JUNE 2019 MISSION

On June 26, Terrie and Stewart Abbot and Dr. Mike Sturm left DIA for the long flight to Nigeria. 24 hours later we arrived in Abuja, Nigeria by way of Chicago and Frankfurt, Germany. We spent the next day relaxing and touring Abuja and boarded a plane for Owerri on the 28th.

Once we arrived in Owerrri we got down to work planning for the week of medical outreach and counting the thousands of pills that would be given out over the course of the week. We buy our meds in bulk and have to have them all in their original containers to pass through customs. By the end of the week we had counted and distributed over 76,000 pills! We got everyone into the act, including the president of a local Rotary Club and his wife who came by to introduce themselves to Stewart. We were very grateful to everyone who pitched in to help complete this daunting task. It is an ongoing ritual throughout the week to keep the stock of medicines available for patients.

Bright and early on Monday morning we loaded the car and headed out to the village. We were greeted by over 50 people waiting for us when we arrived at the clinic. We had come up with a system utilizing different colored cards printed with numbers to hand out everyday. That first day we handed out 120 cards for medical visits and 40 for eye exams. By the end of the day we had seen over 200 people. The theory of limiting the number of patients to the number of cards was just that - a theory. We began seeing patients at 9:00 am and finished at 6:30 pm. We worked all day without a break. We were treated to a wonderful dinner at the Nkwocha home and headed back to Owerri to count more pills.

Tuesday was a much easier day, as we limited the number of cards given out to 80 for medical exams and 25 for eye exams. We still saw 140 patients, but we finished much earlier. Several of our volunteers change their work schedules to the night shift the week that we are in town and it is important to get them to work on time! The numbers of people waiting for us continued to grow over the week. By Thursday people had come to the clinic at 2:00 am and slept in the rain to be sure they’d get a number to be seen. That day we gave out all the numbers for Friday to the overflow of patients waiting when we arrived. All in all, Mike saw 250 patients for eye exams and the medical team saw 750.

The needs of the people continue to be the same as we have seen before - malaria and typhoid, diabetes, hypertension, aches and pains of arthritis, various skin conditions and worms. We have not been able to offer prenatal services yet since our weekly clinics are still being held in an open air pavilion at the Nkwocha family compound.

On Friday evening, heading back to Owerri, the car gave it’s last gasp. We managed to make it to a church compound where we abandoned it and called a driver to come and get us. We are praying that we may find a reliable heavy-duty car that can handle the rough roads without constantly needing repairs.

We met the following Monday with the representative from Project Cure. Dr. Catherine Uzoma is a native of Imo state who has spent her career practicing and teaching public health at Howard University. She has recently retired and now travels for Project Cure as a site surveyor. She seemed very impressed with our project and having done multiple medical outreaches in Nigeria was a great source of information. She filled out our wish list and will submit her recommendations to Project Cure. If we can raise the funds for shipping we should have a very well equipped clinic by the first of the year!

None of this would be possible without the support of our donors. We are very blessed by each and every one of you who have given from your hearts to our project. We are constantly amazed at how quickly this dream is turning into a reality. We hope to have the Clinic open full time sometime in January. Then we will be able to return to our original purpose of providing quality obstetrical to the women of Nguru Umuaro and the surrounding area. Until then we will continue to offer weekly clinics and free medications to pregnant women and children and people with chronic hypertension and diabetes.

JUNE MISSION COMING UP

We will be traveling back to Nigeria soon. We are excited to be traveling with Dr. Michael Sturm this trip. Mike is an optometrist who will be offering eye care and prescription glasses to our patients. At every mission we have held people have asked for help with their eyesight. We are thrilled to be able to offer this level of care to the villagers. Mike is especially interested in treating people with diabetes and school age children.

Fr. John is already on his way to Owerri to coordinate logistics for our outreach. We will be interviewing doctors and midwives to staff the maternity hospital once we get it up and running. Please pray that the right people come forward to lead us into this next venture.

