Nigerian Chronicles X- PPFA in Gboko II

This is the concluding chapter in this series, and will focus on healthcare training and an AIDS clinic at the NKST church headquarters facility.  Some personal impressions will follow the visual presentations. The NKST reproductive-health project recently upgraded a center for educating midwives and nurses on reproductive-health issues, particularly basic family planning, contraceptive technology, and […]

Nigerian Chronicles IX- PPFA in Gboko

So far I have been documenting family planning in Muslim communities in Northern Nigeria.  This next post brings us back together with Thank-God Okosun and PPFA’s activities in an evangelical Christian community in Gboko, Benue State. The NKST (Nongo u Kristi u k Sudan hen Tiv) Church, whose headquarters we visited, has 127,115 members distributed […]

Nigerian Chronicles VIII- Social Networking

In a small village an hour outside Kano I was asked to photograph a large congregation of people inside a small courtyard. Apparently this was the beginning of a wedding ceremony where Traditional Birth Attendants take the opportunity to dispense birth control materials  and  engage in family planning discussions. My initial impression was that there […]

Nigerian Chronicles VII- Hospitals

Abortions are illegal in Nigeria; nevertheless, abortions occur and as they happen under non-medical conditions, serious complications are all too frequent. Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital (MMSH) is the primary public sector hospital in Kano State and has the largest program for treating women for complications of unsafe abortions. Although the hospital serves mainly woman in […]

Nigerian Chronicles VI: Bixby Girls Education

An hour outside of Kaduna, we arrived in a small village to document the Bixby Girls’ Education project. It was raining, and as we waited outside a small mud structure, a few women came to sweep out the water that had accumulated on the floor and then proceeded to lay down a dry carpet. About […]

Nigerian Chronicles V: SWODEN in Kano

SWODEN is a foundation supported by the Packard Foundation that operates in Kano, the second most populous Nigerian city after Lagos, which has an estimated population of 2.1 million inhabitants (from the 2006 Nigerian census).  SWODEN is a multi-faceted NGO, whose work encompasses women’s reproductive health care, girl’s education, vocational-skills training, and microfinance – all […]

Nigerian Chronicles IV- PPFA in Maiduguri

In Maiduguri, PPFA ( again supported by Packard Foundation grants) had set up a Reproductive Health Information and Services Center run by youth peer educators. PPFA considers peer to peer interaction very critical for successful youth and adolescent reproductive health programming. The philosophy behind these programs, according to Thank-God Okosun, the PPFA Program Officer here […]

Nigerian Chronicles III- PPFA in Gwoza

Gwoza is a community in northern Nigeria that is over 90% Muslim. As recently as six years ago it was inconceivable to imagine any birth control or family planning options. They were regarded as taboo. The accepted norm was that  “God gives children and God will provide for the children”. It was therefore not unusual […]

Nigerian Chronicles II- Yola Nomadic Schools

These schools were funded by the Packard Foundation.  According to the foundation, the education of girls is the best indicator of reproductive health outcomes as they mature into women of child bearing age. The plan is to make sure these children will receive an education that will carry them through secondary school. While these young […]

The Nigerian Chronicles- I

This past July I was assigned  by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation to photograph their maternal and child health care programs in Nigeria. The Packard Foundation had made an executive decision to terminate their programs after ten years of very multifaceted and comprehensive involvement in all aspects of women’s reproductive health care, including promoting […]