#Africa | Salute e Sviluppo

THE BELL RINGS IN GARANGO, CLASSES BEGIN!

Our project ‘Construction of a kindergarten in Garango’ funded by the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), which we have told you about several times over the past year, has recently come to an end.

Garango is located in Burkina Faso – in the central eastern zone – within the diocese of Tenkodogo, one of the poorest areas of the country, with numerous health and educational deficiencies. We decided to intervene in an attempt to fill some of these gaps and in the hope of helping the local population to achieve a higher standard of living.

In particular, we were told of the absence of a kindergarten and – consequently – the impossibility for children in the area to be able to undertake a normal schooling and education preparatory to primary schools. To make up for this shortcoming, we decided last year to submit a project to build the school facility.

From the outset, it seemed an ambitious goal, considering the situation of political and social uncertainty in the entire country in recent years, but fortunately the project did not encounter any difficulties: the construction work on the structure was carried out swiftly and Within a year, we have not only seen this school come into being, but we have seen it filled with desks, chairs, games and everything necessary for the proper development of the young pupils.

The children were divided into three large classrooms according to age, creating a Petite Section, a Moyenne Section and a Grande Section. The first section consists of 27 pupils, 10 boys and 17 girls, while the second consists of 26, 14 boys and 14 girls, the last section has not been formed, but as early as next year it will be enlivened with all the children of the current Moyenne Section.

Numerous activities are planned each day: colouring, drawing, learning the basics of maths, starting to read, spending time on physical activity and, of course, playing. The facility has a large enclosed courtyard where the children, in complete safety, can spend carefree hours and, in addition, hosts a canteen that guarantees one meal a day for every pupil at the school.

If the primary objective was to build, furnish and activate the school, the secondary objective was to raise the awareness of the local population on the importance of education: in fact, it seems essential to get children started on a proper learning path from an early age to ensure their proper development. Thanks to the local staff working within the facility, even though our activities have ended, the school will continue to be a reference point for the entire community.

We are very happy to have completed the project, contributing to the realisation of this school that will give many children the opportunity to laugh, play, colour, and experience a peaceful childhood, understanding the value of sociality and sharing, in the light-heartedness that that age deserves, but that often – in similar contexts – cannot have.

AT THE MACO IN OUAGADOUGOU IN DEFENCE OF THE RIGHTS OF ALL

The MACO (Maison d’Arret et de Correction de Ouagadougou) is the largest prison in the capital of Burkina Faso. The conditions of the facility are quite precarious: overcrowding is the most obvious problem, in fact, not too long ago, it was even feared that the facility would collapse due to the excessive number of inmates.

With this in mind, it is not surprising that the living and health conditions there are well below standard. The Camillians of the prison chaplaincy realised the need to intervene as soon as possible to make the treatment more humane, allowing these inmates to experience prison as a re-education, with full respect for inviolable human rights.

The situation in Burkina Faso is difficult from several points of view: starting from the endemic poverty, to the terrorism that has been gripping the country in a vice for several years. Ensuring that inmates have a dignified life in prison is crucial to prevent further resentments that may later erupt into anger and violence.

In an attempt to pursue this goal, the Camillians of the prison chaplaincy proposed to Salute e Sviluppo to participate in the ‘Projet d’humanisation de la Maison d’Arret et de Correction de Ouagadougou (MACO)’. The project consists of providing more than 1600 inmates with the meals they need to maintain a proper diet, supplying monthly hygiene kits to about 100 women in the prison, distributing the soap needed for the hygiene of 1600 people, giving clothes to about 50 inmates – the most destitute – and buying all the medicines needed to supply the institution’s infirmary and to treat particular illnesses.

We at Salute e Sviluppo are happy to be able to contribute to this project: although those in prison have a sentence to serve, it is only fair that they receive dignified treatment, with full respect for human rights. Improving the living conditions of those in need is our primary goal in any field.

It will be a busy year, and the conditions in the country will certainly cause some difficulties for the smooth running of this project, but we are confident that within the set time frame, the objectives will be accomplished.

