Alafia: the health event for Black people organised by Black doctors

Alafia is a health and wellness event tailored specifically for the African and Caribbean community and if you want to learn more about the biggest health issues facing the Black community, you really should be there.

Alafia, a Yoruba word which generally means health and wellbeing, is the brainchild of Dr Yemi Bello, Dr Nicola Wiafe and Dr Adaugo Amajouyi, all medical experts with bags of event planning experience.

Dr Yemi Bello is a clinical fellow in dermatology, Dr Nicola Wiafe works in public health and Dr Adaugo Amajouyi works in the surgical field. Recognising the difficulty of raising awareness of certain illnesses and complexities within the Black community when it comes to learning about key health issues, they decided to organise Alafia, a health workshop and activity-based seminar in London for the Black community.

We recently caught up with the doctors to find out more about the event and why you should hurry to book your place at the free event taking place on Saturday 25 January 2020.

Who are the speakers and what are their areas of expertise?

One of the key factors behind Alafia is that we have selected speakers who are highly knowledgeable about the topic they will be speaking about. We have a range of qualified professionals, healthcare professionals and people who are currently living with or have faced key medical issues. For example, Professor Frank Chinegwundoh, who is a urological surgeon, will be speaking to the audience about prostate cancer; Georgette Oni is a consultant plastic, reconstructive and oncoplastic surgeon and she will be giving a talk on breast cancer.

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💛🧡Panel Member Alert 🧡💛 Danielle Oreoluwa Jinadu is currently a Law finalist at The University of Warwick, an engaging speaker and a full time advocate of disenfranchised and undeserved people. Despite her frequent hospitalisations, since age 5, and the ongoing disruptions to her education – Danielle has not allowed her illness to silence her. Instead, she has utilised her voice as an agent for change in the Sickle Cell community. This is best demonstrated through her TEDx talk 'The Big Black Blood Issue'. Danielle hopes to pursue a career in Human Rights Law once she has finished her undergraduate degree. . . . . . . #alafia #shero #sheroes #londonevents #sicklecell #sicklecellawareness #blackblooddonors #giveblood

A post shared by Alafia (@alafiahealth) on Nov 21, 2019 at 10:54pm PST

Our panel members will include amazing people such as Danielle Jinadu who has Sickle Cell Disease, is a vocal advocate for blood donation and the Sickle Cell community and has been a TEDX speaker. All our speakers have been carefully selected to ensure they have the appropriate knowledge-base/expertise to deliver each talk/ join our panel.

“Professor Frank Chinegwundoh, who is a urological surgeon, will be speaking to the audience about prostate cancer; Georgette Oni is a consultant plastic, reconstructive and oncoplastic surgeon and she will be giving a talk on breast cancer”

Why should people come along?

The event offers attendees a unique opportunity to learn from a wide range of experts. The event has been curated by doctors and gives people the chance to learn about a variety of important issues such as mental health, cancer, hair loss, nutrition and skincare through talks/activities and workshops.

Attendees will have the opportunity to ask our professionals questions that they may not usually have a chance to. There will be raffle prizes from some of our amazing sponsors such as: F45 Holloway, Young Mary’s, Design Essentials, As I Am, The Movement Studio and Pitanga. There will also be goodie bags and refreshments available.

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True. We're talking about prostate cancer at Alafia with Professor Chinegwundoh, make sure you're there. Video reposted from @prostatecanceruk . . . . . . . . . . . #menshealth #blackmen #prostatecancer #prostatecancerawareness #menshealthawareness #prostate #healthcheck #healthcheckup #father #brother #uncle #son #oneinfourblackmen

A post shared by Alafia (@alafiahealth) on Dec 16, 2019 at 9:23pm PST

What workshops and activities can visitors expect on the day?

In our workshop space, people will be able to do things like have their blood pressure checked, learn about how to examine their breast/chest or testicles themselves. Our wellbeing activities are a ‘Paint and Chill’ session led by Arts Advocate UK, Dance Therapy led by Sheila Attah and a mindfulness session led by Talk Wandsworth.

“People will be able to do things like have their blood pressure checked, learn about how to examine their breast/chest or testicles themselves.”

Why do we as Black people need to organise these types of events for ourselves?

We think that is important for us to be able to tell our own stories and create events in a way that is best tailored to our community. Being a member of the community can be quite important with respect to accessibility, relatability of the event which in part comes from having a more personal understanding of cultural nuances. As a society, we’re really starting to understand the importance of representation and Alafia is really providing doctors and other professionals of Black African or Caribbean heritage with a platform that allows them to give back to their community.

Will there be further events?

We would definitely love to put on more events, but this all depends on getting adequate funding. If anyone is keen to support future events financially, we’d be really happy to hear from you.