Rotaractors in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, came together to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in their community by sharing safety information and providing supplies.
By Rowland Kingsley Dappa, Rotaract Club of Port Harcourt Westfield, Nigeria
Rotaractors in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, came together to carry out a disease prevention project to fight the spread of COVID-19 and prevent a second wave of infections in our communities. Together with Rotaractors in Port Harcourt Spring Gardens and our host Rotary club, we distributed essential cleaning supplies and COVID-19 protocol information to public health care centers in the communities of Ogumnabali and Okuru-ama.
As we conducted research, community service directors helped us determine the availability of medical supplies and COVID-19 precaution kits at different care centers. They were determined to cooperate with us in informing people about how to stay safe during the pandemic.
We also provided the staffs and medical officers with cleaning supplies and medical items for taking care of pregnant mothers and newborns. Many women from rural communities come to the centers for prenatal and postnatal exams. We also gave patients and staff a presentation on how the virus spreads.
We divided into groups to distribute essential supplies and met with medical officials to discuss how to assist the women, who come mostly from low-income families. These women received support and aid to help them in their pregnancies, and we were able to provide supplies to ensure that the staff were sanitized and aware of COVID-19 protocols.
I was encouraged with the level of support we received, and that we were able to help improve the lives of pregnant women in these communities. We feel that other Rotaract clubs can adopt a similar approach to build awareness in their communities, by engaging with their community health centers.
We all need to do our part in helping our governments fight this pandemic. And as members of Rotaract and Rotary, we have a role to play in ensuring our medical staff have what they need and to provide them the encouragement to keep doing the vital work that they do.
This project appears on Rotary Showcase. Share your efforts to fight the spread of COVID-19 on Rotary Showcase.
https://blog.rotary.org/2021/03/04/rotaractors-support-health-centers-in-nigeria/