#Africa | Salute e Sviluppo

THE GBODJÈ CENTRE OF COTONOU

We at Salute e Sviluppo have been working for more than 25 years in developing countries, in an effort to help those in greatest need and to improve the living conditions of those who suffer or are deprived of basic rights. Thanks to the Camillians, who are our partners in every activity, we are able to have a unique capillarity in the world and to intervene promptly where it is most needed.

This was also the case with our latest project ‘Interior and exterior renovation of the Gbodjè health centre’ in Cotonou, Benin. Benin is a country in West Africa, where living conditions are not easy and where international cooperation and solidarity activities play an important role in enabling the local population to live in dignity.

We have received a request from the Camillian Province of Benin Togo for financial support to undertake construction and electrical/hydro-sanitary work to complete the Gbodjè Health Centre. A Camillian centre that cares for the most destitute and sick, representing a salvation for the local population.

The project has a duration of six months, during which time a variety of activities are planned: the entire masonry of the structure is to be redone, with external and internal painting, the lighting system and the plumbing and sanitary system, and then the tiles and guttering are to be installed.

We at Salute e Sviluppo are happy to be able to contribute to all these building works and improvements to the centre. When the project is completed, we will inform you about this new milestone.

SENÌ PROJECT: ANOTHER MILESTONE SURPASSED

We often talk to you about the Central African Republic, one of the poorest countries in the world, and about our projects, most of which focus on improving the capacity of the John Paul II Hospital in Bossemptélé, the main health centre in the Ouham – Pendé region. For more than 20 years, this centre has operated with courage and determination, representing – for the local population – the only possibility of access to adequate medical care.

On 30 June, the project “SENÌ- Health and Hygiene for Bossemptélé Communities“financed by FONDATION ASSISTANCE INTERNATIONALE (FAI) with the aim of building the new infrastructure needed for the hospital, supplying medicines and medical consumables, recruiting health personnel and promoting basic hygiene and health education among the local population.

Thanks to this project, we were able to improve the hospital by building a well, adequate to meet the entire water needs of the health centre, and installing photovoltaic panels to ensure a stable supply of electricity. Now that the activities have been concluded, both the well and the panels are fully operational.

In these 30 months, we have also provided the hospital with the medicines and medical supplies it needed to guarantee care for all patients and awareness-raising – pivot of the project – gave excellent results with more than 5000 people who attended weekly meetings focusing on specific topics such as nutrition, vitamins, tobacco, alcohol, personal hygiene, vaccinations and environmental hygiene. Thanks to the mobile clinic team, neighbouring villages were also visited on a regular basis and were able to attend these meetings.

The last objective included in the project was the training of new health personnel for both the John Paul II in Bossemptélé and the health centres in the north of the country. The young people’s interest in this type of training has gradually grown: while in the first year 11 people took part in the training courses, the following year there were more than 30, 25 of whom passed the entrance test to become an assistant de santé.

We at Salute e Sviluppo are very happy to be able to update you on the success of this intervention, and we trust that the many other actors who have been involved, such as the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Higher Education, Association pour les Œuvres Médicales des Eglises en Centrafrique – ASSOMESCA and the Order of Carmelite Sisters of Bossemptélé, as well as the Camillian delegation in the Central African Republic, which runs the John Paul II hospital in Bossemptélé – will work to ensure that the mission of awareness-raising does not end with this project, but can continue to be carried out, producing long-term benefits for all those in the most difficult circumstances.

JUVENANT SAINT CAMILLE IS ONLINE

It has not been many months since we told you about the project ‘Construction of a well, installation of a drinking water pumping system and installation of a computer room with 24 computers’ at the Juvenant Saint Camille institute in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, now that the project has come to an end, we are pleased to update you on the milestones we have achieved.

The Juvenant Saint Camille is a school centre that gives many children in the capital of Burkina Faso – Ouagadougou – and in many neighbouring areas, the opportunity to have access to a comprehensive education, in a serene environment, despite the many shortcomings and difficulties of the country itself.

By the end of last year, the need for the facility to proceed with further modernisation had become apparent. In particular, the need for a well and a pumping system capable of providing enough drinking water for the needs of the children and the school was emphasised, and it also seemed essential to proceed with the installation of a computer room.

We at Health and Development were very happy to be able to contribute and from 1 November 2022 we decided to start work. Now the well has been completed and is functioning regularly, providing the school with drinking water, and the computer room has been equipped with no less than 24 computers and a projector.

The computer room was strongly desired by the school to give the children access to an almost infinite amount of knowledge, do in-depth research on school topics and develop manual dexterity and skills with technology, a fundamental component of our lives today.

Now that everything is complete, we are happy to have achieved our goals and renew our willingness to support and back all those projects designed to improve the living conditions of those in need in developing countries. We wish all Juvenant students good use of their new tools, improving and learning more and more.

