Monrovia – Cheesemanburg residents over the weekend benefited from a free medical treatment rendered by the Serene Mobile for All Mobile Clinic.
Report by Edwin G. Genoway, [email protected]
Serene Mobile is a volunteering medical group headed by a Liberian nurse, Meima Pelham. They are involved in providing free medical cares for ordinary Liberians. Meima and her team take their services to the people free of charge.
During the weekend, over 500 residents from Cheesemanburg got treated by the group when a team of doctors, physician assistants (PA), nurses and the Serene Mobile crew setup their tanks in Quenyondee Town to provide free treatment.
Quenyondee is a little town in Cheesemanburg, Bomi County, about 15 miles from Monrovia. With the population of over 1,500, the town and its environs lack basic medical health facilities and safe drinking water.
Residents of the town and its environs in Cheesemanburg formed long queues to benefit from the free medical service. Separate lines for women and children, men and the elderly were formed.
Residents were witnessed being medically examined and subsequently being treated by doctors and PAs.
Essential drugs were provided by Serene Mobile team after examining their patients.
Meima recruited the doctors, nurses and PAs from the John F. Kennedy Memorial (JFK) Hospital, the Redemption and others. All of them were there to provide volunteer service.
Meima said due to her good relationship she has with her colleague medical practitioners, they are always willing to join her in providing the services on gratis.
“I don’t have a dime to give to these people providing their services to the community; I am a nurse and we all believe in humanity. They are always willing to render their services free of charge to the community when I call upon them,” she said.
Madam Pelham, who is a professional Nurse, works with along the county health teams to provide medical services for the people.
With funding problem facing her main sponsor, National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL), Meima said the lack of funding is impeding her work.
“Right now, all the medicines you see here are bought from monies we generated during our fund-raising program in November. We want to thank everyone, who donated to us, as you can see their money is being used for the right purpose,” she said.
Some of the residents, who benefited from the services rejoiced as they leaved the treatment scene with their medicines in their hands.
Madam Tonia Jallah, 60, smiled as she walked away with her walking stick. She told this newspaper that in all her 60 years, the amount of medicines she received from Serene Mobile, she has not received such quantity of drugs before in Quenyondee Town.
“Anytime I go to hospital outside my town I cannot get such medicine, I am happy for everything that I got here today,” she added.
Another beneficiary, Abel Morris, said he could not sleep when he heard that there was a free medical team on their way to the town.
“If I had my own way, this team of doctors will always be here to give us free treatment since government is not prepared to bring clinic here,” he said.
Doctor Elton Fayiah Gbollie from JFK was one of the doctors who volunteered.
“Giving back to the community is something that I always wanted to do, so when I was engaged by Serene Mobile to join the team for an outreach, I didn’t hesitate but to come and contribute,” he explained.
Blama Quaye, Quenyondee’s town chief, could not hold his joy.
Quaye thanked Serene Mobile and the team of doctors. He urged them to continue their great services to the Liberian people.
According to him, they walk miles to get on the main road to get on a car to go to Redemption Hospital in New Kru Town or go to Tubmanburg for treatment; adding: “Sometimes when someone is seriously sick and there is no car, we put that person in the wheelbarrow and walk for more than three hours to the clinic,” chief Quaye noted.
Cheesemanburg township Commissioner Thomas Cassell expressed his frustration that since the establishment of the town there has been no clinic.
“We have not been treated fairly in this town. Since the establishment of this town, government has been unable to construct a single health facility here,” he said.
He expressed how grateful he was to Serene Mobile team for the gesture to ordinary Liberia.