REPORT OF COMMUNITY IMMERSION 2007/2008 SESSION (RURAL & URBAN)
BY: OKWEREKWU PETER.N 020715034
REPORT OF RURAL COMMUNITY IMMERSION IN LAKOWE VILLAGE, IBEJU-LEKKI LGA LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA.
INTRODUCTION The group started started the rural rural immersion immersion at Lakowe Lakowe Vill Village, age, Ibeju-Lekki Ibeju-Lekki LGA, Lago Lagos s Sta State te on the the
22nd day day of June June,, 20 2008 08.. The The entr entry y poin points ts into into the the
community were the Baale. The village consisted of approximately. Surrou Surroundi nding ng commun communiti ities es were were Oriba Oribanwa nwa,, Adeba, Adeba, Eputu, Eputu, Lagasa Lagasa Villa Villages ges.. The community had only one secondary school (Iwerekun High School) and a few small primary schools, mostly private. The road network in the Lakowe area is not good at all, drainage is a very big problem as most streets are not tarred and become almost impassable in the rainy season. On our way back to we were delayed for almost two hours because our bus got stuck in a ditch that was flooded and quite sandy on the road. The facilitator was Mrs Adeyemi with Dr Inem as Supervisor. The aim of this visit was to identify the health needs and health related problems of these areas. We were also able to do a health survey of the community and schools. A focus group discussion was also done to ensure that the community felt health needs were also identified.
DAY 1 (Sunday 22th June 2008) The first day of the programme started with arriving at the local government after a 4 hour drive drive from the Lagos Universit University y Teaching Teaching Hospital. Hospital. We were received warmly by our host, The Baale of the Village. After the introductions were were made made and accomm accommoda odatio tion n was arrang arranged, ed, we comme commence nced d with with the mobilization of the community residents and campaign about our presence. Word Word of our our arri arriva vall was was sp spre read ad by the the Vill Villag age e Town Town Crie Crierr so as creat create e awar awaren enes ess s of the the prog progra ramm mmes es that that were were to foll follow ow.. We went went furt furthe herr to introduce ourselves to the CDA Chairman of the Community. Who briefed us on the situation of things in the community, what had been put in place and what they still had to do. They also enumerated how they felt our presence could benefit them in combating particular difficulties they faced. They also made it very clear that they would try their best possible to make sure that we were very comfortable and relaxed even as we offer them humanitarian services. We were then shown the health post of the community (Also known as BASE), however this post was not purpose built as it also serves as local Drinking spot. Also a map of the region was drawn.
DAY 2 (Monday 23 rd June 2008) We then distributed ourselves in groups of two to the different streets in the local government government to fill the morbidit morbidity y survey survey questionnair questionnaires. es. We selected selected ever very
alte alterrnat nate
hous house e
on a
str street for for
inte ntervie view
and and
que questi stionna onnaiire
administration. We followed the format of introducing ourselves, explaining our mission, and its relevance to their community, interviewed and examined a member of each household. At the same time, we tried to mobilize people to come to our health post for free free dent dental al chec check-u k-up. p. Afte Afterr this this,, we reco reconv nven ened ed at the the heal health th post post and offere offered d healt health h and oral oral health health services services to those those who came in. Not much
treatment could have been done at the health post but most were educated on thei theirr oral oral hygi hygien ene e whil while e a few few othe others rs who who requ requir ired ed trea treatm tmen entt were were referred to General Hospital.
DAY 3 (Tuesday 24th June 2008) We all convened at the health post (BASE) where we setup for immunization that that
day. day.
