Upper Caldwell, Montserrado County – Upper Caldwell residents got a dosage of freebies over the weekend as hundreds benefited from free medical treatment courtesy of the Serene Health For All Mobile Clinic.
Report by Edwin Genoway – [email protected]
Serene is a nongovernmental medical institution which renders medical services to underprivileged citizens who cannot afford the cost of medical expenses.
Memah PAYE Pelham, Chief Executive Officer of the organization, is a young Liberian nurse who graduated from the Cuttington University nursing school in Suakoko Bong County. Nowadays, she dedicates her life to giving back to the community.
With sponsorship from the National Oil Company of Liberia NOCAL, ExxonMobil, Serene is making inroads into hard-to-reach communities, slums and rural communities in Montserrado county.
At the third outreach for the year 2017 at the J.W.A Richards public school in Louisianan outside Monrovia, Madam Pelham said she was proud that her organization, with no budgetary allotment from the government, is making meaningful contributions in the lives of people.
“We have been engaged with this exercise a little over five years now and we are glad that our efforts are being recognized by NOCAL and ExxonMobil”, Madam Pelham noted.
She added that her organization will continue to render free medical services in the midst of mounting resource constraints.
The mobile clinic is made up of several physician assistants and nurses who do checkup and provide drugs to patients based on examination results.
Madam Gifty Barkon, the officer in charge, said that while the third outreach in Louisiana is mainly targeting women and children, men are also benefiting from the exercise.
“We can also treat men as you see on the line here today; the men are almost equal to the women and we are giving them the same kind of treatment.”
Madam Barkon noted that her organization’s ambulance is always available to transfer emergency cases that the mobile team cannot handle while the free treatment is ongoing.
During the exercise, residents also received treatment and medication for Diarrhea or diarrhea, skin rash, Hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar, Diabetes mellitus, Ear Infections, Asthma and typhoid fever among others.
Residents were seen piling up in long queues for free treatment.
Some praised the Serene Mobile team for providing drugs and treatment free of charge to the community.
Madam Beatrice Browne, 53, expressed satisfaction in the process and praised the team for their work in the community.
She explained that for the past three months she had not had money to do her medical check, but has been able to discover that she has a high level of sugar in her body as a result of the exercise.
“I never knew I had sugar, if it had not been these people who check me and discovered it, I wouldn’t have known anything about what’s happening to me, “she said.
Moses Freeman, another beneficiary, was nearly in tears, as he held his drugs in his hands, after being diagnosed with Diabetes.
“I never knew I had such sickness but at least thank God it has been discovered and I will now start to take my treatment on time.
I was told what to eat and when to take my medications; I am very happy to see such services being rendered free a charge by our own Liberians sisters,” he lamented.
Felicia Barclay, another beneficiary, traveled all the way from Buchanan, Grand Bassa County for her son to carry her to the hospital.
Like the others, she says, she is simply happy that she came across the Serene Mobile Clinic who did her laboratory test thus cutting down her son’s expenditure.
“I am happy because I was waiting for the month to end so my son can take me to the hospital but I am happy today that my lab has been done and I was diagnosed with Typhoid Fever and sugar. I was advised how to take my medicine and what food to eat,” she said.