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The "Olayemi" Project: The AfDA Emergency Medical Information Card

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The AfDA Emergency Medical information cards

 

The year was 2020 and the world was in the throes of a global pandemic known as the Covid-19 pandemic. Our WhatsApp support group was growing as the world went digital, and people tried to find information and support to navigate through a scary time. Word on the street was that people living with Diabetes had the highest risk of dying from this new, unknown threat. Countries locked down and many things came to a standstill, even though our very real needs for food, medicine, connection and life kept on knocking.

As we shared our challenges with navigating this new normal, one of our new members, Olayemi, told us that as he tried to travel in order buy insulin, he had met police who had searched him, found his insulin and syringes, and believing that they were illegal drugs, had confiscated them, and locked him in prison with no interest in listening to his pleas. Fortunately, they had let him go the next day and he informed us of his ordeal on our WhatsApp group. As a group, we were mortified by this treatment and wanted desperately to help him. However, we were limited in what we could accomplish at the time.

We had had the good fortune of a peer that had joined our group mid-2020 and he had become a resourceful and valuable team member. Josh had single-handedly taken on the task of supporting members in distress due to various financial challenges and was supporting people buy insulin, syringes, food, school fees and so much more. Towards the end of 2020, four more individuals, who prefer to remain anonymous at this time, joined the group and helped support even more people.

Upon hearing of Ola's distress, Josh came up with a suggestion of creating an official card that could help patients by sharing their medical information, current medications with instructions on how to treat a severe hypoglycaemia episode. The idea quickly garnered interest, with members suggesting what kind of information the card should have, how it should be presented and one of our members, Simon took to designing and printing cards. This project was named the "Olayemi" Project in honor of his bravery in telling a difficult story and for the role he played in inspiring such brave actions from our community.

When the cards were ready, we were faced with a challenge of shipping them to people that needed them. Together, Josh and Simon organized funds to ship the cards, which escalated costs significantly, but we were altogether able to reach 54 individuals in six African countries including Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Liberia, and Zambia.

Since then, the cards have been valuable to many of us, as they present proof that authorities take seriously. They enabled many of us navigate challenging conversations with police as we travelled to access healthcare, buy medications or blood glucose monitoring strips during the lockdowns. They enabled one of us to get assistance in a government building during a hypoglycemic event as they waited for a driving permit. The cards have been conversation starters with schools taking care of young people living with diabetes. The card creates opportunities for us to speak up for ourselves and in the event that this is not possible, say during severe hypoglycaemia when we are unconscious, it speaks up for us. It has been a powerful tool in saving our lives and seeking assistance or accommodations where necessary. This story highlights just what can be accomplished when a community of people come together to address a shared goal. We surely plan on reviving the Olayemi project as we move forward and grow, and your support in sharing this story is a great first step in enabling us do so. Thank you.


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Location: Uganda

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