We will keep you updated on all developments!

CURES AND TEACHINGS IN THE OHUAM PENDÉ

The site of most of the projects we have underway is the Ouham – Pendé region: about 400 kilometres from the capital Bangui, it is one of the poorest areas of the already destitute Central African Republic. The political instability of the entire nation, and the resulting violence, makes poverty endemic and basic rights inaccessible.

Our point of reference in the region is the John Paul II Camillian Hospital in Bossemptélé, which has been working with courage and determination for more than 20 years, representing a landmark for the population who can count on adequate care thanks to this hospital.

The SENÌ- Health and Hygienic Concepts for the Bossemptélé Community project, funded by FONDATION ASSISTANCE INTERNATIONALE (FAI), started on 1 January 2021 with the aim of building the necessary infrastructure for the hospital, supplying medicines and sanitary consumables, recruiting health personnel and promoting hygiene and health education for the local population.

Specifically, as far as infrastructure is concerned, the project aims to contribute to the improvement of the hospital by building a new well that can meet the hospital’s entire water needs and by installing new photovoltaic panels that can guarantee a stable supply of electricity. The well has been completed, is functional and can fully fulfil its function. The panels have all been installed and made operational.

The infrastructural result has been achieved, while the result focused on raising the awareness of the local population on health and prevention issues is ongoing with excellent results. The project includes a series of weekly meetings on specific topics such as nutrition, vitamins, tobacco, alcohol, personal hygiene, malaria vaccination and environmental hygiene. Meetings have already started and continue to take place regularly, both within the hospital and in the surrounding rural areas thanks to the mobile clinic team. To date, more than 4000 people have been involved in awareness-raising activities.

Although the end of the project is set for next summer, the many local actors involved – the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Higher Education, Association pour les Œuvres Médicales des Eglises en Centrafrique – ASSOMESCA and the Order of the Carmelite Sisters of Bossemptélé, as well as the Camillian delegation in the Central African Republic that runs the John Paul II Hospital in Bossemptélé – will continue to work to ensure that the mission of raising awareness among the local population is ongoing and can produce long-term benefits.
We will keep you updated on the progress of the project and the many good stories coming from the John Paul II Hospital in Bossemptélé.

FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF JUVENANT SAINT CAMILLE

The Juvenat Saint Camille is a school in Ouagadougou, run by the Camillians, which welcomes many children from the surrounding areas, offering them a proper education and a serene environment in which to cultivate their studies and interests.

The education centre needs to proceed with further modernisation to enable the facility to provide more and more services to the students. In particular, the need for a well and a pumping system to provide enough drinking water for the needs of the students and the school was emphasised; and it seemed essential to proceed with the installation of a computer room.

Faced with these needs, Salute e Sviluppo was delighted to be able to contribute to the improvement of the centre, initiating this project which aims to both provide water and equip the hall.

Ouagadougou is the capital of Burkina Faso and, although it is the country’s best-supplied city, it suffers from the general situation of the nation which, in addition to extreme poverty, in recent years has also had to deal with terrorists who attack the country in waves with attacks and violent acts. It seems essential to help the population with agri-food, health or – as in this case – educational development projects.

As of 1 November 2022, we decided to start work on the improvement of the school centre: work on the construction of the well and pumping system was swift and went smoothly. Already now the system is functioning and gives the school access to an adequate supply of drinking water.

As far as the computer room is concerned, the project includes the purchase of 24 computers and the fitting out of the entire room, which will give the children the opportunity to study computer science – an absolutely necessary subject – do more in-depth research on school topics, connect to the net and expand their knowledge in this way. The room would also be used for presentations, small conferences and other learning situations for the children.

P. Felice de Miranda, President of Salute e Sviluppo, had the opportunity a short while ago, during his last mission to Burkina Faso, to visit the school and see how the work was progressing: he found many happy children waiting for him, who were grateful to Health and Development for the ongoing project.

Activities will end in June 2023, by which time the computer room should be completed and properly equipped. We will keep you updated on all the milestones we achieve!

