Nigerian Nonprofit Group Working To Improve Health, Education in Homeland by Serena Lei The Public Health and Education in Nigeria (PHENIG), a promising new nonprofit, was founded in 2001 by husband and wife Folusho Ogunfiditimi and Bonike Odegbami. ìOur mission is to create and advocate public health and education awareness in Nigeria,î said Ogunfiditimi. To that end, PHENIG has already embarked on several projects in Nigeria touching on health care availability, school curriculum, nutrition and child labor, while in the process working to change negative misconceptions about Nigerian corruption and money scams. Ogunfiditimi has a background in public health and Odegbami has a doctorate in higher education. The rest of their executive board is also made up of American-born Nigerians, primarily in their 30s, with a wide array of strengths and academic backgrounds. ìWhat sets our organization apart from others is that we are young Americans by birth,î Odegbami said. ìWe have choices. We can decide to stay here and forget about our roots Ö but we recognize that our heritage is in Nigeria, and Nigeria needs our help.î Political instability, corruption and a mismanaged economy have left Nigeria, the most pop ulous country in Africa, with a destabilized and inadequately funded public health and education system. This lack of resources is most prominently felt in rural areas. For now, PHENIG is focusing their projects on the southwestern part of Nigeria because it is familiar territory for Ogunfiditimi, Odegbami and many of the board members. Abraham Maslowís hierarchy of needs states that certain needs must be met before a person can realize their full potential. Physical needs, such as food, sleep and shelter must come first. The second tier is security. So in April, Odegbami returned to Nigeria to do a needs assessment for a school breakfast program called Project Promise. The program is Odegbamiís baby, which combines what she calls her ìpassion for kids and educational background.î The program will provide students with a free breakfast every day, given by the local food vendor and paid for by PHENIG. ìBefore you can expect a student to learn, you need to take care of some of his basic necessities, such as nutrition,î Ogunfiditimi noted. ìWe fail to recognize that hungry children cannot learn.î Odegbami approached one school at random and discovered that she had to convince the headmistress and the school board that her intentions were honorable and that PHENIG was not offering a business deal or scam. ìFirst, they thought it was a joke,î Odegbami said. ìHistorically, there have been reported episodes of organizations who mean well Ö but the longevity or sustainment of those projects have faltered. There is genuine skepticism of foreign or international agencies coming in and using their resources and benefiting themselves.î After one year, PHENIG will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the program at one school, before including more schools. ìNigeria does have a bad reputation, and we donít want to embark on a big project initially and not follow through,î Odegbami noted. ìAnd itís proof to funding agenciesóthis is what we did on our own, and with more funds we can extend the program.î Before a child can succeed in school, they also have to be able to go to school. Children in Nigeria, however, are often forced to work to help support the family. ìChild labor is a big problem in countries with economic issues,î Odegbami said. ìIt is heartbreaking to see a 6-year-old selling things on the streets. Here [in the United States], you canít leave a 6-year-old in the house, much less send them out to sell somethingÖ. We need an educated populace in order for Nigeria to grow. We need to use education as a catalyst to develop the individual in society, and as a nation. Rather than just advocating for child labor elimination, we need to find alternatives,î she said. PHENIG is proposing a program developed in Brazil that gives families a monthly stipend if they send their child to school at least 85 percent of the time. The stipend is usually more than the child could bring in, giving families an incentive to participate. ìEducation is the womb inside which freedom and human development is conceived,î Odegbami said. ìFor people in Nigeria, freedom cannot be voluntarily attained unless we equip ourselves with skills and training to get out of current limitations. Education is being aware of our problems and being equipped to solve those problems.î PHENIG is trying to approach topics from a different angle, particularly where current programs have been rendered less effective. For example, Nigeriaís urban areas are saturated in HIV/AIDS awareness coverage, but behavior has not significantly changed. Project Inform is a plan to implement HIV/AIDS education in elementary schools through a change in school curriculum. ìIf you are going to do effective awareness, you need to start with children,î Ogunfiditimi said. ìInstill it as a behavior modification.