Post Poster ers s
displ display ayin ing g
brea breastf stfee eedi ding ng
prac practi tice ces, s,
immu immuni niza zati tion on
schedules, schedules, nutritional nutritional statuses statuses to mention a few, were pasted on the trees and walls to provide some sort of the much needed publicity we needed to further remind the villagers of where we were located to offer them health services. The Villagers started trooping in much later in the day (12pm) due to the rain that slightly disrupted our programme. The Health Talk was given by Paul Arikawe who also functioned as interpreter for the group, the talk centred on the importance of regular health check, their current lifestyle, dietary habits as well as the toothbr toothbrushi ushing ng technique techniques s as well as the rational rationale e
behind behind
them. After the health talk was given, Immunizations began, In addition to this this Bloo Blood d pres pressu sure re chec checks ks were were also also done done on the the vill village agers rs (How (Howev ever er emphasis was placed on the Elderly) Later that evening, we assemble again at the Health Post for the Focussed Group Discussion. Those in attendance were the Baale; CDA Chairman; Chief Imam of the Community; as well as other opinion leaders in the community. Key Key issu issues es rais raised ed by the the comm commun unit ity y memb member ers, s, In addi additi tion on to this this we obse observ rved ed high high prev preval alen ence ce of Diabe Diabeti tic c pati patien ents ts as well well as Hype Hypert rten ensi sive ve patients. The dental problems seen were a general state of poor oral hygiene which which resulted resulted in Increased Increased Periodontitis Periodontitis & Caries Caries Attack. Attack. Also discussed were Poor Drainage, Bad roads, Insufficient Electricity & Water Supply
DAY 4 (Wednesday 25th June 2008) This started with our visiting the government secondary school in the local governme government, nt, Iwerekun Iwerekun High School. School. Here we met the School School Principal Principal who then then dele delega gate ted d his his Teac Teache hers rs to assi assist st in mobi mobili lisi sing ng the the stud studen entt body body,, however he was initially hesitant to allow an immunization campaign of this magnitude to go on in his school as he was worried about the reactions of the Parents of the students due to their traditional beliefs. The school was a mix of Junior and Senior Secondary School. The oral health talk started with highlighting the importance of having a clean and healthy teeth/mouth. The students were also educated on how to maintain a good oral hygiene. They were also advised to reduce their intake of refined sugars in form of sweets, biscuits and carbonated drinks, but instead to eat more of fruits which they had readily available and in abundance. Some students were called out to re-cap and demonstrate what they had learnt. The school health questionnaires were duly filled out and the students examined. Thi This s day day was was also also tagg tagged ed our our immu immuni niza zati tion on day day whic which h imme immedi diat atel ely y commenced after the health talk. Several vaccines which included Hepatitis B, Measles, Measles, Tetanus Tetanus,, Polio, Polio, Yellow Yellow Fever, Fever, BCG
were were admini administe stered red to all
students who were interested in the exercise. Nutr Nutrit itio iona nall statu statuse ses s of chil childr dren en unde underr five five were were also also asce ascert rtai aine ned d and assessed and those who were short of standard were advised on appropriate feeding practices that would make their child grow healthy and strong. Later In the day we visited the Phase 2 of the Lakowe Village which was situated on the other side of the expressway to give a health talk as well as carry out immunizations on the people in that area. We assembled at the compound of a Village elder called Bros Jay, who was a friend of the Baale. On comp comple leti tion on of the the immu immuni niza zati tion on prog progra ramm mme e we reti retire red d back back to the the Baale’s House.
RECOMMENDATIONS The following recommendations are being made with respect to the findings of our community diagnosis:
Provision of oral health care service center accessible to members of this community and its environment.
Providing the dental students with posters, models and charts that will aid oral health education
Providing Diabetic test kits (Glucometers) to the Drug bag given to the students so as to enable easy assesment of the blood sugar of the population to be studied.
Providing incentives for those who willing offer themselves for the morbidity survey
REPORT OF URBAN COMMUNITY IMMERSION IN IKOSI-ISHERI LOCAL GOVERNMENT, LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA.
BRIEF HISTORY OF IKOSI ISHERI LOCAL GOVERNMENT BACKGROUND Ikosi Isheri Local Government Area (LGA) is one of the 57 local government areas in Lagos State. A state which although has ceased to be the capital of
Nigeria still maintains its importance as the country’s commercial nerve center. Ikosi Isheri is made up of other communities such as magodo, isheri, ikosi and ketu to mention a few. We were based majorly in the magodo area of ikosi-isheri LGA. It is made up of residential estates and large commercial areas with a prominent market which brings a clear distinction between the day life/activities and night life/activities in the area. . As a local government, it houses people from various backgrounds, races and ethnic cleavages and comprises of various streets which include Salako street, Church street, Rasak Bishi street, Folarin street etc.