HEALTH AND NUTRITION IN BOSSEMPTÉLÉ

“Health and Nutrition for the Vulnerable Population of the Sub-Prefecture of Bossemptélé’ has been a project that we have told you about many times, recounting all the milestones that we have gradually achieved. The project, part of the ‘Emergency Initiative to Support the Vulnerable Population in the Central African Republic’, was funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and started in September 2021.

The interventions were concentrated in Bossemptélé, the town where the John Paul II Hospital – the health hub of the entire region – is located, and in the surrounding 75 km. We are in the Central African Republic, an endemically poor country, where many of the basic services are the preserve of a few, while the majority of the population suffers from precarious and insecure conditions, both health and food. For some years now, moreover, rebel groups have been making the country even more unstable, carrying out violent acts and frightening the already hard-pressed population.

Anche noi di Salute e Sviluppo – nel corso di questo progetto – abbiamo dovuto affrontare questa situazione, che ha rallentato i lavori, rendendoli più difficili e pericolosi. Despite this, we were able to achieve most of the goals we had set ourselves, including the construction of an emergency room for the John Paul II Hospital. Before our intervention, the hospital did not have the possibility to accommodate the most serious patients in a suitable room, now the emergency room has been completed, both in terms of structural construction and equipment. During this year in which construction work proceeded, the hospital was nevertheless able to see more than 9,000 patients, of whom about one third were admitted to receive the right treatment.

Another deficiency we had identified at an early stage concerned the hospital’s ability to guarantee the necessary meals for in-patients: most of those arriving at the facility have a severe state of malnutrition and need to re-establish a proper diet. In the course of this project, we built a kitchen adjacent to the hospital premises, which can offer three meals a day to all patients. Despite the fact that the structural work has only just been completed, a temporary kitchen has been set up since the start of the project, which has managed to provide three full meals a day for more than 1600 patients.

In order to increase the capacity of the John Paul II Hospital to adequately meet the local population’s demand for care, we decided to start a training programme for health personnel. Thanks to this initiative, 38 workers specialised in obstetrics, ophthalmology, laboratory techniques and maintenance of medical equipment were trained.

In order to provide widespread access to care also in the rural areas surrounding Bossemptélé, we rehabilitated, and in some cases built from scratch, the postes de santé located in some villages within the sub-prefecture. Before our arrival, these facilities were unsafe, with severe structural problems and without any furniture or machinery useful for first aid. During the year, we renovated, furnished and equipped the poste de santé of Gbawi (40 km from Bossemptélé), Bodangui, (10 km), and Bombalou (45 km) with sanitary materials, and we built a new poste de santé in the village of Yangoro, 15 km from Bossemptélé. In addition, we have trained more than 30 workers who will ensure an efficient health service by manning these postes de santé. In addition to each of these facilities, a well was also rehabilitated or constructed to provide drinking water, not only to the poste de santé, but also to the entire population of the corresponding village. Thanks to some budget balances, we were able to rehabilitate an additional well in the village of Boyaram. In total, more than 21,000 inhabitants have access to drinking water.

In addition to these villages, there are many others that, not having a poste de santé and being far from Bossemptélé, remain uncovered in terms of health. To solve this problem, we activated and strengthened the mobile clinic service, which – during the course of the project – was able to visit more than 27 villages, providing first aid to the local population. The mobile clinic also started awareness-raising meetings focusing on different health topics, and managed to involve more than a thousand people. In recent months, the climate of instability in the country has worsened: armed rebel groups have targeted large areas, including part of the area where the mobile clinic operates, some of which have been forced to flee. Due to this situation, it was not possible to visit many villages and proceed with all the previously planned activities.

Despite these difficulties, which caused several slowdowns, the project recorded positive results: 14% more of the local population had access to health services, 25% more had access to drinking waterwhile malnutrition dropped from 40 to 38 per cent. The facilities we have built and the activities we have initiated will continue to be a valuable aid for the locals, who will finally have access to adequate health services of a higher standard.

