Dorothy Onyeka
It was tears of joy recently for expectant mothers in Mende, Maryland, Lagos as Rotary District 9110 Nigeria donated pregnancy kits to Mende Primary Health Care Centre.
Speaking on the occasion, the District Governor, D9110 Nigeria, Dr. Jide Akeredolu, said the gesture was part of the club’s objective of doing good.
Rotarian Akeredolu, a medical doctor by training, said pregnancy kits were important for safe delivery of babies, adding that the essence of the donation was to have the kits ready in order to avoid running about during the time of delivery.
“Our duty is to serve the people. We have identified Maryland as one of the areas we need to support. It is a breath of fresh air to see people who are looking for areas to do good. We are happy to be doing our own bit to create a better world. One of the things that pregnancy mothers must provide before delivery is pregnancy kits, and in my own hospital, no woman can deliver without having a pregnancy kit. We don’t give money, but we give tools for self-reliance. Most of the time, we levy ourselves. We task ourselves to raise money to do some of these projects,” he said.
In his contribution, the President, District 9110 (2019-2020), Rotarian Adewale Sanni, said Rotary in Maryland was doing a lot to put smiles on the faces of the down trodden.
According to him, the organisation had done a lot of projects that enhanced quality living of the citizenry, like provision of toilets, donation of waste bins and cleaning of the environment.
He said Rotary usually carry leaders of the community they are doing projects along in order to ensure harmonious relationship.
Adewale also said in the area of empowerment, the organisation gives micro credit to women between N100,000 to N200,000 as well as support the development of education by donating exercise books and other items.
He said the group has also provided financial assistance and a hall to Cane Village in Maryland as well as introduce conflict resolution programme in the community to ensure peace and decorum.
“We presented 60 pregnancy kits to the Mende Primary Health Care Centre because we took statistics of the number of women who give birth there on a daily basis. The number of kits we donated was based on the number provided to us. We have different projects for every month and the purpose is usually to make the world a better place for us all,” he said.
In her reaction, one of the pregnant mothers, Mrs. Bunmi Oke, commended Rotary District 9110, Nigeria for coming to their aid.
According to her, because of the high rate of poverty in the country, some pregnant mothers cannot afford pregnancy kits.