A Helping hand given at the darkest hour of need will remain distinctly impressionable in the memory of any beneficiary of the kind gesture. It is even doubtable if there is any better way to show love to God, except through painstaking efforts to wipe the tears of our fellow beings. This conviction must have informed the idea of Maternal Pulse Foundation of Mrs Olukemi Mimiko, the succour driven First Lady of the Sunshine state.
Mrs Mimiko declared that she has been spearheading the activities of Maternal Pulse Foundation long before her husband became the governor of Ondo state. She set up the Foundation to advocate for the wellbeing of women and to create awareness for their health and wealth. It is her belief that a healthy and wealthy woman will go a long way to bring financial reliefs to her husband and the children. The God given responsibilities of a woman can only get delivered in a most efficient manner only if she is in good health and right frame of mind.
Maternal Pulse Foundation has from inception focused on encouraging women to become intimated with their bodies so as to detect early ravaging diseases such as cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure.
This Foundation has offered women that are 35 years and above free total health screening including pap smear, mammography and blood pressure checks. The Foundation has likewise given supports to quite a number of cancer patients. Mrs Olukemi Mimiko has also given medical intervention and support to women with medical issues ranging from simple to complicated ones.
It could be declared without being immodest that God has preserved the lives of scores of babies through the Maternal Pulse Foundation of Mrs Olukemi Mimiko. It is on record that the Foundation has handled cases of babies with holes in the heart and babies with deformities from birth. A sizeable number of patients with varying degrees of burns have also benefitted from the medical interventions of Her Excellency.
Maternal Pulse Foundation also encourages the younger ones through mentoring and visits to their schools. The Ondo State First Lady has made it a point of duty to personally attend to the emotional needs of young ladies herself. Her reason for this is to help in channelling the thought patterns of the young ones aright and to ensure that they grow into responsible adults in the society. The Foundation has been at the forefront of encouraging the young ones to go back to serious reading not only to pass their examinations, but to equally get them broadly educated. The vision of Mrs Mimiko for younger students in the state is to have the capacity to compete effectively with their contemporaries in any part of the world. The Maternal Pulse Foundation has successfully organized mega camps for students during their long vacation. They have had the opportunities of coming together from different parts of the state for self developments and enhancement of their academic qualifications through varied vocational trainings. Many of the students have been trained in vocations like Adire making, tie and dye, soap making, Information Communication Technology et all.
The First Lady makes out time to meet with women across the state once in a month at a programme tagged Gbebiro- Family Support. Topical issues that affect women which range from health to wealth and from environment to families are regularly discussed at the meetings. The thrust and focus of Maternal Pulse Foundation of Mrs Mimiko has been to ensure that developments and dividends of democracy are brought closer to the grassroot people.
Gbebiro Health Screening initiative is an offshoot of the Maternal Pulse Foundation with presence in all the 18 Local Governments areas of the state. This initiative of Mrs Mimiko has addressed various health challenges of women within and outside the Sunshine state. The inaugural outing of the health screening was held at Ifedore Local Government Area of the state on 27th of July 2010. Not less than 15,000 women have so far been tested for hypertension and diabetes under the scheme. Quite a number of the tested women have been treated and placed on drugs while some have been referred to their various Local Government Health Centres for follow up treatments. Mrs Mimiko has taken it upon herself to ensure that the Gbebiro Health Screening is lifted beyond mere health screens to the level of seminars, capacity building and counselling programmes on a wide range of topics. The discussed topics mostly dwelt on health, education, entrepreneurial skills, lifestyle and diet.
Breast and Cervical Cancer Programme is another offshoot of Maternal Pulse Foundation which has been actively involved in sponsoring various Women Groups in the state for periodic Cancer screening exercises. Tens of thousands of educative flyers on breast examination, self examination of breasts, breast cancer prevention and cervical cancer prevention have been produced and distributed to women across the state. More than 400 women across the Sunshine state have benefited from free cervical cancer screening. Financial responsibilities of further medical examinations and treatments of cervical cancer have been shouldered by the Maternal Pulse Foundation of Mrs Olukemi Mimiko. Steady support for survivors of cancer and their welfare have likewise been given priority by the amiable First Lady of Ondo State.
Enlightenment campaign on mother and child health has been another major concern of the Maternal Pulse Foundation. This concern is propelled by the need to reduce high incidences of infant and maternal mortality rate in the state. The Foundation has embarked on regular awareness programmes to train and enlighten women on hygiene, early signs of pregnancy, steps to take during pregnancy and after delivery. The sensitization campaigns also include immunization of babies, roll back malaria campaign, use of treated mosquito nets and transmission of HIV/AIDS in mother to child.
Her Excellency, Mrs Olukemi Mimiko has produced and distributed well over 5,000 copies of educative video disc in support of the Mother and Child Hospitals in the state. The video narrations were done in Yoruba language and fully subtitled in English to enlighten women on steps to take before conception, prenatal and post natal. This was tagged 7 Steps To Safe Delivery.
Maternal Pulse Foundation of Her Excellency has captured the needs of the physically challenged in the state. Dozens of motorized and manual wheelchairs have so far been donated for people in this category.
Picking the medical bills of the less privileged ones in the state is also a concern of Mrs Mimiko through the Maternal Pulse Foundation. She has been at the center of giving financial assistance to the over 70 families with multiple births; while she has also been responsible for the welfare of the babies. Maternal Pulse Foundation has also, over the years, been responsible for the management and financial support to victims of auto accidents and fire accidents.
Maternal Pulse Foundation has donated drugs and other health materials to hospitals, orphanages and indigents in the state. Another priority of Her Excellency is the quarterly provision of basic welfare and household materials to special schools and homes across the state. The Foundation also runs a scholarship scheme that affords orphans in the state the benefits of quality education.
It is instructive that the activities of Maternal Pulse Foundation are not in any way limited to Ondo state. Quite a number of people from neighboring states have benefitted from the immense kindness of Mrs Olukemi Mimiko
It is on record that children who were within the age bracket of 2 and 10 years had been flown to India by Her Excellency for treatments of holes in their hearts and Down syndrome illness. These children have since returned to the country and they are now hale and hearty.
Activities of the Maternal Pulse Foundation is equally extended to the empowerment of women in the Sunshine state. Quite a number of women have benefitted from the Workshop and Skills acquisition Programmes of the Foundation. Start-up capital for business enterprises have been provided to women in state courtesy of this Foundation. Small scale business equipments such as grinding machines, hair dryers and power generating sets have been distributed free of charge to women across the state.
> Widows in the state have not been excluded from the financial assistance dished out by Mrs Mimiko through her Maternal Pulse Foundation. Her Excellency has relentlessly advocated for and rendered support for women facing violence and victimization.
Her Excellency, Mrs Olukemi Mimiko has touched enough lives and has moved extra miles to restore hope to many hopeless individuals within and outside Ondo state. Going by her magnitude of commitments to the cause of the downtrodden in the state, Mrs Olukemi Mimiko has proven herself as a rare gem whose love for God is expressed through her ceaseless care for the less privileged and the weak in our society.
Commensurate reward is expected to await every good deed of any individual. Many acts of uncommon kindness rendered so far by Mrs Olukemi Mimiko will definitely not go unrewarded by God. It is also a guaranteed truth that thousands of people whose bitter tears had been replaced with laughter by Mrs Kemi Mimiko through the medium of her Maternal Pulse Foundation will keep fond memories of this rare woman and remain appreciative of her unusual kind gestures.
