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HOSPITAL BEDS FOR THE SAN CAMILO CLINIC
We at Salute e Sviluppo have been working in developing countries for many years, not only in Africa and Asia, but also in Latin America: recently we have received numerous requests for help from associations operating on Peruvian soil, we have told you about the life-saving drug projects for children in the hospitals of Lima, and also about support for the elderly in difficult conditions.
As of 1 October, we decided to take action by starting a new activity that will see us engaged for four months in synergy with the Obra San Camilo: ’25 electrified and mechanised (hospital) beds for the Obra San Camilo Clinic’.
This medical centre is located in Lima, the capital of Peru, was established by the Camillian Religious and is a private non-profit organisation that provides health services to the community not only in Lima, but also in the entire province. A multitude of diagnostic examinations, aimed at prevention, treatment and rehabilitation, can be performed in the clinic. Over the years, the centre has been able to expand more and more and now has specific outpatient clinics for various diseases, a laboratory, an X-ray, mammography, bone densitometry and electrocardiogram service, as well as two operating theatres, a delivery room and a nursery.
It has now become absolutely necessary to replace 25 beds, which are now obsolete, uncomfortable for patients and not very functional for healthcare staff. We at Salute e Sviluppo were delighted to be able to provide concrete help to the clinic by purchasing these electrified and mechanised beds, which will enable the patients to cope comfortably with their treatment, the staff to be able to work in a modern environment, and the Clinic to continue to be a state-of-the-art health centre.
We will keep you updated on all developments!
SOLAR PANELS AND GREEN ENERGY AT THE INSTITUTE SUPÉRIEUR PRIVÉ DE SANTÉ SAINT CAMILLE
The project ‘Installation of solar panels at the Institut Supérieur Privé de Santé Saint Camille de Lellis’ in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, has just ended. This mission has seen us engaged over the past six months in the purchase and installation of some solar panels and an energy collection and pumping system.
The St. Camillus Institute of Higher Education in Ouagadougou is one of the best educational centres in the country, where students – from as many as 12 African nations – have the opportunity to undertake highly specialised nursing studies.
The situation in Burkina Faso continues to be critical in many respects: from health to education, many young people are driven by the desire to emigrate in order to find more remunerative occupations, in the hope of improving their living conditions. It has worsened further in recent years, since the country has been locked in the grip of terrorism, which in increasingly frequent waves has affected vast areas of the nation, causing destruction and death.
Precisely in light of this difficult context, it is of primary importance to invest in improving health and education facilities, while helping – at the same time – young people to profitably integrate into the social fabric through stable and remunerative employment. By offering highly specialised nursing courses, the institute is at the forefront of this mission: thanks to its courses of study, it gives young people the opportunity to specialise in a discipline that is indispensable for the country, while at the same time giving them the chance to obtain a job with which to make a decent living.
Enrolments at the school are constantly increasing and we at Salute e Sviluppo are very happy to be able to collaborate with it, helping it to grow more and more. The solar panels are exactly part of this constant improvement work that the centre wants to carry out, in fact thanks to them, the institute will be able to become energy self-sufficient and represent a cutting-edge centre not only in the health sector, but also in the field of energy sustainability.
We would like to thank the generous donation that enabled us to inaugurate and complete this beautiful project!
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.
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.
