“Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24). In our last newsletter, I told you the story of Promise, a young man in a terrible car accident who is now paralyzed from the neck down and will likely never walk again. HEAL’s decision to sponsor a surgery that Promise needed to remedy the painful side effects of his injury has sparked a charitable domino effect that has blessed the health of over 1,000 people.
Deacon Leo visited Promise at Holy Rosary Hospital in Emekuku (SE Nigeria) and told his physician, Dr. Frances Okonkwo, that HEAL would sponsor his surgery. This is significant because most hospitals in Nigeria, even Catholic ones like Holy Rosary, can only provide care on a pay-as-you-go basis due to lack of sufficient funds. And so, Dr. Okonkwo was very happy because she knew Promise would otherwise not receive this important pain-reducing surgery. Their work with Promise inspired Deacon Leo and Dr. Okonkwo to organize a health outreach to poor villagers in similar dire health conditions.
HEAL’s three-day outreach took place last week in Akpim village. Over 1,000 rural villagers had their vital signs checked and blood tested while also receiving needed medications after consulting with doctors on site. As I walked about the BOMCA school courtyard, where it all took place, I was amazed at the gratitude on the faces of people who came. When I asked one man why he had not seen a doctor in years, he simply replied “Because, no money.” In a country without health insurance or adequately funded public or private hospitals, rural village people mostly rely on prayer alone or on the concoctions of native healers.
HEAL will sponsor more health outreaches in cooperation with Dr. Okonkwo and the team she put together. This initiative is a precursor to our longer term vision of establishing a medical center in memory of the late Rev. Sr. Calista Utazi, MOJ, who tragically died at age 39 last July of a treatable heart condition. Sr. Calista would be with us today had health workers not been on strike due to salary disputes with the government. Sr. Calista and Promise represent so many poor village people, who should be receiving proper care but are denied by a system beset by corruption. This HEAL outreach was the beginning of something special.
I have now completed the first week of my 3rd trip to Nigeria. We will be visiting Promise at Holy Rosary in the next few days. Just as the grain of wheat fell to the ground and died, so has Promise’s suffering borne fruit with over 1,000 poor village people receiving medical attention through this outreach!