#love | 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.

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.

ALONGSIDE THE DAIVALAYAM- ST. CAMILLUS ASHRAM

We have recently started the ‘Project for the structural needs of Daivalayam – St. Camillus Ashram, Hyderabad’: we are still in India and, again in synergy with the Camillian Province and the Sneha Charitable Trust, we have decided to contribute to the realisation of all the structural improvements necessary for this medical centre.

The Daivalayam – St. Camillus Ashram is the only health centre of excellence in the entire Hyderabad region, dedicated to children from 3 to 18 years of age with physical and mental disabilities who need special care and help. Daivalayam means ‘Dwelling Place of God’, a name chosen to emphasise care and respect for these little patients.

Over the years, the centre has been able to accommodate up to 30 children and young people, but now the need has arisen to expand the facility to also accommodate those who, after the age of 18, continue to need care and assistance. The project includes the construction of several more rooms for both patients and the specialised medical staff who constantly follow the children on their rehabilitation journey.

In order to further expand the capacity of the centre, road connections need to be improved: Daivalayam is located in an area that is quite difficult to reach with few roads connecting it to neighbouring towns and, in the rainy season, these roads flood and are difficult to navigate. The project aims to improve the existing connections and to create a drainage system that allows water to drain efficiently from the roads.

Many of the guests at the centre have severe disabilities so they are forced to use wheelchairs, but the outside of the facility is not built to suit their needs. The project also aims to resurface the outdoor paving, so that all patients can spend days outside in complete safety, even with a wheelchair.

In order to safeguard the health of the patients in every respect, Daivalayam also wants to make the land around the facility cultivable, so that the guests can be offered the genuine and healthy products of the earth grown on site.

We at Health and Development are very happy to be able to contribute to the realisation of all these works, which over the next six months will be completed and will make the lives of the children and young people at the centre a little easier and more peaceful.

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.

SUPPORT FOR SNEHADAAN HOSPITAL

For many years now, Salute e Sviluppo has been funding and supporting projects in India, all with the precise objective of improving the living conditions of those most in need: in particular – in recent years – we have been involved in activities concerning HIV-infected children who would be forced to remain on the margins of a society that is still reluctant to accept them, were it not for precise support and care programmes carried out by the Sneha Charitable Trust.

Once again we reaffirm the synergy between us at Salute e Sviluppo and the Sneha Charitable Trust, to support the brand new hospital run by the Camillians, Snehadaan Hospital, which opened its doors less than a month ago. This medical centre was set up with the intention of providing the local population of Bangalore with a state-of-the-art health centre, with specialised doctors and state-of-the-art machinery, to enable everyone to receive proper treatment and diagnosis.

In order to help and support this new facility, we at Health and Development also wanted to contribute by financing the purchase of an ambulance and equipment necessary for the hospital’s dialysis department. At the end of the project – in mid-September – all instruments and medical equipment will be up and running to serve the needs of Snehadaan Hospital.

Our support for the facility will be continuous over time and aimed at a progressive growth of the hospital and its capacities, in order to increasingly improve the health conditions of those who – most in need – need help.

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