SCHOOL SUPPORT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN OUAGADOUGOU

Burkina Faso is a very poor country where living conditions are even more precarious following the escalation of violence and attacks since 2014. In this context, the Camillians who daily try to intervene to improve the living conditions of the Burkinabé are many, including Fr Jean Paul Ouedraogo.

P. Jean Paul decided in 2006 to start a project for orphaned and vulnerable children in Ouagadougou and their mothers, which included one summer camp per year until 2013. From the following year, when the unrest in the country worsened, he decided to organise one meeting a month of sharing, play and dialogue. These occasions highlighted the urgent need these children had for help and support in their educational, human and professional development.

Thus, the Notre Dame de la Plenitude Association was born, with the specific aim of giving orphaned and vulnerable children the opportunity to resume and continue their education, from kindergarten to university or vocational school, providing them with the foundations to embark on a path of autonomy and self-determination.

We at Health and Development have decided to intervene in support of the Association’s activities: the project ‘School support for 20 orphaned children’ started in March this year and will last six months, in which Health and Development will undertake to financially support the education of 20 children – aged between 6 and 20 – who will be able to continue attending school and finish the school cycle they started.

We are very happy to be able to help these young people in need to continue their education and improvement. We will keep you updated on all developments and milestones that we – together with the Notre Dame de la Plenitude Association – manage to achieve.

IN-DEPTH DIAGNOSIS AT THE LUIGI TEZZA HEALTH CENTRE IN KOKUMBO

Salute e Sviluppo has been working for more than 25 years following the example of St. Camillus de Lellis, founder of the Clerics Regular Ministers of the Infirm (Camillians) and universal patron of the sick and infirm. The focus of most of our projects is health, and with the help of the Camillians – present in more than 40 countries around the world – we try to intervene in all those areas where there are shortages. The complete synergy between us and the Camillian communities around the world makes our projects, all of which are designed to improve the living and health conditions of the populations most in need, long-lasting and rooted in the territory.

Today 25 May, the anniversary of the birth of St. Camillus, we want to tell you about one of the latest health projects we have just inaugurated: ‘Purchase of laboratory equipment for the Luigi Tezza Health Centre in Kokumbo’.

Kokumbo is a village in Côte d’Ivoire, a country that despite steady economic growth still has many shortcomings, especially in rural areas. To combat this situation, the Daughters of St. Camillus have been present in the country for more than 10 years, carrying out health and welfare projects.

Thanks to their constant commitment, the Blessed Luigi Tezza Health Centre was established in 2009, near the villages of Kokumbo and Niamkey Konankro, about 50 km from the administrative capital of the country Yamoussoukro. Since its inception, the centre has been a key health hub for the local population, who have been able to benefit from the support of the missionaries and from medical consultations and treatment for a variety of diseases, including Buruli Ulcer.

Despite the efficiency of the centre, it is currently still only possible to carry out basic diagnostic tests, but not in-depth analyses that would allow the early diagnosis of numerous other diseases.

We at Salute e Sviluppo have decided to take action, committing ourselves for the next six months to purchase the instruments required by the centre, including: a water distiller, an autoclave for sterilising working instruments, a water bath, a thermostat and an ichroma II immunology reader, which allows more accurate values to be provided for immunological examinations, and a laminar flow hood, which protects the operator and the working environment from pathogenic microorganisms. At the end of this period, the health centre will be able to perform all the specific examinations necessary for the well-being of the local population.

We are happy to be able to be at the side of the Daughters of St. Camillus, jointly pursuing the mission of improving the living and health conditions of all individuals in need, following the example of St. Camillus de Lellis.

SOLAR PANELS AT THE INSTITUTE SUPÉRIEUR PRIVÉ DE SANTÉ SAINT CAMILLE IN OUAGADOUGOU

A few months ago, during a mission in Burkina Faso, we had the pleasure of attending a ceremony at the Institut Supérieur Privé de Santé Saint Camille de Lellis in Ouagadougou, in the presence of the Burkinabé Minister of Health and other high state and city officials. On the occasion of this celebration, the great value of the Institute was repeatedly emphasised: a centre for nursing studies, which has established itself on the country’s health scene for the high specialisation it offers its students, who come not only from Burkina Faso, but also from 12 other African nations.

Burkina Faso still remains an extremely poor nation, where the majority of the population lives in a precarious state and without access to basic sanitation, health and education services. In recent years, the situation has worsened further due to terrorism that has targeted the country.

Cultivating and specialising in health and nursing appears to be a priority, and the school in Ouagadougou offers one of the best study paths. To support the centre and strengthen our support for the Burkinabe population, we inaugurated on 1 March the ‘Installation of solar panels at the Institut Supérieur Privé de Santé Saint Camille de Lellis’which will be completed at the end of August and includes the purchase and installation of a number of solar panels and a system for injecting energy directly into the consumer grid during these six months. The aim is to ensure that the institute can become energy self-sufficient through renewable sources.

We are happy to be able to contribute to the further improvement of this centre of excellence, in the hope that it will continue to be an important training centre, not only for its country, but also for neighbouring countries, as it is today.

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