EDUCATION The LG gives priority attention to education and regard it as the greatest legacy it can bequeath to the young ones; hence a large sum of the LG budget is allocated to this sector. Apart from payment of teacher’s salaries and allowances, the LG agencies and public spirited individual to contribute to the the deve develo lopm pmen entt of educ educati ation on in the the area area.. To achi achiev eve e an all all roun round d educ educat atio ion n grow growth th the the LG is maki making ng gave gave burs bursar ary y awar awards ds to stud studen ents ts in high higher er insti institu tuti tion ons. s. Equa Equall lly y free free exer exerci cise se book books s and educ educat atio ion n su supp ppor ortt materials are distributed from time to time.
TRANSPORTATION The road network in the Magodo area is not that good as most streets are not tarred and become almost impassable in the rainy season. The LG has been maintaining some of the roads to compliment the efforts of the Lagos State ministry of works. Drainages are also not sufficient enough to help in maintaining the longevity of the inner roads.
DAILY ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT DURING THE URBAN COMMUNITY IMMERSION DAY 1; Monday 16th June 2008 2008: We arrived at Magodo later than expected because of hold up and the rain, our arrival site was the community development centre on street, we met with our facilitator and our supervisor, Dr Mrs Ebuehi We could not start immediately because it was still raining; we were then paired up and assigned to various streets with a facilitator. I was paired with a medical student (Mrs Ojo) and was assigned to Adebiyi street, my facilitator was Dr Musa. We did our community mobilization and filled our household questionnaires simultaneously because we were behind schedule, while doing this we also invited people for the immunization exercise to hold the next day. Members of the community were quite receptive and welcoming as they had been expecting us.
DAY 2;Tuesday 17th June 2008: We started quite early on this day. We were divided into 3 groups, a group to give immunization, a group to consult and a group to go for school health, dental students were well represented in each group and at a specified time the groups rotated so that at the end of the day everyone had done school health, given immunizations and also consulted. We carried out nutritional assessment on all the babies that were brought for immunization and gave health talks on balanced diet, good hygiene and
good dental hygiene. Nutritional assesment of under five children was done and the babies were also weighed. While going for the school health those needed for the focus group discussion to hold the next day were invited accordingly. At the school, children were dewormed after paying for the tablet, we had informed them the day before to bring a specified sum of money if they were interested in being dewormed, in total we dewormed about 75% of the population of pupils in the school we visited. To ensure adequate participation by everyone roles were allocated to various people at every point in time by the supervisor.
DAY 3; Wednesday 18th June 18th June 2008: We went about reminding our guests about the focus group discussion to hold today, the discussion was well attended by our guests, we had the Baale’s in attendance, head of the Okada riders, head of the market women, a nurse from the PHC centre, the youth leader, an acclaimed mother of the community, a pastor and the chief Imam of the community, there were also regular members of the community we were present, in total we entertained about 20 guests. The health topics we chose were poor utilization of the immunization service, poor oral hygiene and poor drainage systems. The members of the community basically agreed with us and also made additional complaints of poor electricity supply and the fact that we would just come listen to them and probably not do something about it. We were implored to please follow this through and not just raise false hopes.
DAY 4; Thursday 19th June 2008:
With our collated reports and with findings we met with the chairman of the community development development association and discussed the action plan we had ha d made to combat the health problems we had elicited. Implications involved involved with actualizing these action plans were also discussed. Some changes were made to the action plan we made by the chairman to further suit their own schedule in order to make the implementations easier for them. We were told that their greatest need right now was for a health facility that would cater for their entire medical and dental needs be built with adequate staff strength to provide effective and efficient health care services. In support of this need and in order to facilitate its quick implementation implementation the community told us of a land they had set aside and allocated to be used as the site of this health facility. We thanked the community through the chairman for their hospitality and participation, we promised that we were going to follow through with our findings to the local government and get back to the community.
All these activities that were carried out during the urban community immersion and the dates they were carried out have been summarized below:
Activity
Dates
Household interviews
16th June 2008
Community mobilization
16th June 2008
Nutr Nutrit itio iona nall asse assess ssme ment nt (und (under er five fives) s)
17th June 2008
Immunization sessions
17th June 2008
School health interviews and
17th June 2008
nutritional assessment Health education
17th June 2008
Focus group discussion
18th June 2008
Treatment of common ailments
16 th-18th June 2008
CONCLUSION The community immersion exercise was in the end very educative and enjoyable. We learned to view rural life with a more appreciative eye and the focus group discussions helped us to come up with a community diagnosis that truly reflected the
feelings of people in the community. With effective community mobilization and advocacy most of the preventive strategies would be effective in dealing with health problems like poor oral hygiene.