Speaking of opening the clinic, our building is completed!!! We will be able to hold clinics in our new space. That will offer much more privacy than we have had in the past and will allow the practitioners to do more thorough exams on patients. There was only so much that could be done in an open air pavilion in the past.

Another task for this trip is meeting with the site surveyor for Project Cure. She will meet us in Owerri and tour our new hospital to help us decide what equipment can be sent. Project Cure gathers donated equipment an supplies from hospitals and clinics around the country and then offers them to missionary programs around the world. They will furnish our maternity clinic for free!!! We just need to pay for the shipping to Nigeria - not a small thing. We will get a better idea of the cost once the surveyor finishes her work, but we were told the cost could be as much as $20,000. So that will be our next goal: Raising $$$ to cover the costs involved in getting everything to Egbelu.

We are anxious to get going and see how the bare cinder block structure has been transformed into a real hospital building. This is dream that has been in the making for 3 years and we never expected it to be coming true so soon. We have been very blessed and are amazed at how God has been working to make this all come together. Our donors have been exceedingly generous and we thank God for everyone of you. May the blessings return to you tenfold!

JANUARY 2019 MISSION

We just returned from Egbelu and although things didn’t all go quite as planned, our time there was very fruitful. We had 3 days of medical outreach and saw almost 500 patients. We were able to make plans for the completion of the hospital building and hope to move in when we return in June!

Unfortunately, Dr. Michael Sturm, the optometrist who was to join us was unable to get a visa in time for the trip. He will be accompanying us when we return in June. It was hard to once again explain to patients that we could not offer eye care but some things can’t be controlled.

We started our mission in the usual way - counting pills! We were able to give free medication to all 500 patients. We had to make a trip to the drug warehouse every evening to resupply our antimalarial meds. At least those come in dosage packs and don’t have to be counted! It is always a relief to finish the last day of clinic and know that the evening doesn’t need to be spent counting more pills!

Clinic days were much more calm and organized than in the past. People have gotten used to our weekly outreach and understand that they will get the care they need and they are much more patient. We had great help from our former volunteers - Kennedy, Iffy, Celine, Vivian and Chica. We were also joined by Edith, a community health specialist who gave an educational talk each morning and helped with translation in the pharmacy. She talked about preventing disease and demonstrated proper hand washing technique. We had each patient wash their hands as they checked in and it was gratifying to see that they all followed her example.

We saw many people suffering from malaria and typhoid, scabies and fungal skin diseases and catarrh (runny nose, coughing, etc.). The catarrh is most likely the product of the season - harmattan, when the winds blow from the Sahara in the north carrying large amounts of fine dust. The air is so dense with the haze that the sun, if you can see it at all, is a deep red. The weather coupled with the pollution from thousands of automobiles in Owerri that are in need of repair and the burning of trash had us suffering from catarrh after a few days.

Many people we have seen in the past continue in good health thanks to the ongoing care Celine offers on Saturday mornings. Those who understand the importance of staying on their blood pressure and diabetes medications are well controlled. Unfortunately, there are still those who don’t understand that a course of medicine does not cure their disease. They returned with results as bad or worse than when we last saw them. Since the symptoms of those diseases can seem unrelated to the condition - headache, fatigue, etc., it is hard to convince people just how serious it is. For many people the first sign that something is wrong is a stroke from hypertension or a coma from out-of-control diabetes. Education remains a large part of our mission.

After a successful fall of fundraising we were able to make plans to finish the clinic before the rainy season begins again. We were not happy with some of the work that had been done and were fortunate in finding a structural engineer to take over the rest of the project. Nwaturwocha Uba (Chris) has offered to complete the work with no charge for his supervision. We only need to pay his transportation to and from the site. He had is crew busy the day after we met him and we are confident we will be happy with the results. He is a great blessing to us.

With completion of the building so close we have begun the process of getting all the appropriate approvals from the government. The next big task will be hiring the right person to manage the clinic. We are praying that we will find someone who shares our vision and our standards. We want to offer the people of Nguru Umuwaro the best care possible.

