#ong | Salute e Sviluppo

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.

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.

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.

IN-DEPTH DIAGNOSIS AT THE LUIGI TEZZA HEALTH CENTRE IN KOKUMBO

Salute e Sviluppo has been working for more than 25 years following the example of St. Camillus de Lellis, founder of the Clerics Regular Ministers of the Infirm (Camillians) and universal patron of the sick and infirm. The focus of most of our projects is health, and with the help of the Camillians – present in more than 40 countries around the world – we try to intervene in all those areas where there are shortages. The complete synergy between us and the Camillian communities around the world makes our projects, all of which are designed to improve the living and health conditions of the populations most in need, long-lasting and rooted in the territory.

Today 25 May, the anniversary of the birth of St. Camillus, we want to tell you about one of the latest health projects we have just inaugurated: ‘Purchase of laboratory equipment for the Luigi Tezza Health Centre in Kokumbo’.

Kokumbo is a village in Côte d’Ivoire, a country that despite steady economic growth still has many shortcomings, especially in rural areas. To combat this situation, the Daughters of St. Camillus have been present in the country for more than 10 years, carrying out health and welfare projects.

Thanks to their constant commitment, the Blessed Luigi Tezza Health Centre was established in 2009, near the villages of Kokumbo and Niamkey Konankro, about 50 km from the administrative capital of the country Yamoussoukro. Since its inception, the centre has been a key health hub for the local population, who have been able to benefit from the support of the missionaries and from medical consultations and treatment for a variety of diseases, including Buruli Ulcer.

Despite the efficiency of the centre, it is currently still only possible to carry out basic diagnostic tests, but not in-depth analyses that would allow the early diagnosis of numerous other diseases.

We at Salute e Sviluppo have decided to take action, committing ourselves for the next six months to purchase the instruments required by the centre, including: a water distiller, an autoclave for sterilising working instruments, a water bath, a thermostat and an ichroma II immunology reader, which allows more accurate values to be provided for immunological examinations, and a laminar flow hood, which protects the operator and the working environment from pathogenic microorganisms. At the end of this period, the health centre will be able to perform all the specific examinations necessary for the well-being of the local population.

We are happy to be able to be at the side of the Daughters of St. Camillus, jointly pursuing the mission of improving the living and health conditions of all individuals in need, following the example of St. Camillus de Lellis.

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.

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