This article was produced within the framework of the project Health and Nutrition for the Vulnerable Population of the Subprefecture of Bossemptélé AID 05/RCA/12049/2021 funded by the Italian Development Cooperation Agency. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Italian Development Cooperation Agency. The Italian Development Cooperation Agency is not responsible for information that is considered erroneous, incomplete, inadequate, defamatory or in any way reprehensible.

IN BURKINA FASO WITH A GOAL: CULTIVATING VALUE

The New Year has just started and we at Salute e Sviluppo are already on the road! The mission that saw us in Burkina Faso to plan the activities of the new project ‘Cultivating Value: good practices and innovative methods for inclusive and sustainable agro-livestock production’, financed by the Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development (AICS), ended a few days ago.
This new initiative was inaugurated at the beginning of the year and for 36 months we will be committed to strengthening the structures and production activities that we had started in 2017 thanks to the support of the Italian Cooperation – MAECI, within the project ‘Innovative rice production and valorisation of local products for food sovereignty and sustainable rural development in the Bagré area, Burkina Faso’.

We are again in Bagré, a rural area in the central eastern part of Burkina Faso, which – due to its extreme poverty – has been the focus of several of our interventions for many years. In this region, the population, already exhausted by precarious living conditions, must also deal with the fear and violence brought to the country by Islamic terrorism, which aims to make the country’s already fragile balance even more unstable.

Terrorism, which has escalated in recent years, also makes it complex to carry out cooperation projects in large areas of the country, which are considered unsafe. We at Salute e Sviluppo also came up against this sad reality, having to coordinate the project from the capital Ouagadougou, instead of directly from the intervention site. Without allowing ourselves to be discouraged by this, we nevertheless decided to take on this new challenge, which has the sustainable development of the Burkinabe primary sector as its primary objective.
La parola chiave è diversificazione: durante questi 36 mesi, ci proponiamo di rendere la produzione agricola e zootecnica della zona il più varia possibile, garantendo così alla popolazione locale non solo cibo a sufficienza, ma anche una dieta varia e la salvezza dalla malnutrizione.

At the same time, the project will bring other benefits: thanks to the strengthening of existing farms and agrarian supply chains, more jobs will be secured for locals who, by becoming part of this production system, will be able to increase the economic capacity of the community’s families. A real improvement in conditions will hopefully help curb the desire to emigrate, considering the absorption of many locals into the new jobs that will be created.

Strengthening the primary sector is of paramount importance to achieve the project goals as agriculture and animal husbandry are still conducted using traditional methods. An important aspect of the initiative is the promotion of women’s empowerment through the transfer of knowledge to local women who will thus have the opportunity to improve family food production based on horticulture and forest products.

The project appears ambitious in terms of its objectives and at the same time difficult due to the unstable and dangerous condition of the area. Fortunately, there are many partners actively participating in the project, bringing added value: the NGO Santé et Promotion Humaine (SAPHE), which has been collaborating for many years with Health and Development for the agricultural and livestock development of the country, managing the production chains created with the previous project with local personnel; the Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental and Forestry Sciences and Technologies (DAGRI) of the University of Florence, which specialises in food production and environmental protection and recovery in tropical and sub-tropical countries, thanks to many research and cooperation activities; the NGO AES-CCC, which has been rooted in the Burkinabé territory for many years with programmes to combat malnutrition and food security, with a specific focus on empowering women at both the local and institutional level.

In addition, several local stakeholders are joining the cause by helping us in this new challenge: Bagrépole, the Women’s Associations of the Region and the Government Departments at municipal level in the area, all of which are rooted in the territory with the ability to act in a timely manner in solving any problems.

Despite the endemic difficulties of the area, the Health and Development project is designed to be long-lasting, sustainable and rooted in the territory: the fundamental objective is to bring about a positive change in Burkinabé productive capacity, which will prove to be so at the end of the 36 months, enabling the local population to improve their living conditions in the long term.

We are only at the beginning of this new adventure, an ambitious challenge that we hope to win, thanks to the funding from AICS and the valuable cooperation of partners. We will always keep you updated on the small and big milestones we achieve!

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