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Tag Archives: #centrafrica

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.

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.

HEALTH AND NUTRITION IN BOSSEMPTÉLÉ

“Health and Nutrition for the Vulnerable Population of the Sub-Prefecture of Bossemptélé’ has been a project that we have told you about many times, recounting all the milestones that we have gradually achieved. The project, part of the ‘Emergency Initiative to Support the Vulnerable Population in the Central African Republic’, was funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and started in September 2021.

The interventions were concentrated in Bossemptélé, the town where the John Paul II Hospital – the health hub of the entire region – is located, and in the surrounding 75 km. We are in the Central African Republic, an endemically poor country, where many of the basic services are the preserve of a few, while the majority of the population suffers from precarious and insecure conditions, both health and food. For some years now, moreover, rebel groups have been making the country even more unstable, carrying out violent acts and frightening the already hard-pressed population.

Anche noi di Salute e Sviluppo – nel corso di questo progetto – abbiamo dovuto affrontare questa situazione, che ha rallentato i lavori, rendendoli più difficili e pericolosi. Despite this, we were able to achieve most of the goals we had set ourselves, including the construction of an emergency room for the John Paul II Hospital. Before our intervention, the hospital did not have the possibility to accommodate the most serious patients in a suitable room, now the emergency room has been completed, both in terms of structural construction and equipment. During this year in which construction work proceeded, the hospital was nevertheless able to see more than 9,000 patients, of whom about one third were admitted to receive the right treatment.

Another deficiency we had identified at an early stage concerned the hospital’s ability to guarantee the necessary meals for in-patients: most of those arriving at the facility have a severe state of malnutrition and need to re-establish a proper diet. In the course of this project, we built a kitchen adjacent to the hospital premises, which can offer three meals a day to all patients. Despite the fact that the structural work has only just been completed, a temporary kitchen has been set up since the start of the project, which has managed to provide three full meals a day for more than 1600 patients.

In order to increase the capacity of the John Paul II Hospital to adequately meet the local population’s demand for care, we decided to start a training programme for health personnel. Thanks to this initiative, 38 workers specialised in obstetrics, ophthalmology, laboratory techniques and maintenance of medical equipment were trained.

In order to provide widespread access to care also in the rural areas surrounding Bossemptélé, we rehabilitated, and in some cases built from scratch, the postes de santé located in some villages within the sub-prefecture. Before our arrival, these facilities were unsafe, with severe structural problems and without any furniture or machinery useful for first aid. During the year, we renovated, furnished and equipped the poste de santé of Gbawi (40 km from Bossemptélé), Bodangui, (10 km), and Bombalou (45 km) with sanitary materials, and we built a new poste de santé in the village of Yangoro, 15 km from Bossemptélé. In addition, we have trained more than 30 workers who will ensure an efficient health service by manning these postes de santé. In addition to each of these facilities, a well was also rehabilitated or constructed to provide drinking water, not only to the poste de santé, but also to the entire population of the corresponding village. Thanks to some budget balances, we were able to rehabilitate an additional well in the village of Boyaram. In total, more than 21,000 inhabitants have access to drinking water.

In addition to these villages, there are many others that, not having a poste de santé and being far from Bossemptélé, remain uncovered in terms of health. To solve this problem, we activated and strengthened the mobile clinic service, which – during the course of the project – was able to visit more than 27 villages, providing first aid to the local population. The mobile clinic also started awareness-raising meetings focusing on different health topics, and managed to involve more than a thousand people. In recent months, the climate of instability in the country has worsened: armed rebel groups have targeted large areas, including part of the area where the mobile clinic operates, some of which have been forced to flee. Due to this situation, it was not possible to visit many villages and proceed with all the previously planned activities.

Despite these difficulties, which caused several slowdowns, the project recorded positive results: 14% more of the local population had access to health services, 25% more had access to drinking waterwhile malnutrition dropped from 40 to 38 per cent. The facilities we have built and the activities we have initiated will continue to be a valuable aid for the locals, who will finally have access to adequate health services of a higher standard.

This article was produced within the framework of the project Health and Nutrition for the Vulnerable Population of the Subprefecture of Bossemptélé AID 05/RCA/12049/2021 funded by the Italian Development Cooperation Agency. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Italian Development Cooperation Agency. The Italian Development Cooperation Agency is not responsible for information that is considered erroneous, incomplete, inadequate, defamatory or in any way reprehensible.

A SCHOOL AND MANY NURSES

Our Project Director, Mariella, and Fr. Felice de Miranda, President of Salute e Sviluppo, went in the Central African Republic for the usual monitoring of ongoing projects in the country.

The area in which we are currently operating is part of the sub-prefecture of Bossemptélé, an area that is particularly poor and lacking in infrastructure. The only health centre in the area is the John Paul II Hospital, which, as we have repeatedly mentioned, was fundamental for the population, especially during the harshest periods of the civil war fought in the country.
On 1 January 2021, the Project to set up a nursing school: vocational training paths for improving health conditions in the Central African Republic, funded by the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), began.

The aim of this project is to complete, by 2023, a nursing school with the aim of training specialised personnel who can implement the services provided in the hospital. Besides the construction of the school, a fence and a well are also planned. At a later stage, furniture, computers and other materials will be purchased to meet the needs of the students who will undertake this certified and nationally recognised course of study, which will also make use of the synergy with the John Paul II Hospital for field placements.

If at the beginning of the year we showed you photos of the construction of the well and the beginning of the fence, we can now announce that construction work on the building is proceeding at a good pace, while work on the well and the fence has been completed. Thanks to this last mission, it was possible not only to ascertain the progress made, but also to help the local contact persons with the most optimal design of the facility, which is expected to be ready in a few months.

It makes us particularly happy that from the start of the project to date, the feedback from the population towards our initiative has been more than favourable: while in the first year 11 students enrolled, this year 25 students will be selected out of 30 applicants who applied by taking the school’s admission test. All the teachers are university professors from Bangui, who teach the classes to a high standard, at the end of which a diploma is awarded – after a positive assessment by the examination board – which is valid in the entire country.

In addition, the health workers of the postés de santé of the villages in the area will also participate in the lessons next school year, as the Central African government has stipulated that all public health personnel must increase their level of competence. The government authorities have identified our nursing school as the right place for their theoretical and practical training and will take charge of their preparation.

In addition to increasing staff and hospital standards, the project also aims to increase social inclusion and help many young people integrate constructively into society.

Since the beginning of the year, progress has been remarkable, and it is only a short time before the structure is completed. These achievements make us all the more proud, considering the situation in the Central African Republic, which still suffers from a situation of very strong instability that undermines the possibility of improvement and growth. We hope to give you many more happy updates on our activities!