I grew up in a village called Nneano, a small community in Imo State, Nigeria. The story of Mercytree started when my father who was a pharmacist in London will come back to the village going from house-to-house checking, treating and caring for those that were sick. Later, my mother was a nurse with the local health department, she worked in many rural communities at dilapidated maternity centers. We lived barely below the poverty line after my father died, leaving her with the responsibility of raising me, my sister, and my brother.  We watched her struggle to feed and take care of us, take care of strangers, and turn our little house into a mini clinic.

She fed and treated the sick and strangers even when we had little to eat, took care of pregnant mothers at our little house because they couldn’t afford the medical bills at the local clinics, or the local clinic lacked the resources to help, most times they are pregnant teenagers kicked out by their parents. Yes, some kids were birthed and cared for in our little house where she used hot water to sterilize needles, scissors, and more. She stitched wounds, gave injections, went to people’s homes to treat bedsores, malaria, and all kinds of sickness, The only thing I did not see my mother do was perform a major surgery in our little house.

She was limited by the little resources we had. When we complained of not having enough to eat because she was giving the little, we had to people, she would say” Never give treatment to a sick man without offering him food, because most times the sickness is hunger and when it’s not hunger, you can’t treat a sick man in an empty stomach. The prevalent health problem of hunger and sickness is still overwhelming today or even worse.

I have seen pain, I have watched loved ones suffer and die of sickness that could have been treated if the resources are available, children and families treated as less human due to illness, I have seen the worst a pregnant mother can go through to give life, families destroyed, and mothers separated from their babies due to poverty

When my mother died, I knew there was no better way to remember her and my father than to continue their good deeds. Her name was Eberechukwu, meaning God’s Mercy. Mercytree International Foundation is in their memory. My mother is Mercy, and my father is the Tree that started it all.

I believe in human kindness and a reason for everything. Mercytree is the reason for my vision and mission. A vision to provide a better life through healthcare to the undeserved, and less privileged. To give hope, a future, and importantly, a healthy life and a mission to build a better healthcare infrastructure with a sustainable system in rural communities of Africa.

I am a Government and Public Administration graduate, and an entrepreneur. I have worked to help the homeless population in the bay area, California, for many years.

If one village woman can care for so many people with no support and asked for nothing in return, I believe in the power of human kindness to build a healthy Sub-Sahara Africa, one family, one community at a time. JOIN ME