Who we are...
Our Mission...
Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 11 percent of the world’s population yet bears 24 percent of the global disease burden and commands less than one percent of global health expenditure. It also faces a severe shortage of trained medical personnel, with just three percent of the world’s health workers deployed in Sub-Saharan Africa. A study, conducted by IFC with assistance from McKinsey & Company, estimates that over the next decade, $25–$30 billion in new investment will be needed in health care assets, including hospitals, clinics, and distribution warehouses, to meet the growing health care demands of Sub- Saharan Africa. The world is not coming to “save Africa”, we must look inwards for solutions and leverage our strengths and technology to bridge the divide between healthcare needs and healthcare resources.
The goal of Isaiah’s Hope is to improve overall healthcare outcomes by identifying and addressing the dynamics that contribute to the healthcare needs in our communities in Africa. Interventions must be driven by the prevailing need, supported by evidence, with a goal to enhance healthcare capacity, and the ability to objectively assess outcomes.
At risk populations are extremely vulnerable. Part of our goal is to identify and support healthcare issues in populations such at the ones listed below:
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Refugee/Internally Displaced Populations
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Maternal and Child Health needs
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Mental Health needs
Africa has an average of 1 doctor to 5000 patients, we also have 1.5 nurses to 1000 patients. We will need to leverage our healthcare resources and use technology, where available, to address basic healthcare needs. And focus on other concerns that indirectly affect healthcare outcomes.
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Improving access to healthcare through initiatives like Tele-Medicine and strategic collaborations
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Education
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Nutrition
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Support Groups
Examining the state of the prevailing healthcare infrastructure will help us tailor interventions with an understanding of the limitations of our healthcare systems but at the same time building on the strengths. Collaborative efforts will help maximize resources, proper planning will highlight interventions that work, and data will allow us to evaluate efforts through identifiable and quantifiable variables. The goal is to have a focus on the following:
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Collaboration with other Non-For-Profits
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Support groups
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Research
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Understanding and mapping of Medial Supply Chains
The list above may seem overwhelming and taken in its totality it can be, but the work begins with the desire to intervene in the healthcare journey of one individual. We have the desire to help one individual, with time we may help a family, and then maybe a community.
Our Inspiration
His Excellency Ambassador Isaiah Jackson Udoyen & Her Excellency Mrs. Uwem Sunday Udoyen.
The work we do at Isaiah’s Hope Foundation is based on the values and principles of late Ambassador Isaiah Jackson Udoyen and his wife, late Mrs. Uwem Sunday Udoyen. Ambassador Isaiah Jackson Udoyen was born in a village in Southeastern Nigeria called Ikot Ekpene Udo in the early 1940’s. He was orphaned before he was 10 years old and at an early age had to take control of his life and work hard to achieve his goals.
His father, my grandfather, was particular about education and had insisted that he go to school. He excelled in school and when his parents died his uncle, my grandfather’s younger brother, inherited his brothers’ household and agreed to allow him to continue in school. By the time he completed primary school (grade school) he began teaching primary school classes and did this throughout his secondary school education. Because of this his nickname in the village was “teacher,” it was a name that followed him till he passed away.
From Ikot Ekpene Udo he prepared for, sat for, and passed both his O Level and A Level exams and applied to university. He was admitted to University of Ibadan to study Agricultural Economics and on graduation he joined the Foreign Service. During his time with the Foreign Service he did graduate level courses at the University of Southern California and at the University of Oxford. He was a career diplomat who rose through the ranks till he was appointed Ambassador to Mozambique, Swaziland, and Mauritius.
He always emphasized the importance of education and never forgot about the community that he came from. He made provision for all of his cousins to go to school and sponsored them as far as they were able to go with their education. He sponsored multiple other people to go to school, found jobs for others, and did all he could to empower his community.
I am not too different from the people I serve in my village or in the many communities that Isaiah’s Hope has had the privilege of serving. We provide care for orphans, the homeless, and the most disadvantaged. But for the grace of God and my fathers hard work, discipline, and his commitment to the values and principles that defined him, I might be one of the people receiving care in an IDP camp. How many of these orphans might be the next Ambassador, doctor, teacher, engineer, lawyer, or community leader? My father’s story highlights the potential in all regardless of station or circumstance and challenges us to always lend a hand and never forget where we are from.
I will be remiss if I didn’t mention my mother, Her Excellency Mrs. Uwem Sunday Udoyen. She too was a teacher and also served her country in women’s forums across the globe promoting Nigeria, our culture, and history; and was an Ambassador for the country in her own right. She and my father had a shared vision about commitment, social responsibility, and the importance and value of family and community. Isaiah’s Hope is a testament to who both of them were and an attempt to live up to the standards they set.