For vendors in Nigeria, the marketplace is the best location to buy and sell goods. For consumers, it is the place to go for just about anything and everything. Jos Terminus Market was once the largest, most modern market in Plateau State, but over the years the market’s quality has faltered.

Terminus Market still stands as a place where different communities come together to buy and sell products, but it isn’t well kept. Dirt and waste aren’t disposed of properly in the trash cans, posing health risks to both the environment and the people.

As part of this year’s Health Week at Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jemimah Tongriang Well, Bwehsunshak (aka Sunni) Mallo and Adams Garba teamed up with university medical students to spread awareness about the importance of good personal and environmental hygiene.

Day one of the two-day project consisted of the group cleaning up Terminus Market and talking with marketers about why keeping it clean helps keep them healthy. Jemimah said many of the marketers had misconceptions about environmental health. This was the main reason no one cared to pick up waste or wash away the dirt.

The dirt alone poses the risk of poor air quality. Along with other pollutants such as vehicle emissions, dirt can be picked up by strong winds, especially during Harmattan - a particularly dry and windy season. Marketers who breathe in the polluted air can get dirt stuck in their lungs, causing respiratory problems. After sharing the risks that could affect all who visit the market, alumni then informed the marketers on where trash cans were located in the market and how often the waste collection center also took garbage.

On the second day, the team went to Rhigizah village in Naraguta and provided free medical outreach for the community. The villagers were separated by age groups, and after listening to a health talk on good personal and environmental hygiene, each individual received a basic health check-up.

The group chose Rhigizah village after the medical students conducted a survey and found the village had a large population of children under the age of five, as well as a large senior citizen population. Children and the elderly are the most susceptible to diseases.

One of the most recent outbreaks to be addressed by the Nigerian government is diarrhoeal infection. This infection affects children under the age of five the most and is most commonly a symptom of more serious bacterial infections, such as E. coli. After talking with the people of Rhigizah village about the risks imposed by not properly taking care of themselves and the environment, alumni dispensed necessary medication and antibiotics to the community. Jemimah said the group’s goal was to help as many people as they could, and that is exactly what they did.

“Hundreds of people were helped during the free medical outreach,” Jemimah said. “We actually helped until all the drugs we had were dispensed, which was quite a lot.”

**Alumni who participated in this event include:

• Jemimah Tongriang Well (YES alumna 2009-2010, Nigeria, hosted in Cedar Rapids, IA by IRIS)
• Bwehsunshak (aka Sunni) Mallo (YES alumna 2011-2012, Nigeria, hosted in Rialto, CA by AFS)
• Adams Garba (YES alumnus 2007-2008, Nigeria, hosted in Colo, IA by IRIS)