#donaora | Salute e Sviluppo

MORE GREEN ENERGY IN GEORGIA

Georgia only gained independence some 30 years ago following the collapse of the Soviet Union, which for the entire previous century had subjugated it and made it a highly statist country dependent on Moscow. Since 1991, Georgia has been trying, with difficulty, to get out of the precariousness that the communist system and then its collapse caused, with a large part of the population still living in situations of severe socio-economic hardship.

Following the nation’s independence, the Camillians decided to set up a delegation in the country to help all those in need of socio-medical support: initially with home visits and later with the construction of a real specialist outpatient clinic in Tbilisi, to which – in 2001 – they also added the Day Care and Rehabilitation Centre, already dear to us having joined our AMOC Fund (Camillian Works Sickness Insurance).

In just over 20 years since its inception, the Day Care Centre has managed to become a health centre of excellence, not only for the population of Tbilisi, but for the entire nation. Specialised care and rehabilitation cycles help those with severe disabilities – not only physical – to embark on courses of treatment, followed by medical and health personnel specialised in physiotherapy, speech therapy and psychology.

If it is already one of the most advanced facilities in the entire country from a sanitary point of view, it now also wants to become a pioneer in the field of eco-sustainability: the ‘Solar energy for a GREEN mission!’ project involves the construction of a carport within the car park area and the installation of no less than 90 solar panels of about 300 watts each, with the associated energy production and storage system.

We at Salute e Sviluppo have accepted the project’s application for funding and have just inaugurated the activities that, within seven months, will lead to the installation of the required solar panels and the full operation of the green plant. The Centre will be able to produce much of the electricity it needs in an autonomous and eco-sustainable manner: a clear advantage not only from an economic point of view, but also with a view to safeguarding our planet, as Pope Francis invites us to do in his encyclical Laudato Si’.

We are very happy to be able to participate in this project, which sees us at the forefront, not only in supporting an excellent health centre, but also in promoting the green culture of sustainability.

IN HUANCAVELICA IN SUPPORT OF THE ELDERLY

Thanks to the Asociación Corazones & Manos Solidarias San Francisco, we have the opportunity to be – once again – close to the Peruvian population in need. We have already told you how thanks to them we were able to help children in Lima hospitals suffering from congenital hyperinsulinism (HC), a very rare endocrine disease, to receive the right life-saving drug – Diazoxide.

Very recently, we started another project, again in synergy with the Asociación Corazones & Manos Solidarias San Francisco, ‘Polyclinic equipped for Huancavelica – in favour of the less affluent in the third age’. Huancavelica is one of the poorest regions in the whole of Peru, in particular the outpatient clinic is located near the district of Caja Espiritu, in the city of Acobamba. In this specific area live nine communities in extreme difficulty, especially the elderly who need urgent help: very often their children emigrate to the big cities to find work and they are left alone in poverty.

The Asociación Corazones & Manos Solidaria has decided to take action to improve the living conditions of these elderly people: in six months, medicines, nutritional supplements, hygiene items and everything necessary to make the outpatient clinic more functional will be purchased. All this will be provided at a symbolic price to the 120 severely distressed elderly in these communities. The symbolic price is necessary to make the project sustainable and continuous over time: the money raised will be used to buy back all the material once it is finished.

Not only medical and food equipment, but also numerous activities are planned: support groups, prevention meetings, spiritual reinforcement, all necessary to support the elderly in their loneliness, creating a network of solidarity and support. In addition, numerous garments have already been provided to those who – in greater difficulty – do not have the possibility of buying their own.

We are very happy to be able to participate in the project, supporting the local community. We will keep you updated on all news!

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.

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.

HEALTH FOR ALL IN LIMA

Salute e Sviluppo has a clear mission: to improve the living conditions of every individual, especially the most vulnerable (children and women), by promoting fair and sustainable development processes in access to health and education services, social and economic empowerment.

To carry it forward, there are many projects that we inaugurate each year with prestigious partners and donors, but there are also many initiatives that Salute e Sviluppo pursues on its own, funding support activities for those in need who ask for help.

A few months ago, the Asociación corazones & Manos Solidarias San Francisco, which has long been working on Peruvian soil to improve the health conditions of the young patients of the San Bartolomé and Cayetano Heredia hospitals in Lima, proposed to us to contribute to the ‘Health for All: Diazossido Project’.

Edrick and Samuel are two very young children (1 year old and 4 years old respectively) suffering from congenital hyperinsulinism (HC), a very rare endocrine disease that develops in the first months of life and can lead to severe health impairment in young patients, causing severe neurological problems, in some cases irreversible.

This disease in Peru is particularly compromising due to delays in diagnosis and administration of the right medication – the Diazoxide – which is not marketed in the country and which is prohibitively expensive, both for the hospitals themselves and for the poorest families, who do not have the possibility of importing it from abroad. The administration of the drug, in most cases, has to be long-lasting in order to ensure the children’s recovery, which makes it even more difficult to maintain a sufficient supply.

To make up for this serious shortage, the Asociación corazones & Manos Solidarias San Francisco has for years been searching for public and private donors who can contribute to the purchase and shipment of the life-saving drug. Salute e Sviluppo decided to respond affirmatively to this request and purchase the Diazoxide needed for the current and future care of little Edrick, Samuel and many other children who will need it in the next two years.

We at Salute e Sviluppo are very happy to be able to intervene in the first person, helping those in need, and in this case we hope that – also thanks to our contribution – the little patients in the hospitals of Lima suffering from this disease and their families can finally find hope again.

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.

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