GIVING TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2018

Help us to receive matching funds by giving through our Facebook page on Tuesday, November 27th. Facebook and PayPal are making $7million available to non-profits on Giving Tuesday and will match your donation to Beatitude Care Foundation! Please give early to be sure that funds are still available. Help us reach our goal of finishing our clinic building this winter before the rainy season begins again.

June 2018 Mission

We have just returned from a very successful trip to Nigeria.  We had 5 very busy clinic days.  We saw almost 600 people!  That's an average 60 people a day for each of the medical providers.    Couple that with many of these people being new patients and the language barrier and it makes for long days.  (Yes, the official language in Nigeria is English, but most people are more comfortable with Igbo or pidgin - a mix of native language and English.)   Our Thursday clinic was devoted entirely to pregnant women and children.  We held it in our yet to be completed building.  We didn't stop to think that in equatorial Africa the sun sets much earlier than a Colorado summer evening.  We finished the day filling prescriptions by the light of a couple of cell phones.  Thank you, Lord, for technology!

Of the 600 people we saw, 335 had malaria, including 112 children.  82 people were treated for typhoid and 42 for worms (mostly children).  We gave out 182 prescriptions for high blood pressure, many people registering over 200!  One woman with diabetes had sugar so high our machine couldn't read it.  A three month old baby weighed less than her birth weight.  We had many requests for help with eye problems.  We are hoping to have an eye doctor with us when we return in January.  We saw open and infected wounds, stroke victims and various aches and pains.  In all, we gave out 1470 packets of medications.  That doesn’t count over 30,000 vitamins!

We are very grateful for the help of our local staff.  Celine Orji, our midwife, sees patients every Saturday in our absence.  She has managed to stabilize most of the people we saw in January who suffer from high blood pressure and diabetes.  Ify, our lab tech, assists her in caring for patients each week.  Kennedy is the master of organization, keeping everything on track and ordering drugs for the weekly outreach.  He also supervises the construction of our building making sure that everything is going smoothly.  We wouldn't be able to do all this without their help.

We were blessed to have Chica and Vivian join us this trip.  Chica has graduated from medical school, but has not yet secured a residency.  He served as Stewart's interpreter and expert on tropical medicine.  We hope to have him join the staff on Saturdays.  At this point he has to work under a doctor with a Nigerian license, so that is incentive for Stewart to complete the paper work to be officially Nigerian.  Vivian, his sister, is a nurse who works in the ER in a hospital in Owerri.  She was invaluable help in the pharmacy and lab handing out meds and explaining how they are to be taken. 

We were reminded just how dear life is on this trip.  We attended a funeral for a woman Stewart saw in January and learned of the death of 2 other people from the village while we were there.  We visited the father of John's friend who is hospitalized following a bad outcome from anesthesia for a simple surgery.  They were hoping the American doctor could offer some help.  Unfortunately, that is not Stewart's area of expertise. 

While there, we toured the hospital grounds with a young physician.  She mentioned that she had a patient we might want to see.  His name is Abraham and he was in a bus accident a month ago.  He suffered a compound fracture to his left arm.  He was unable to pay for treatment, so he was stabilized in the ER and then sent to the men's ward.  He has remained there since, unable to leave because he couldn't pay his bill.  He is originally from Benue, a state to the north of Imo.  His village was attacked by the Fulani herdsmen and his family's home was burned to the ground.  They are now refugees.  He had a job in Lagos, but was unemployed and traveling to a new job when he was in the accident.  A man without a home and without hope.

Our hearts were moved and we started a fundraising campaign on Facebook to help Abraham get the treatment he needs.  In just one day we raised over $1600!  That will go a long way in the Nigerian healthcare system.  Before we left Owerri we paid his bill and made sure he got his x-rays done.  Since then we have communicated with the doctor and things seem to be on track to get his treatment started.  Fr. Placidus has promised to keep tabs on him to insure his care is continued.

As I sit in my kitchen writing with a cool breeze from the fan, an internet connection and electricity I can count on, I am reminded of how blessed I am.  We take so much for granted here, from our healthcare to our comfortable lifestyle.  Let us be ever aware that not everyone shares those blessings and do what we can to make the world a better place for others.

