Country of Residence
Nigeria
Age
19
Project title
Kambili
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
Kambili, is an intervention on the current state of women’s health in Southeast Nigeria, by group of students and volunteers through research, outreaches and advocacy.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonia-ezeocha-0520823a8?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_ios
Project Category
My project is a brand new / emerging idea
Project Stage
Idea (We’re hoping to get started in the future)
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
It started last year, during my clinical rotations in the hospital, I saw a lot of women with complications that could’ve been easily prevented by yearly screenings, education and access to better resources. The Nigerian health care system is dilapidated, and last year, I lost my sister to it, that’s when I realized that something has to change. Also, Part of the initiative will be research in women’s healths and this will help address the research gap among Nigerian undergraduates.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
For a country that places such emphasis on birth, Nigeria has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, making up 30-40% of global maternal deaths, 1 in every 22 Nigerian women is at risk of dying during pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum. 23-25% of Nigerian adolescent schoolgirls miss school days every month due to lack of pads and the shame surrounding menstruation. Cervical cancer screening in Nigeria is very low, less than 15% of eligible women, despite being the 2nd leading cause of cancer deaths among Nigerian women with 7,964 deaths occurring annually. The health of Nigerian women is in shambles, we have the lowest life expectancy in the world, even less than countries in active war. It matters to me because I lost my sister to Brest cancer, it wasn’t detected early and there was little they could do to save her. How many other women have we lost because we didn’t catch the cancer or postpartum bleeding in time. How many bright futures have been snuffed out because of period poverty and stigmatization? One too many. And though it looks insurmountable, if I can help just one girl catch her flow with dignity or help a woman detect her cancer early on, then I will be fulfilled.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
Kambili will bring together medical and health-science students and other young volunteers to work in four areas: community outreach, research, health education and policy advocacy. Our first step will be community outreaches in partnership with tertiary hospitals, the goal is to provide women and girls with health education and provide them with preventive treatment that are often out of reach. Our planned first outreach is to provide free cervical cancer screening and breast cancer screening for 100 women and girls in underserved communities, in collaboration with my university‘s teaching hospital. At the same time, our research team will do research women’s health, an area that is not being studied enough in our communities, gathering data and releasing publications. Our first project, will examine the association between rising humid heat and preeclampsia among vulnerable pregnant women in Southeast Nigeria. I have already secured ethical approval and funding for this research. Finally, we will use what we learn from our communities and research to advocate for better policies and services.
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
Our first major goal is to reach 100 women and girls through our first community outreach, providing free cervical and breast cancer screening in collaboration with my university’s teaching hospital. We will also educate youn girls and women alongside education about prevention and when to seek care. We also plan to begin our first research project on heat exposure and preeclampsia in Southeast Nigeria. Beyond these numbers, I want Kambili to create a culture where young health students see themselves as people who can improve healthcare, not just people who wait until graduation to make a difference. Because if we can get students to care while they’re still in school, imagine the kind of difference they’d make as health professionals. My long-term goal is for Kambili to reach thousands of women and girls across Southeast Nigeria through continuous outreaches, research and advocacy.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
My innovation is my team, it’s an untapped group, health students, people already in the field but still young and passionate and know what they‘re talking about. We come in contact with thousands of patients everyday, we shadow doctors all day, discussing with patients about the realities and difficulties they face. Part of my project involves doing new and important research on women‘s health, and advocate for policy changes.
How many people are on your team?
5
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
Recruiting medical/health sciences students and volunteers from different levels and fields. I will serve as the lead coordinator, overseeing the different teams. We will have different departments, scientific research team lead, field operations team lead, education and awareness team lead, policy team lead, assistants to each of the Leads and members of each team. It is important to me that every member feels like an equal and have their efforts and voices seen and heard.
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
I have big ambitions for Kambili. Over the next 3 moths, First, I plan to recruit more people to our team, and expand to 30 members Second, raise funding for our first outreach, which is to do free Pap smears and mammography for 100 village teens and women in collaboration with my University’s teaching hospital. Third, begin our research on the „“Association between rising humid heat and preeclampsia in vulnerable pregnant women in Southeast Nigerian“ for which I have already secured ethical approval and funding for.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
The other 4 members on my team were students I was speaking to at the cafeteria, I told them about what my clinical experience and how we students can do something about it, they also pitched in their ideas it and agreed to join if I ever launched the initiative. I plan on continuing that, on a larger scale, present this problem to more students,show them how it affects us all, get them to care about the problem. I also plan to write to and partner with organizations and NGOs already working in the human health space.
3 weeks ago
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