COVID 19 OUTREACH IN NDOP

After a successful outreach in Yaounde on July 18th 2020, we still had masks and hand sanitizers left. Yaounde initially, was supposed to be our last stop since June 19th. However, we couldn't go home with so many masks and hand sanitizers and so, upon enquiry, Ms Olivia Acha-Morfaw who is a strong A LIST Team player told me about a remote group of warriors in one of the affected towns of the Anglophone Crisis.

She connected me with the person coordinating the group, Mr Ndah and we set to work. This was one of the places where technology was really put to excellent use. I do not know this man, but I trust the lady connecting us and so, we set to work. He acknowledged that, due to the unrest, he cannot determine how many warriors are around but he could use his registry to trace them. I asked what else they could be needing to help them? He said medications.

We then set to work. Communicating back and forth and putting things in place. Mr Alfred who resides in Bamenda and who was also linked to us by Ms Olivia, was to serve as the middle man. The masks and hand sanitizers were sent to him from Yaounde, including money for more hand sanitizers and routine drugs. He collected and sent the things to Mr Ndah who in turn, bought cubes of soap and light refreshments including water for the warriors.

Finally, everything was set and 31st July was selected as the date. We were able to bring together 60 warrirors at short notice. They received masks, hand sanitizers, cubes of soap and routine drugs to last them for a month or so. Those who were hospitalized, had their packages delivered to them in the hospital.

Everything was coordinated through whatsapp and using Mobile Money to send the necessary finances to them. Also, to ensure the warrirors could be reached with ease, Mr Ndah's phone was topped with airtime to call those selected.

While he was busy in Ndop, I was also busy reaching out to individual warrirors in different towns, notably Kumba where a family with four warriors was supported with some cash to get their routine drugs.

Bamenda and Ndop were coordinated through whatsapp. Fortunately, I worked with people who were just as committed and dedicated to supporting persons living with sickle cell. Our shared focus made collaboration through technology easy. Furthermore, in Bamenda, masks and hand sanitizers left for warriors who couldn't make it during that chilly morning they had theirs were distributed, bringing all the total of those imapcted during this period to 113.

I wanted to end the campaign in Yaounde, but I was extremely glad I could end the campaign this way, making additional warrirors smile. It was a very fulfilling moment and I was able to have another group of warriors I look forward to imapcting even more in different ways in the near future.

#OperationSupportAWarriorAgainstCovid19 was a very fulfilling period for me. You can read a detailed report of the whole experience on my blogpost https://joy2endure.com/2020/08/21/here-is-how-we-carried-out-our-covid-1... Stay tuned for more updates and thank you for reading and cheering. The video is a bit mixed up. Watch till the end to get the full story.

#WarriorPrincess.