Even in the face of the natural disaster that hit Bayelsa State hard, which is the 2022 flood that affected more than 95% of the state, some people still had the heart to help others. One of those was a foundation known as Gold Coats Developmental Foundation founded by Moses Oruaze Dickson which made sure that most of the nursing mothers that were affected were camped and taken care of by the establishment.

Goodwill

According to the founder, Moses Dickson, he said that the reason for setting up the foundation was to advance goodwill adding that: “Our own purpose is anchored on three key programme areas which are health care, education and strategic youth empowerment. “We want to pick out some children out of all of them that we have encountered in our camp and set up an education trust fund that will see them all through their education down to the university level. “So, we are in talks with FCMB to set up a trust fund. I’m looking at one boy and three girls. The case of the boy is even more pathetic because the mother died after giving birth to him. He has only his aged grandmother that looks after him. The boy is barely two weeks old. His name is Izibewilei Francis.”

Nursing mothers

Also, the coordinator of the foundation Brenda Izu, she told mega city that part of the foundation’s core mandate and values are the vulnerable, adding that most of the time, the vulnerable are basically women and the children. She said: “When the flood came, we knew that many of the nursing mothers would be affected and going to other camps they may not be able to cope there with infants. So we decided to specifically set up that place for nursing mothers and their little children.

“We got mothers who already have other children and there was no way, we can say keep your children and bring only your baby, so we encouraged them to also come with their other children because children are also vulnerable. “After some days, we had a case where a woman started convulsing; we had to quickly rush her to the hospital. It then dawned on us of the need for us to actually know the medical history of these people. That was when we started a medical outsome drugs and did some tests and from there we discovered other major things.

“We even had to refer some of the women and the children and outside that one, we had another medical outreach for the infants where paediatricians came and we had some medical personnel come to check up on them from time to time and prescribe drugs where necessary and we thank the ministry of health and the flood rescue team for their assistance. “When they heard that we are here, they decided to come and see what we are doing and the Bayelsa SEMA (State Emergency Management Agency) also did their best, some other NGOs and other donors.

They have been coming to support in their own different ways. “On funding, we started with our organisation. When we got shelter for them we also got things that the children will need. From there, we decided to publicise it and seek for people who may want to support in one way or the other. “People started coming in and other individuals too came with things specifically for nursing mothers and children.” Also Dorcas Dio, a volunteer at the Foundation, said “Initially, we are running a temporary shelter home for nursing mothers and children. “During this flood, we just took the initiative to create a temporary home for mothers who gave birth and nursing mothers who have been affected by the flood so that they can find somewhere to stay for the time being.

Day-old babies

“We camped with over 36 mothers, 25 babies and 55 children. Some of them came with day-old babies. “On how we have been feeding them, initially when we started, the plan was to give them food stuff which we were doing. We had bags of rice, we just packaged them in a custard cup and handed it over to the women but later we started getting more donations. However, the cooked food that you saw came from the Bayelsa SEMA. “They normally feed us twice daily. We have food in the mornings. Sometimes, it could be beans or rice and in the evening, eba and soup. So adding up to the raw food we give out, it has been generous donations that have made this possible. “We also did free medical care because there is no way you keep children and mothers so that there will not be health challenges from time to time. So rising from cases that have occurred, incumbent challenges of people falling sick, children and mothers complaining that my baby is so lean, my baby is vomiting.

Free medical outreach

“We had to do a free medical outreach for all our occupants. We did the first one last week Wednesday for just mothers. We did urinary, malaria and HIV tests and health sanitization on how to feed their babies breast milk and keep their babies clean. On Saturdays, it is for children. We have also had a paediatric medical outreach where paediatricians came and checked every baby, did all the necessary tests for the children and made sure that they were ok. “So anytime we get complaints from time to time, we call on some friends that volunteer their services. Sometimes, we do scans and buy drugs for people.

Mosquito nets

“We also provided them with mosquito nets and mattresses which our boss, the founder of Gold Coast Foundation, Moses Dickson provided. He said since we are starting, you know when you are starting something fresh, you don’t wait for outsiders to give you everything. You start with what you have and then if people see what you are doing, and feel like joining you, they will. “On partnership, I can’t say for sure if we are in partnership with the Bayelsa State Government but they have been in constant support. The Bayelsa SEMA often has people here to help with our nursing mothers.”

Water problem

The achievements although have not been without some challenges as she explained. “Minus the flood water, we have portable water problems. At one point, the generator could not carry the pumping machine and so we had issues with cooking water and most of them had to resort to using sachet water. We also had fuel challenges.

Beneficiaries’ delight

Speaking to some of the nursing mothers at the camp, one of them, who gave her name as Philip Blessing, explained how she got there. “I came to this place because of the flood. I ran away from Mbiama (Rivers State) to Yenagoa and flood also drove me away from where I ran to. “My own case was difficult because I was heavily pregnant.

In the midst of flood wahala, labour caught me around 3am and I delivered my baby girl on Oc-tober 18 at a traditional birth attendant’s home. “I had to be rushed to the traditional birth attendant because there was no vehicle to take me to a hospital and more so, no available money to do that. “As we came back from where I went to give birth, the house that I ran to had already been flooded and the women started running up and down to where I will stay. That was how she brought me to this place.

I came here when my baby was just two days old and they have been very wonderful. “I came to this Gold Coast Foundation with my two other children and there is no day that they don’t give us two square meals – very good meals! Today, they brought beans and bread in the morning. This evening they will give us eba and soup.

“When I arrived, the foundation gave us milk, pampers, soap, a feeding bottle and other things for my baby. Doctors come here to check us and our babies; they gave my daughter some immunization. There is even elderly woman that bathes all the babies. People have also been coming to donate things. “I pray that God should bless them. As they took care of us very well, God should guide and preserve them and us nursing mothers.” Another nursing mother of four months, Joy Smart said: “I was running away from flood from my place at Akenfa to another place at Okaka and flooding also got to the place.

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