Tuesday, April 3, 2012

January 2012--A New Year in Nigeria

Even though it is now already March I need to get this blog caught up on our adventures.  I have had these pictures added since the end of January but never took the time to finish the post.  So--here we go--to the best of my limited memory!

We started off New Years with a lovely dinner at the Hassan`s home on Sunday, Jan. 1.  The Hassans are members of our ward here in Ikeja.  Doctor Hassan is a world renowned eye surgeon (you can google him and find out more) and has several hospitals here in Nigeria.  He is also developing some charitable eye foundations here where he aids many cataract patients and other eye problems.  We had a great visit with him and his wife, Tola. They live in a lovely home quite close to the church.

Enjoying dinner!


The whole group--the Hassans, President and Sister Karkari, Elder and Sister Johansen and us.

The Hassan`s daughter visiting from the UK! 


Elder Baker had a bocce tournament with 2 of our favorite elders. Elder Engmann and Elder Brown are office elders and we see them on a daily basis.  They have a delightful sense of humor and lots of fun to be around.  They are both from Ghana and we had the privilege of meeting both of their fathers when we visited there.


Of course, every tournament has to have a banquet to wrap up!  Our version was pizza and cookies.  By the way---Elder Baker was the winner!


Our next excitement was a trip to Ile Ife with the Fergusons to aid with their Neonatal Resuscitation Training.  What a great honor it was to spend some time with them and see the church`s humanitarian arm in action!

Here we are outside the chapel at Ile Ife--us, President Famosa of the mission presidency, Gloria Ferguson, Joann (nurse trainer), President Karkari, Thomas (mission driver), John Golden (doctor trainer) and Ike Ferguson.

Getting organized--dividing all the equipment to be given to all the medical organizations at the end of the training.  The church provides all the equipment needed so that the people that are trained here can carry on the training in their own locations.  Over the last few years over 14,000 doctors and nurses have been trained here in Nigeria to help babies breathe better and save lives.  Amazing!



The group of young medical students that helped us get organized:


Our fearless leader, Ike Ferguson, giving us some instructions at the hotel:


 Here were the nurses getting ready for the first day of training.  During these 2 days 75 nurses and 51 doctors were trained as trainers--they can now go back to their respective areas and train the staff in their hospitals, clinics and maternity homes. 

 

 Just a shot of our little ``babies``--the mannequins is use by the nurses for their `Helping Babies Breathe`` course.  


Some of the nurse trainees in action at their station.


Doctors were given more advanced training on a different "baby" that could actually be intubated.  Each of these mannequins is worth over $700 and the church provided kits containing  at least one mannequin and other vital equipment to most of the hospitals, clinics or maternity homes that were represented there.  These will be invaluable aids to train more nurses and doctors in these lifesaving procedures.


Even Mark got involved learning the intubation process.  I think he will set up his own clinic when we return home.  The hardest thing to teach him was to call it "intubation" and not "incubation"!


He even received a course completion certificate from Doctor John for being a great
 "Incubator Intubator"! It is one of his prized possessions now.

Our hardworking group of facilitators and trainers at the end of the whole process.  These trainers had been trained in one of the earlier training sessions and qualified to train the new group we were involved with.  What a great visit I had with some of them after the last session--and how impressed they were with the church for donating the time, manpower and resources.  Thousands of babies will be saved just with the simple, updated knowledge that was imparted to the new participants.  What a rewarding experience for all involved.


Finally, back in Lagos after some wonderful days.  Here is our team--Dr. John Golden, Nurse Joann, Ike Ferguson, Gloria Ferguson...and us!

Another memorable month in Nigeria!

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