certain that I wanted to help and positively influence the life of people who are less privileged in the society.

What was initially just an item to be ticked off my bucket list has now changed to volunteering as many times as I can. I have come to realize that happiness is easily transferred through giving and helping those in need and the feeling is unquantifiable.

I had the opportunity to feel this way again as HERS Care Initiative had its second major outreach tagged ‘The Bump On The Street’.

We chose Makoko, Lagos (popularly known for its shack houses on water and deplorable living condition) as the choice location and swung into planning three to four months before our first potential date.

The Event

After much planning, re-scheduling and re-planning, The Bump On The Street eventually held on the 8th of September 2018.

It was a rainy Saturday morning in Lagos, Nigeria but the dedicated team members all convened at the location of the event.

The aim of the outreach was to meet the medical needs of pregnant women and teens in Makoko slum. Being that the community paid little or no attention to the importance of proper reproductive health, we thought it wise to bring the medical team to the pregnant women for free.

For this to happen without glitch, HERS Care Initiative partnered with the Nigerian Red Cross, Lasgidi Nurse, Hacey Health Initiative, Kindle Africa, Sex And The Nigerian Couple (SNC), Gold 6 Cuisine and we were able to put together Food, Portable water, Birthing Kits, Baby Diapers, Mosquito Nets, Clothing Items and Routine Drugs (Folic Acid, Vitamin B&C, Paracetamol, Iron supplements) for the pregnant women.

The event had about 200 people in attendance but the Medical Team administered tests on about 106 pregnant women. The tests include HIV Test, Malaria Test, Vital Signs Check (weight, blood pressure, blood sugar level, heartbeat of the baby).

The pregnant women also had facilitators speak to them about Family Planning, Sex Education, HIV Awareness and Proper Reproductive Health. The women also engaged in some physical exercise, dancing competition and fastest finger games.

Makoko is a community were majority of the people speak Yoruba, so an interpreter was on ground to assist with translation.

At the end of the outreach, we were all smiles and grateful to God for a successful event. The rain did not stop us, the pregnant women in attendance were happy and so were we.

I have put together a youtube video below so you can see a bit of how the event panned out.

Please feel free to reach out via the contact page if you have questions about the NGO or other related inquires.

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Phaytea