Last month, Chatham Emergency Services donated two ambulances to the Catholic Diocese of Gboko, Nigeria in Africa. The vehicles will be used at the new Catholic Hospital in Gboko, which is supported by Bishop William A. Avenya.
After St. Joseph’s Hospital reached out to the company about donating some of their older vehicles to Dr. Eugene Nwosu, who would be returning to Nigeria to help out at a local clinic, the team went through their vehicles and shipped them over with good grace.
Credit: Courtesy of Chatham EMS
Credit: Courtesy of Chatham EMS
Chatham Emergency Service Chief Chuck Kearns was at a Catholic CEO business meeting when a priest from Gboko inquired about receiving donated vehicles for his Diocese’s hospital in Nigeria.
Kearns presented this idea to the county board and it was swiftly approved. From there, the emergency services team got to work on the older vehicles by detailing the vehicles, performing oil changes, and sending them over to St. Joseph’s Hospital so they could be shipped to Africa.
On Jan. 14, Kearns dropped the two ambulances off at St. James Parish and gave the keys to Father Peter Lanshima, who was on loan from the Gboko Diocese.
Credit: Courtesy of Chatham EMS
Credit: Courtesy of Chatham EMS
“Within three days, those ambulances were gone and on their way to Africa,” Kearns says, proud that his team was able to help.
“We’re in an industry that serves people. You don’t become an EMT, a paramedic, or a firefighter to get rich. It’s a calling, and you want to help people and your community. We hope that they’ll be put to good use and be able to help save lives [in] Nigeria like they did for so many years here.”
Over the years, Chatham Emergency Services have donated eight ambulances to a health clinic in Lagos, Nigeria.
Father Daniel F. Firmin at St. James Parish helped Father Lanshima put the project in motion. “[Lanshima and I] chatted about that wonderful possibility,” he says. After putting a parishioner who worked at Chatham Emergency Services and Lanshima in touch, “the rest was history.”
“I think lives will be saved in Nigeria, [and the ambulances] will increase the medical care for the people there,” he says about the donation’s outcome. “[It’s] not an impossible task to show charity and love for our brothers and sisters around the world.”
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Chatham Emergency Services donates two ambulances to Nigerian hospital
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