Hundreds benefit from medical outreach in Charlestown

May 28, 2017 News

…as Church, Health Ministry and US-based organisation collaborate
With a desire to reach the people of Charlestown and its environs by more tangible means, Freedom Life Ministries (Church) teamed up with the Ministry of Public Health, (MOPH) and US-based Arms of Care International to

A section of the long line of persons awaiting eye care treatment at the Dolphin Secondary School yesterday.

provide free medical services to members of the community.
The initiative, held at Dolphin Secondary School, Broad Street, Charlestown, Georgetown over the independence weekend, attracted hundreds of persons.
According to a representative of Freedom life Ministries, Melanie Morris, the number of persons seeking health care kept growing by the hour.
“The turnout has been excellent. On the first day, we had more than 250 persons and the numbers keep growing,” she said.
Morris explained that “the initiative is part of the vision of Freedom Life Ministries to partner with other organizations like Arms of Care International to reach members of the community. The idea is to provide services which showcase the love of Christ in a tangible manner”.
Morris noted that in the past, the Church has partnered with other organisations to provide shoes and clothing to members of the public.
The health care services offered, during the two-day outreach (Friday and Saturday), included screening for blood sugar, arthritis, hypertension tests, as well as eye tests and the distribution of eyeglasses. Medication was also dispensed by the trained professionals, free of cost.

Members of the Arms of Care International team which provided health services to locals.

In addition to the primary health care services provided, members of the team also offered prayers and counseling to the community.
Meanwhile, founder of the Georgia, US–based Arms of Care International, Dr Michael Obiekwe, explained that the goal of the organisation is to showcase the love of Christ in their field of work.
According to Dr Obiekwe, Arms of Care International consists of a group of medical professionals who teamed up to facilitate a global health ministry that provides vaccinations, treatments and screening for chronic diseases to nations that are less fortunate.
“We look for opportunities to provide this kind of medical care to people in different parts of the world. We actually have two Guyanese on the team. They have a relation to Pastor Delight Uwagboe of Freedom Life Ministries. So after making contact with the Ministry, we decided to come to Guyana to offer our services.”
Dr Obiekwe also noted that the initiative provides opportunities for the group to partner with local doctors to provide follow-up and continued care in Guyana.
“We also see the potential for telemedicine (diagnosis and treatment of patients by means of telecommunications technology) here in Guyana. So we hope to provide follow-up treatment as well.”
Dr Obiekwe explained that the trip to Guyana is completely funded by Arms of Care International. The visiting team which was led by Dr Sylveria Olatidoye, consisted of five medical doctors and nine nurses. It was also complemented by ophthalmologists from the local health ministry. (Rehanna Ramsay)