WE'RE RAISING THE ROOF!

Roofing has begun on the clinic building this week.  We are amazed at how fast work is being completed.  We will have our own space to work out of soon.  Now the task of raising the remainder of funds to complete the interior begins.

Celine Orji, our nurse midwife, has been very busy every Saturday seeing patients.  She averages 20-25 patients a week.  The community is very grateful for the help they are receiving.  Stewart has placed an order for drugs to resupply the clinic when we go in June.  Blessings International, the organization we get most of our discounted drugs from, is running a special in honor of World Malaria Day and we are able to get enough free malarial medication to treat 50 patients!!!  Since 70% of deaths from malaria occur in children under 5 treating it is a big part of our mission in Nguru Umuaro. 

Please keep Kennedy and Celine in your prayers as they minister to the people in Egbelu.  It is dangerous for them to travel back and forth and carry all the equipment and medications needed for Saturday clinics.  We are very grateful to them for their hard work on our behalf.

If you have a group you would like us to speak to please let us know.  We are still in need of almost $30,000 to complete the clinic building and open full time.  We are confident that our supporters will come through and make this dream a reality.

SSKIDS Benefit

Support Benefit For:

  Beatitude Care Foundation – Nigeria

           Bringing Health and Hope to Nguru Umuaro

        Established by Dr. Stewart Abbot and Terri Abbot

              Manos Juntas – Honduras

              Helping hands, creating global opportunities to improve education

                   Eva Serrano and Matthew Thompson   Dos Rios Elementary School  

Please join us for the

21st Annual Soup Supper

 Monday, March 12th, 2018  *   6:00 pm

Our Savior’s Lutheran Church

1800 21st Avenue   Greeley, CO 80634

Soups will be provided by local restaurants

 NO CHARGE FOR SUPPER  *  DONATIONS APPRECIATED

 100% of your donation is used to fund our projects!!

INTERNATIONAL CRAFTS FOR SALE * HANDMADE BOWLS FROM THE CLAY CENTER

JANUARY MISSION IS A GREAT SUCCESS!

We arrived in Nigeria on January 5 and traveled to Owerri where we stay when visiting.  The first order of business was to unpack 7 suitcases of drugs and medical supplies.  We were able to take over-the-counter and prescription medications worth over $38,000 thanks to the ministry of Blessings International and Kingsway Charities.  This doesn't include the value of medical equipment and supplies we took with us!

Once we organized all the medications it was time to start dividing the bulk quantities into the proper dosage amounts.  We spent the weekend counting pills and labeling bags.  Everyone pitched in to help get the work done for Monday's clinic.

On Monday afternoon we held a limited clinic, seeing only 27 patients.  On Tuesday we were in full swing!  We arrived at the Egbelu Community Center to be greeted by a large crowd waiting to be seen.  Dr. Abbot and Sister Chinemerem were able to treat 150 patients before we had to close up in order to be back in Owerri in time to restock on medicines we had run out of.  It was another night of counting pills!  Wednesday was a replay of Tuesday, seeing another 150 patients.  Again, we needed to leave before everyone was seen in order to arrive back in Owerri before dark.

Thursday we traveled to Orasheze to hold clinic at Holy Trinity church.  Fr. Placidus  has become a great friend to us, helping to transport us and feeding us when we visit.  We even got him counting pills on Thursday!  We weren't able to see everyone who came, but we handed out multivitamins to everyone.

Friday we were back in Egbelu to see the people we had to turn away on Wednesday.  We held clinic until 1:30 when we had to leave to take Sr. Chinemerem back to her home in Anambra, the state just north of Imo State.  We were able to meet many of the sisters that she cares for in the nursing home she runs there.  We were sorry to have to say goodbye.  She is truly a blessing to us, not only for her skill in nursing, but for her joyful and loving spirit.

