Emily Godfrey, Methodist Missionary Society missionary in Eastern Nigeria, was the first missionary nurse at Ama Achara, near Umuahia, Abia state. A dispensary was opened there in 1921 and for many years the station was manned only by a female nurse and evangelist, with occasional help from doctors. Godfrey oversaw a gradual expansion of the work and, as more buildings were added, a fully functioning hospital was established. She left Nigeria in the 1940s.