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Humanity First Int’l At 25 Teaches A Modest To Medicare Delivery, Welfare And Education In Nigeria’s Rural Communities By Dr. Gani Enahoro

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When in 2012 at the “UK Jalsa Salana”, an Islamic religious conference organized annually by Ahmadiyya Muslim Association (AMA), in the United Kingdom that usually attracts tens of thousands international participants from all the nooks and crannies of the world, I visited the Humanity First (HFI) pavilion, I was stunned by the several pictorial exhibitions of their activities, showcasing daring exploits across the world and wondered how a self-funding international charity could have extensively intervened successfully with reliefs in so many places where humanitarian disasters had occurred, providing long term development assistance to vulnerable and oftentimes neglected communities. Of particular interest to me was HF activity during the infamous earthquake that ravaged Haiti in the Dominican Republic on January 12, 2010, killing 300, 000 and 1.5 million people were displaced, near the capital Port-au-Prince. Humanity First International proved their versatility, as they were the first to arrive and provide resuscitation and succor for the devastated communities. They mobilized 75 international workers and 20 Haitian volunteers and an estimated 23, 000 patients were rescued and looked after in clinics hurriedly built and at numerous makeshift medical camps. They stayed back ever since in the country providing education for the children and healthcare for the sick. Volunteers run the Humanity First with their diverse skillsets across the world in a synergy with thousands of extra enthusiastic volunteers from the various countries where they exist.
Looking through the pile of activity pictures, my natural instinct was to search with eagle-like prying eyes if Africa that records comparatively minimal natural disasters had the presence of this organization that would be marking its silver jubilee in a few days time on 19th September 2020. I was not in the least disappointed seeing pictures with touchy captions from Ivory Coast, Gambia, Nigeria and many others scattered across West Africa, thereby satisfying my curiosity, knowing for real that what Africa was saved from in natural calamities, they have in quantum in other spheres of life through deprivations of its untapped potentials, myopic leadership, corruption, high poverty levels and lowly human development index as characterized by the United Nations with the consequence of little or total lack of needed infrastructure to make living worth it. The numerous shortfalls in the provision of facilities will always require that extra bit of non-governmental and not-for-profit support sourced locally or internationally for the benefits of our rural communities. In this respect, Humanity First as an international NGO has over the years earned global recognition with success stories cutting across Food Security, Community Care, Global Health, Disaster Relief, Gift of Sight, Water For Life and Orphan Care like the foster parent model adopted by their Nigerian branch as their priority areas.
Assessing the social impact of a truly serving Non-Governmental Organization like HF in deprived societies is always interesting and the gauge goes beyond statistic; the exhilarating joy genuinely expressed by the beneficiaries is the bigger indicator. The women who grew up in a setting that had never known other sources of water beyond ruffled streams, trekking kilometers through bushes but now seeing boreholes spewing water with ease right in front of their houses need no preaching. Often times they do not even know the boundaries between what comes from government and the NGOs. To them they were in dire need and the solution has come divinely. With decreased bureaucracy the NGOs are always able to touch more lives even though in less gigantic edifices. Governments may begin to impact more if they could adopt such cottage models typified by Humanity First to social services deliveries across the communities, in order to meet the yearnings of the people who are so deprived and whose interests are never truly catered for.
Humanity First in its 25 years has established branches in fifty-two countries all across six continents and with a structure that is worthy of commendation. They function globally as a single unbroken entity with the stronger units in the advanced economies adopting the less endowed ones based predominantly in the third world. They receive donations from public-spirited individuals freely willing to serve mankind. In Nigeria, the local branch is registered as Humanity First Nigeria (HFN), and it is an affiliate of Humanity First Canada, a partnership that has provided succor to several communities with hundreds of boreholes donated to Oyo, Ogun, Kogi, Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Borno, Nassarawa, Kwara and Lagos States for the rural areas, and primary schools have also been built and teachers employed at remote locations at Igbo Oruwo village and Iye Osa village, while a Computer Academy was established at Ayegunle. A second Computer Academy is being contemplated for the Eastern states. In flood prone areas of Kogi and Edo, victims have been supported with cash and materials. Internally displaced camps (IDPs) have been financially supported with millions of Naira worth of foods and materials. In recent times, palliatives were provided to vulnerable persons all over the country to alleviate the pains of lockdown and stresses associated with COVID-19 pandemic. Facemasks were mass produced and have been distributed free in support of instructions from Nigeria’s health authorities.

The free medical camp services have been a constant feature organized by HFN with free eye care services. A total 1498 eye surgeries for cataracts have been sponsored in their Kano center for patients all over the country. The medical camp model of HFN is worth adopting by the primary healthcare (PHC) managers in Nigeria. It is the most impactful medical service that can cheaply be provided for the rural areas in a country that is not largely supported by effective health insurance. In a medical camp are doctors, nurses, pharmacists and laboratory technicians working together with the best synergy for a short period at a time. A lot is always accomplished with minimal resources and a large population is directly impacted. During clinical examinations, referrals are made where necessary to nearby hospitals, the patients are given necessary public health education due to their close contacts with the health workers. For Humanity First Nigeria, such medical expeditions are given free to the communities, but where this is not possible by the governments, when health services are not regarded as social service, a modification could be made such that the beneficiaries pay just the basic cost to sustain a drug revolving scheme. The Communities that have so immensely benefitted from the free services provided by HFN would be so grateful to wish Humanity First a happy silver jubilee.

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