On Saturday we met with Celine Orji, a midwife with extensive experience.  She has prescriptive ability and so will be able to treat the many people with ongoing health concerns in Nguru Umuaro.  We have hired her to hold clinic hours every Saturday.  We have also hired a lab tech, but she prefers not to have her name mentioned.  She worries she will lose her job at a hospital in Owerri if it is known she is working for us.  She was with us all week and is a great asset to our mission.

Also on Saturday the local construction supervisor we hired oversaw the clearing of the land and the plotting out of the site for the foundation of the first building!  We decided to start with the hospital building and use it as a clinic until we raise the money for the clinic proper.  We want to make some changes to the clinic plans to add a second story community education room so we will wait until we can get someone to redraw the plans for us.  The architect in Nigeria was very expensive, so we are hoping to find someone local who will make the modifications for us.  It was very exciting to walk through the new building - even if only in our imaginations!  We were impressed with the amount of work accomplished in just a few hours.  The trenches for the footers are all being dug by hand - in bare feet!  These are hard working people!

We feel truly blessed to see the dream coming to fruition so quickly.  When we return in April we will be able to hold clinic in our own building!  It will just be walls and a roof, but that's all we have at the community center so it will not be much different.  We will have separate rooms for the healthcare providers to see patients, though.  That will be a true luxury!

We are amazed at the generosity of so many people that has gotten us this far.  Thank you to everyone who has partnered with us to fulfill our mission.  We will keep working to raise the rest of the funds needed to finish the first building and finance the April mission.  We are confident that we will reach out goal with the help of our wonderful donors.  It truly takes a village to help a village!

Work Resumes!

The rainy season has ended and work has resumed at the building site.  The ground has been cleared and is ready for workmen.  Cement and sand have been delivered to begin making the blocks to start on the clinic building!

We are getting closer to reaching our goal of $58,000 to complete the first phase of building at the site.  We are moving ahead in faith and beginning the construction of the clinic building.  We will build until the money runs out!  We have faith that we soon will have the full amount raised.  Thank you to everyone who has made a generous donation to this campaign.  The people of Nguru Umuaro are anxiously awaiting the completion of the clinic.

We are planning a trip to Nigeria in the first half of January.  John, Stewart, and Terrie will be joined by Verlene White.  We will hold several days of clinic and oversee the initial building project.  We also hope to hire a community health worker to begin seeing patients on a regular basis in the community building until the clinic is completed.  We hope to find someone who will see patients once a week to care for chronic conditions and prenatal checks.  We also hope to be able to leave a small stock of medicine for the health care provider to distribute.

We will be collecting over-the-counter medications to take with us in January.  We will also be ordering prescription medications and vitamins from a missionary supplier at great discount.  If you would like to help you can donate funds or collect unopened bottles of ibuprofen, Benadryl, acetaminacin, cold preparations, analgesic creams used for arthritis pain, and antibiotic creams.  Donations can be taken to Trinity Episcopal Church, dropped at the Abbots, or sent to Beatitude Care Foundaiton, PO Box 336071, Greeley, Colorado, 80633.

BUY A BLOCK CAMPAIGN CONTINUES

We have had 2 very successful fundraising dinners, one in Ontario, Oregon, and on in Greeley, Colorado.  Participants enjoyed a Nigerian dinner and a presentation of the dreams for the center and the realities of Nigerian life.  Thank you to all who attended for your generosity!

We also made a presentation to Soup Suppers for Kids In Dire Situations (SSKIDS) and are pleased to announce that we will be one of the projects they will support in 2018.  Please watch for the information about the soup supper in the new year and plan to attend.  Your donations to SSKIDS will help to get us further to our goal.

Speaking of goals - Our goal for this campaign is $58,000, the estimated cost of the Clinic Building.  We are happy to announce that through the generosity of our donors we are 2/3 of the way there!  This great outpouring of gifts leaves us humbled.  We thank God for every one of our partners in this dream.

But...this is just the beginning of our project.  With estimated costs of staff housing and a small hospital our total need is $124,000 in addition to the funds already raised.  We are looking at grants and any other revenue streams that are suggested to us.  If you have a group we can talk to, know of a grant opportunity, or have a rich uncle please let us know!