Osun State Chapter

The STNG Osun State Awareness Walk took place on 20 June as part of the initiative to raise awareness on sickle cell and promote health education in Osogbo, the capital city of Osun State.

Beyond giving a talk about sickle cell disease itself, the campaign also gave emphasis to several health issues such as finding out one's genotype for marriage planning, testing children at a young age, providing appropriate medical care, preventing the spread of the condition, and breaking taboos around those who have this ailment. The walking event started at the area below the Underbridge at Oloiyera street and the finish was at Ayetoro.

Along the way, there were various points where the volunteers stayed at each of the main markets including Orisumbare, Old Garage/Freedom Park Ajegunle Igbona, and the final one was Ayetoro. The volunteers used the opportunity to talk privately with traders, passengers, and the local residents of the neighborhoods, while simultaneously providing them with printed sickle cell flyers containing vital information. There was attendance from more than 50 volunteers plus the staff of OSEMSAS, Nigeria Police Force, JPI's Management team members and also Meyiwa Vera Foundation representatives.

Through the event's groupchat on WhatsApp, we also successfully managed around 192 members! In the end, we were happy to see that this event managed to go very well that it reached out to the local community in the five main markets. It educated people about genotype determination and sickle cell prevention, fostered people's involvement at the community level and importantly it strengthened the collaboration between the Foundation and other health organizations, security agencies and volunteers.