Issue 2/Two Families Went Home
Parallel Action
“The walls of a hospital are filled with different stories,” begins the August report from Logos Circle / Benin City. Some of the people behind those walls have already been treated and are well enough to go home, but they can’t leave until the bill is paid.
The Circle made helping those patients its winnable issue for the month. Six members went to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital on a Sunday afternoon, where the matron confirmed there were discharged patients unable to settle their bills. Nobody who could take a payment was in that day, so the Circle came back the next day and met the hospital’s PR, who welcomed the visit.
The first case was a six-year-old who had been ill, been treated, and was ready to be discharged, but whose parents couldn’t pay. The Circle contributed towards the bill, and the child’s mother agreed to be interviewed. The second was a baby with a heart condition, also treated and ready to leave, whose mother had been left to care for her alone after her husband abandoned them. The Circle supported her as well. Afterwards, the members went through the wards handing out detergent and soap and spent time with the patients, which in their words “mattered more than we expected”.
The report puts the outcome plainly: “Two families went home this month who would otherwise still be waiting.” This proves that small, targeted action can be incredibly impactful for people in the community.
Next, the Circle wants to build a relationship with the hospital, so that future visits can be arranged in advance and a bill paid in one trip, as well as to find ways of raising money to support even more cases.
Logos Circle / Benin City, report by paschal533, 7 September 2026.