What has the Foundation so far accomplished?

The Kalu Ulu Memorial Foundation has been providing free medical care, free cash donation, free essential goods and services to indigent rural-dwellers in Nigeria since 2004. It was founded by Dr Anuma Kalu Ulu and named after his late father, Mazi Kalu Ulu, a philanthropist of utmost integrity who taught Dr Ulu all about community service. Through the program, Dr Ulu has uplifted the health and other socioeconomic indices of his community, Obiene Ututu in Arochukwu L.G.A. Abia state of Nigeria , as well as surrounding communities.

How long has the Program been in existence?

Since 2004, its founder, Dr Anuma Kalu Ulu, has been performing these activities on a continuous basis all entirely self-sponsored and at great personal and financial direct and indirect cost of up to 100,000 US dollars yearly. Even with the expansion of his ad-hoc staff as well as his patient interaction time which saw him rupture his lumbar disk and undergo laminectomy in 2007, Dr Ulu still left a lot undone year after year. The Foundation was founded in March 2009 to expand the scope of the program by soliciting public assistance to meet the exponential patient load, which has become increasingly difficult to sustain as a sole effort both in terms of finance and manpower. There is a coterie of professional colleagues who are ready to volunteer two weeks in a year for this program, and through the instrumentation of this Foundation, Dr Ulu hopes to raise funds to cater for their traveling, accommodation, feeding and general welfare.

How can contributors be sure this is not a fraud?

Dr. Ulu has taken great pains to post his activities for the last five years on the website. It is replete with videos that show real-time clinic consultations by Dr Ulu including an on-field video assessment of his activities by the Broadcasting Corporation of Abia State, Nigeria, a state-owned radio/television combo media outfit. Also included is a video of his moderator-mediated studio interview called ‘The Professional’ by the same Broadcasting Corporation of Abia State in January 2009. Not to be left out is almost one-hour video recording of his direct clinic consultation. The ‘Daily Independent’, a Nigerian national newspaper with daily readership in excess of fifty million people serialized Dr. Ulu’s activities in a two-page piece, and the article is also posted on the website. Anybody who has the patience to go through these materials and still nurses any residual doubt may then go to the picture gallery to see still pictures of his years of toil. For further elaborations, you may contact him at Dr-Ulu@physicianforfree.org. or [631]365-3099.

What are the best steps to navigate the website?

Using Firefox will give the best result. The first page to open will be the Mission page, which gives a brief account of the Foundation. After this, you may go to the Founder page under which is Dr Ulu’s Biography, the Goals of the Foundation and the picture of his father and mother. The next tab is the Donate button. Your one cent or more will make a meaningful impact. The Photo gallery contains a rich array of pictures, videos and a newspaper article of the activities of the Foundation. The Calendar will show the dates for scheduled programs and future medical missions. Public information has the tax-exempt (501C) information as well as information on Board of Directors as well as any Awards/Prizes garnered by the Foundation.. The Contact page is for e-mail, fax and telephone contact. Discussions page is for people who register in the website to make comments and posts while Past Mission page is for interesting activities in the past. FAQ is for Frequently-Asked-Questions, and answers.

How can anybody volunteer his/her services?

The Foundation is open to volunteer-minded medical and paramedical professionals who have the commitment to serve. These people can use the Contact page to get in touch with the Foundation, or register in the website and use the Forum section to post their availability. Their general welfare and safety including entire cost of the trip will be covered by the Foundation, but they will not be paid for their services. It is not all gloom or work because social activities may intersperse work, as can be gleaned from the pictures in the social section of the photo gallery. The trip will re-educate those who have minimal clue or have distorted information about life and people over there!

How can future activities of the Foundation be monitored?

Every activity will be on video and will be posted on the website. All the projects listed in the goals section are achievable. If for instance it is the road construction, video evidence of the dirt road will be posted, then that of the road in mid-construction as well as when completed. Any fanfare associated with its commissioning will also be posted. Same goes for construction of primary school blocks, wells or boreholes and other projects. Every activity will be approached with utmost transparency. Generated revenue and expense account will be made available within the ambit of IRS policy vis-à-vis privacy policy. Your contributions will augment Dr Ulu’s personal input, with the upliftment of his people in mind. It is a duty he does not trifle with. The Foundation is still open to further suggestions on enhanced transparency and monitoring.

Are payments made online in this website secure?

All payments from credit or debit card online in the website are secured by Paypal. This is the reason the ‘Donate’ page is the only page with the ‘secure’ sign (https instead of http] unlike all the other pages. Those who have their own Paypal accounts can donate directly from Paypal if they choose to do so. Mailed donations are also safe, since only the amount indicated can be withdrawn and the contributor still reserves the right to cancel the check prior to cashing it if his/her original condition changes.

What is the minimum amount to contribute?

There is no minimum. If you have as little as one cent and you contribute this amount, it will go a long way to enhancing the activity of the Foundation. On the other hand, there is no maximum contribution also. Any amount of money is welcome, and the Foundation appreciates the mere thought of it.

Can a contribution be made on the website from abroad?

Yes. All a contributor has to do is go to the ‘Donate’ page, click on the credit/debit card logo, and where you see United States, click on the drop-down menu to scroll to your country of residence as arranged alphabetically. Make your contribution in your currency which will be converted to equivalent of its United States Dollar for the day of the contribution. As before, all payments are secured by Paypal and there is no minimum or maximum.

What are the future plans for the Foundation?

These are enumerated in the ‘Goals’ subsection under the ‘Founder’ tab in the website. Whilst the list is not exhaustive and more will be done beyond its confines, it still provides a veritable compass for the direction of the activities of the Foundation. The expansion of these services can only be limited by the response of the public to this Foundation in terms of financial and other support. If it is overwhelming, the activities will grow. If it is sketchy, we can only do so little out so much needed to be done. The establishment of a hospital dedicated to either free or highly-subsidized service is Dr. Ulu’s ultimate dream. At this point it is still a dream, but with your help, it can be concretized.