The Chairperson for Ganda Ganda Residents Forum, Jessie Willard, confirmed that they held the second annual Nelson Mandela Day Community Outreach in Tombo Great Place in Port St Johns, last week.
Willard said this outreach consisted of the awareness and screening for common women and child health conditions. She said that it was focusing especially on cervical cancer, HIV, hypertension, diabetes and malnutrition in children.
“We checked people for different illnesses, including cervical cancer, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening, hypertension screening, paralegal support, and psychological support. All these services were free and include medication and were offered in honour of Nelson Mandela Day,” said Willard.
She said that the intention of the event was to assist those who are sick and could not afford to see medical professionals.
According to her, they started in some of the localities of Port St Johns last year and they plan to continue doing it every year to celebrate Mandela Day.
“We are inspired by the actions of the late president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. In order to make this possible we worked with members from Africa Rising, Nelson Mandela Museum, Social Change and Social Health Empowerment and Umtata High School.”