î Through Project Inform, the message of HIV/AIDS awareness will be incorporated into math and English classes on a daily basis. A student may be asked to write reports on HIV and AIDS or to perform a skit. Teachers can constantly assess what the students know and can follow through on what they do not know, rather than introducing awareness as a one-time presentation. In addition, PHENIG will collaborate with existing organizations so that funding and manpower are not too widely dispersed. Other PHENIG projects are also currently being developed. Project Hope is a volunteer program providing medical care to orphanages by recruiting volunteer physicians for two- to three-week trips. PHENIG plans to cooperate with Zenzelle, an organization that sponsors volunteer physicians to South Africa. Adopt-a-Clinic, on the other hand, is a prostate cancer awareness project aiming to set up a urology clinic in Nigeria. ìPublic Health has a huge umbrella. There are many things that fall under it that we are quite open to,î Ogunfiditimi noted. PHENIG is also fighting misconceptions, both in Nigeria and the United States. ìJust as much as we have a passion for Nigeria Ö we canít forget the fact that we were trained in the United States, and we owe some service to the United States as well. I donít just see myself as a Nigerian Ö I see myself as an American,î Odegbami said. ìNigeria needs me more now, but we will always have a foot in the U.S.î As Americans, this husband-and-wife team fights the misconception that they have forgotten their Nigerian heritage, and as Nigerians, they are fighting the misconception that all Nigerians are corrupt. ìWe often hear of the negative things Nigerians are doing. We rarely hear of the positive things Ö We are not all 419ers,î Odegbami said, referring to the now well-known ì419î scams, which got their name because 419 is the section of the criminal code in Nigeria that prohibits obtaining goods under false pretenses. Typically, these scams convince the victim that a large sum of money can only be accessed by transfer to a foreign bank accountóessentially, money laundering. The victim will get a portion of the money, but only after paying to cover some initial expenses. The victim is slowly drawn in, paying more and more ìfeesî once they are vested in the fraudulent transaction. Variations on the scam include legitimate business proposals with false companies. One con artist justified his scams by calling them reparations for slavery and colonial injusticesóa justification Ogunfiditimi and Odegbami strongly dismiss. ìThere is no point in dwelling in the past and saying we need to get money or land or special favors for what has happened,î Ogunfiditimi said. ìWe should try as much as possible to erase the ill judgments and prejudice that still exists, but we do that by educating people, by creating awareness, not by Ö taking alms on the notion that we are owed anything.î However, Odegbami is careful to say that PHENIG, as an organization, is not taking a stand on political issues. Both Ogunfiditimi and Odegbami have full-time jobs besides working with PHENIG. They are supported by their passion for the cause and by the help of many members here and in Nigeria. Although based in Atlanta, many of PHENIGís members can be found in Washington, D.C., and Maryland. PHENIG also recently hosted a fundraiser and information session in Greenbelt, Md. ìWe are trying to be as genuine and open as possible,î Ogunfiditimi said. ìThere has been a lot of unscrupulous activity associated with Nigeria, so we are trying to make as much noise as we can about what weíre doingÖ. We need all the support and help we can get.î As young Nigerians, Ogunfiditimi and Odegbami are appealing to the older generation of Nigerians living in the United States . ìI think itís encouraging to see your children fighting to make the country better,î Odegbami said. ìWe have faith that Nigeria can get better, but itís not going to get better without us working hard and without us struggling.î Ogunfiditimi would also like citizens in Nigeria to see that there are Nigerians outside of the country who are working to effect change. ìOverall, I want to give the impression and knowledge that there are organizations out there Ö doing things to improve health, improve education Ö in any little way that we can.î Odegbami continued, ìNot just to the American public, but also to Nigerians in the Diaspora who have forgotten about home and complain that the government is Ö corrupt. We have to struggle and PHENIG is struggling.î Ogunfiditimi completes his wifeís thought: ìAnd we have to participate in the struggle to make a difference.î For more information about PHENIG (Public Health and Education in Nigeria), please visit www.phenig.org. Serena Lei is a contributing writer to The Washington Diplomat.