#dona | 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.

STOP CHOLERA IN HAITI

It has been a few months since we told you about ‘Project Cholera’, which started in January and has just ended with excellent results. Haiti is sadly known for the earthquake that struck it in 2010, killing more than 200,000 people. The consequences of the earthquake were very serious: in addition to the many dead and injured, most of the country’s houses and infrastructure were destroyed. Millions of displaced persons were forced to assemble in relief camps, living in temporary dwellings, lacking basic services. This precarious state triggered a violent cholera epidemic, which soon spread throughout the island.

Even today, 13 years later, the situation is still dramatic: political instability does not allow the island to break the stalemate that began in 2010, the population continues to live in poverty in unhygienic shantytowns, which encourage the spread of disease.

For years, Madian Orizzonti Onlus has been working alongside the local population to promote health projects, such as building a hospital and fighting disease. Salute e Sviluppo decided to intervene alongside Madian Orizzonti Onlus for the ‘Cholera’ project, helping the Hopital Foyer Saint Camill in Port-au-Prince, run by the Camillian community, to combat the spread of cholera.

The project’s objectives were: treatment of the sick, preventive visits to the most vulnerable population, and awareness-raising, as many meetings were organised in schools and community focal points to teach how to avoid and prevent infection.

The results we have achieved are amazing, also thanks to our contribution, more than 3000 people were visited at home, 3500 families and 4300 children under 5 years old, and more than 27 thousand were involved in awareness-raising activities.

We are very happy to have been able to contribute to this project and to be close to the Haitian people, helping those who are in the greatest difficulty to regain hope.

NEW BEDS FOR CHANTHABURI

On 1 August, our latest project ‘Bed Replacement for the Chanthaburi Nursing Home – Camillian Social Centre’, run by the Camillian delegation in Thailand, started. This centre was established 24 years ago by the ‘Saint Camillus Foundation of Thailand’ and from the very beginning it was built on the cheap, receiving support from numerous benefactors who gradually helped the centre to grow and improve.

At the moment, the home accommodates 120 elderly people, some of whom pay a modest fee, while others receive medical assistance from the Camillian Social Centre completely free of charge. This implies that most of the extra work can only be done thanks to the generosity and altruism of those who want to support the centre’s mission.

The current urgency is the replacement of the beds for the 120 in-patients, which have not only become old and uncomfortable for the patients and impractical for the medical staff, but have even – due to the humid climate in the area – rusted.

The request we received from Fr. Renato Attrezzi, director of the centre, is that of even partial or deferred help with respect to the entire necessary expenditure. We found valuable support in the generosity of a private donor, who kindly offered to contribute to the purchase of a good portion of the beds requested by the Camillian Social Centre.

At the end of the three-month project, all beds will have been purchased and installed in the centre, offering relief to a large proportion of the patients. We at Salute e Sviluppo are very happy to be able to contribute to the success of this operation and hope that our activity will be a source of renewed hope for all those who will benefit from the project.

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.

RECYCLED WATER FOR SNEHADAAN HOSPITAL

Last week we told you about the recently inaugurated project concerning the purchase of an ambulance and dialysis equipment for the Snehadaan Hospital in Bangalore, India, but this is not the only activity that we at Salute e Sviluppo have decided to carry out in favour of the new Camillian hospital.

Again in synergy with the Sneha Charitable Trust, from this week a new three-month project will start that will see us in the front line to finance the construction of a rainwater well and a wastewater treatment plant: all that water that has already been used, for domestic or industrial use, needs specific treatment to be used safely again.

All our activities are designed to be sustainable and in line with the principles of the UN 2030 Agenda. Water – in particular – has been the focus of many of our projects, all designed to emphasise the weight and importance that this element has for human life and for the wellbeing of the individual, who must have safe access to this fundamental source. Recycling water and treating it appropriately so that it can be reused within the hospital itself is our goal, to reaffirm once again our commitment to our planet and the importance of this element.

In September, when the project is completed, both the well and the treatment plant will be completed and fully functional and available to the hospital. We are very happy to be able to contribute to the achievement of this goal in line with our values, always standing by the Camillians at Snehadaan Hospital.

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