Just a short stroll from the embassy lives a man who everyone calls the Professor. He did career as a cardiologist in Nigeria, Europe and Canada. Now he is more than 80 years old, living in Abuja, and still doing some consulting for the local hospitals.
On Friday after work we went by his house. I really liked his living room with art from all over the world.
Professor is one of these Nigerians who went abroad but then returned to help his country. Every Friday he goes to the village nearby to care for the mothers and small children, for free.
First we went to pick up some medicine from a local pharmacy.
When we arrived to the village, many women and children were already waiting to see the doctor.
The baby in the middle is one week old.
With two local volunteers, I would take care of greeting the mothers, measuring the weight and height of the babies, and recording the information with their names.
After that, the Professor would receive them.
Anna took the pharmacist’s task, giving the prescribed drugs and explaining their taking. Many of the womed did not speak English but only their mother tongue Hausa, so there was also a local interpreter.
I was finished first, and would hang around with the mothers and their children.
The children got all excited when I took some pictures of them.
On the meantime, the some of the villagers were being tought on reading and writing.
Finnish senior citizen Virpi had just arrived to work some three months as a volunteer in Abuja, with the Professor. Here she’s teaching one of the mothers how to write her and her son’s names. The son is sleeping calmly on his mother’s back.
