REPORT ON THE SI4DEV COVID19 SENSITIZATION PROGRAM IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LITHOSMED LTD AT IGU VILLLAGE OF BWARI AREA COUNCIL ABUJA WHICH HELD ON SUNDAY 26TH OF APRIL 2020.
PLANNING STAGE
I and two members of the Lithosmed team visited the community chief in person of Chief Solomon Tanzakoigu (JP) on Thursday the 23rd of April 2020. He was happy to receive us and said the government had sent sensitization materials but they were yet to fully understand the repercussions as a community. Furthermore, he directed us to inform the Chairman of the Bwari Area Council to seek his approval and verification before we can go ahead with the project.

On Friday we visited the chairman of Bwari Area council at his place of residence in person of Hon. Gabaya John. S to introduce the project and he expressed his pleasure in our work and explained that he has a responsibility to ensure that organisations that choose to deploy community projects within the area council are verified and will stick to the COVID19 safety precautionary measures.

We also visited a graphics design/printing shop that same Friday to design and print out sensitization charts/posters and banners.

On Saturday the 25th of April 2020, we went to the market to purchase the necessary items for the campaign such as face masks, food items, sanitizers, etc.
We also reached out to Si4dev volunteers who stay around Dutse/Bwari axis and had earlier indicated interest to participate in the project to confirm their availability for the outreach.

On the other hand, Lithosmed were bringing in a team of medical professionals from town and because they were mobile and were essential workers, they could move around the city.
PROJECT SCOPE
Initially, the project proposal submitted was designed to meet the following objectives as a 3 day project;
a. To educate 100 community members on COVID19 symptoms and its preventive measures
b. To provide 30 community members with Hand sanitizers
c. To provide 100 community members with Soap
However, due to the survey conducted in the community, we discovered it would be better to distribute palliatives whilst still sensitizing them. Hence we decided to reduce the project duration from 3 days to 1 day and channel the volunteers’ stipends and some other logistics towards palliative distribution. This decision altered the project objective to this;
a. To educate 100 community members on COVID19 symptoms and its preventive measures
b. To provide 10 community members with Hand sanitizers
c. To provide 100 community members with Soap
d. To distribute palliatives to 10 vulnerable community members
PROJECT DELIVERY
On Sunday the 27th of April 2020, members of Lithosmed team in conjunction with Si4Dev volunteer visited IGU Village to carry out the Sensitization project.
Team members comprised of;

  1. Dr. Doughlas Okwo (Surgeon-Lithosmed)
  2. Benneth Eluagwu (Microbiologist- Lithosmed)
  3. Sijuade Adetokunmbo ( Lithosmed Rep)
  4. Juliana Onistha (Lithosmed Rep)
  5. Peter Eban (Nurse- Lithosmed)
  6. Valentine Ogbede (Nurse- Lithosmed)
  7. Ekene Chukwuma (Theatre manager- Lithosmed)
  8. Simeon Edidiong (SI4Dev volunteer partner)

We arrived the venue at around 10 a.m and divided ourselves into 2 groups of four participants each to carry out the sensitization. The chief of the village gave us 4 members of the community to guide us into the households and to also serve as interpreters.

The community was divided into 3 tribes consisting of the Koro, Hausa and Gbagyi tribes who resided in different locations of the community.
Also the households were arranged like a cluster of buildings in a compound which made it easier to reach out to more people at the same time.
We made use of diagrammatic charts and role playing to sensitize the community members, we also pasted the charts on strategic locations in the community to further enlighten them and for reference purpose.
Furthermore, at the end of sensitizing each household, we asked them questions to ensure they understood the message being passed across and those who answered the questions correctly were given soap and sanitizers as a reward for paying attention and to encourage constant washing of hands.
At the end of the sensitization, we gathered at the chief’s palace to distribute palliatives to 10 vulnerable members of the community who were recommended by the chief of the community and his council members to ensure equity among the 3 prevalent tribes.
Each bag of palliative contained at least 4 mudus of rice, 4 packs of spaghetti, 8 packs of noodles, 40 seasoning cubes, 4 sachet tomatoes, 9 satchets of power oil, 5 big onion bulbs, etc.

The beneficiaries of the palliatives were grateful and were bowing in appreciation upon receipt of their respective package.
We appreciated the chief and his council members for their support and bid them farewell.
Volunteers were fed with food- rice, water and drinks in appreciation for their support in the project.
In conclusion, we were able to meet project objectives and exceeded the number of community members that were sensitized

CHALLENGES

  1. We had the problem of mobility due to the inherent lockdown considering the location of the village to the nearest town is about an hour, 30 minutes’ distance, hence only those who could connect with those that were mobile could join us in the project.
  2. Community members made request for face mask during sensitization however provision was not made for face mask distribution
  3. Community members of the Gbagyi (Gwari) tribe were seemingly scared of the sensitization team despite being accompanied by members of the community council, this was because there has been unrest in that part of the community so they did not trust strangers.
  4. As it’s the norm, some members of the chief’s council were expecting a sort of compensation from us, since we are an NGO.

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