Nno, Welcome, Ola,

I visited Nigeria in 2006 and was bitten by a bug called High Infant Mortality Rate. I read about the issue in a local news paper in Abuja. This information was buttressed while on holidays in my father's village (Nnewi); an elderly woman informed my cousin and I of 2 infant deaths that Christmas week from childhood preventable illnesses. I was aghast. I sat down, dumfounded, then a flashback of I (as a child), at the end of civil war, women carrying their dying babies of kwashiorkor to my father's compound seeking relief; food, water, medicine anything to help their infants. In 2007 I returned to finish my graduate school in Public Health and my community health class provided a platform to research infant mortality rate. Hence, I wrote a paper on it, and proposed a three year strategic pyramid solution.

This blog is about being part of the solution:
(a) bringing the issue to bear
(b) envisioning seamless integrated strategies
(c) visualizing adapting innovative, sustainable solutions to mitigate variables that give rise to high infant deaths.

At issue is the continent of Africa. Some may say I gave money to Africa, yes you did but in reality you gave money for a project in Mali, or Sierra Leone or Liberia. That is 3 countries out of 50. From my research, high infant morality rate in SSA is attracting international, national and individual researchers seeking effective methods in implementing sustainable measures or solutions towards reversing the numbers. I am suggesting that more man power is needed to combat the problem at least in Nigeria.

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/MDG_FS_4_EN.pdf



Thursday, November 11, 2010

Guitar Hero on Veterans Day

Shall we salute all veterans, today being veterans day. There were many stories about veterans today.  The guitar hero story by Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News in his "Making A Difference" segment (I think that has become a signature piece of his), showed effectiveness of a simplified strategy to a complex problem.  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/ns/nightly_news/  In short it is a story about a PTSD Vietnam veteran who started a program of helping injured veterans by giving them guitars and teaching them how to play the instrument (using Kaizen approach).  And this is my point, using collective effort in helping others, as Brian would say to make a difference in others lives.  To date the program has given out 800 guitars. Thus, the process of learning to play the guitar  in addition to the music helps the veterans in healing. As a daughter of a major in the army (civil war) who lost her father from the ills of the war, lost a young uncle (father's only brother) at the war front, lost an aunt at a market when a bomb exploded and other relatives from effects of war, I simply understand the anguish of war ramifications. Kudos to those who sacrifice their lives in the war front. That is the utmost sacrifice, and they are the true heros of today.
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