Meet the woman who’d never heard of COVID / Dewch i gyfarfod y menywod na chlywodd son am COVID

Oyah Christy is in her late 80s, and lives in a rural community with no access to mobile networks or radio signal, in Cross River State, Nigeria. A hearing impairment and a lack of formal education – together with the remoteness of her village – meant that Oyah had received no information about the COVID-19 pandemic.

She couldn’t understand why some people around her had suddenly “started covering their noses and mouths with pieces of cloths”. In May 2021, a team of people from the local government and United Purpose paid Oyah a visit, as part of a house-to-house information activity about preventing the spread of COVID-19. The team overcame language barriers by speaking with Oyah in her local dialect through an interpreter.

Finally, Oyah was able to get answers about the changes she had observed around her – as well as vital information about COVID-19. Oyah has since gone on to encourage other members of her household to use face masks in public spaces and to make themselves available for the vaccine whenever the opportunity arises.

United Purpose reached 143,657 households through house-to-house COVID awareness visits in Nigeria, as a result of the Welsh Government-funded COVID-19 response project.

Mae Oyah Christy yn ei 80au hwyr, ac mae’n byw mewn cymuned wledig y tu hwnt i gyrraedd rhwydweithiau ffôn symudol na signal radio, yn nhalaith Cross River, Nigeria. Oherwydd nam ar ei chlyw a diffyg addysg ffurfiol – ynghyd â lleoliad anghysbell ei phentref – wnaeth Oyah ddim derbyn unrhyw wybodaeth am y pandemig COVID-19.

Yn ei geiriau ei hun, ni allai ddeall pam roedd rhai pobl o’i chwmpas wedi “dechrau gorchuddio eu trwynau a’u cegau gyda darnau o glytiau”. Ym mis Mai 2021, ymwelodd tîm o swyddogion llywodraeth leol ac United Purpose ag Oyah, fel rhan o weithgaredd rhannu gwybodaeth o dŷ i dŷ am sut i atal COVID-19 rhag lledaenu. Llwyddodd y tîm i oresgyn y rhwystr iaith drwy siarad ag Oyah yn ei thafodiaith leol drwy gyfieithydd. O’r diwedd, llwyddodd Oyah i gael atebion am y newidiadau a welodd o’i chwmpas – yn ogystal â gwybodaeth hanfodol am COVID-19.

Ers hynny, mae Oyah wedi dechrau annog eraill ar ei haelwyd i ddefnyddio masgiau wyneb mewn mannau cyhoeddus ac i sicrhau eu bod ar gael i dderbyn y brechlyn pryd bynnag y bydd y cyfle’n codi. Cyrhaeddodd United Purpose 143,657 o deuluoedd drwy ymweliadau ymwebyddiaeth COVID-19 o dŷ i dŷ yn Nigeria, o ganlyniad i brosiect ymateb COVID-19 a ariennir gan Lywodraeth Cymru.