Abraham, a 23-year-old petty trader from Abia State, resides with his parents in a semi-urban area of Port Harcourt. He never imagined that the road to recovering from a debilitating illness, one that disrupted both his health and his livelihood, would begin not at a hospital, but with a concerned student and a phone call.

His journey highlights how community awareness and swift action can not only transform but also save lives. To mark the 2025 Childhood Tuberculosis Testing week organized by the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP) and implementing partners, precisely on the 27^th of May, Kelvin Chemists, a Patent Medicine Vendor (PMV) supported and trained by KNCV Nigeria under the TB LON 1&2 Project, organized a tuberculosis (TB) screening and awareness outreach at Sunny Memorial School in Port Harcourt, a private primary and secondary school with a high population of students located close to the PMV. 

In preparation for this event, the TB Local Government Supervisor conducted an advocacy visit to the school to secure approval. During the health talk, one observant student approached the outreach team with a heartfelt question: “Can people outside the school access TB services?” He shared his concern about a neighbor who had been battling a persistent cough for months and appeared to be in poor health. The TB linkage coordinator provided the student with his contact information to pass along. The following day, the neighbor, Abraham, reached out, requesting a home visit. For over two months, he had been struggling with a severe cough and declining health, which had severely affected his daily life and business.