Features
BN Community Centre: Woman with Sickle Cell Nephropathy
In March 2013, the BellaNaija team asked for your feedback on how to handle the issue of the emails we receive with regards soliciting for financial aid {Click here to read}. We were grateful for your feedback. Over the years, BellaNaija has published various feature stories on Nigerians in difficult situations and we are thankful that our BN Fam has supported in full force. From the man who was wrongly imprisoned for over a decade to and the struggling father suddenly saddled with major financial obligations due to the birth of his triplets.
During this time, we worked to get as much information as we could about different situations that was sent to us. In many cases, the people sending the emails don’t come back to us when we ask for more information. Sometimes they do and we are sceptical about the information given to us and as such we are unable to publish these stories. We will continue to publish these stories, however, we realize this is not enough.
While we are very concerned about the integrity of our brand and are conscious of the fact that there are too many fraudsters out there, we are definitely aware of the major challenges people go through every day.
If you’ve ever had a health-related issue in Nigeria, then you will probably understand that it is extremely difficult to fund your treatment and navigate the healthcare system. Even at the government hospitals (where health care service supposedly subsidized) you find yourself having to pay N50,000 here for something, another N18,000 for something else. Before you know it, you’ve spent hundreds of thousands of Naira. We all know how difficult it is to raise money, even amongst the most ‘comfortable’ people. While many save for a rainy day or have health insurance, most cannot afford to set aside a contingency sum for sudden major illnesses.
In view of this, BellaNaija launched the BN Community Centre. This online platform will feature “calls for help” as submitted to us. This includes information, photos and account numbers. We are, however, stating categorically that we are doing only basic fact checking, therefore, we will not be held liable in ANY circumstance.
We encourage you to give if you can, however, please ensure you perform independent verification prior to donating any funds.
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Dear BellaNaija Administrators,
My name is Tosin Ajayi, I’m a physician and also public health student at Johns Hopkins University.
I’m writing to advocate for a fellow physician, Dr Amina Ogbachi-Sobodu. Amina is a 27 year old lady who has struggled with Sickle Cell Disease for the entirety of her life. She was just diagnosed with Sickle Cell Nephropathy at LASUTH and now requires a kidney transplant to save her life after several sessions of dialysis.
The surgery was billed to cost 5 million Naira (approx. $25,000) and we,her family and friends are trying to raise funds. We set up a GoFundMe account for Amina and in one day we have been able to raise over $3000 out of $25,000.
The response has been impressive but we need so much more and that’s why I’m coming to you. I understand the kind of impact a BellaNaija post will have on our cause and I’m pleading with you to help us; either by putting a post up and/or donating to the cause.
Amina has dedicated her life to saving lives as a Doctor, please help us save hers.
Please find attached in this email a picture of Amina and also a picture of our GoFundMe page.
I have also included the link to the page and Amina’s account details.
Link: http://www.gofundme.com/
Account Details:AMINA OGBACHI SOBODU
GT BANK ACCT NO: 0014397186
I’ll be happy to supply any other information to facilitate the process.
