Social and healthcare project at Khagendra Hospital, Kathmandu – Nepal

13 Oct 2020

Social and healthcare project at Khagendra Hospital, Kathmandu – Nepal

Hospital Khagendra

(Nepal)

2019

Project

In November 2019, a group of three volunteers travelled to Nepal to launch the first phase of the social and healthcare project at the orthopedic hospital in Kathmandu. They took with them a large amount of medical and educational supplies needed to start the planned activities.

For approximately two weeks, they worked on the healthcare aspect, which consisted of developing, together with the center’s own staff, some techniques for treating and caring for patients. They also implemented a practical and visual system for personal hygiene, through training and the distribution of descriptive posters visible throughout the hospital.

At the same time, hey fitted out premises to serve as a classroom and workshop, where users will receive training in new occupational, leisure and therapeutic activities, the use of recycled materials, self-management skills, economics, etc.

Despite the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has made it impossible for our volunteers to travel to continue with the next phases of the project, we have been able to monitor progress through our partners in Kathmandu, who have been sending us regular and comprehensive management reports and photographs on how the project is evolving. We have noted that, in terms of healthcare, recent restrictions on nursing staff at the hospital itself have led to a decline in the services and improvements provided by our volunteers. We hope to be able to resume the project when it is possible to travel to the country again.

In terms of socio-educational aspects, it has been observed that the new techniques, materials and equipment have been very well received, and we can see how users utilize the premises, which have been converted into a workshop, to carry out their occupational activities. They maintain an acceptable level of order in the facilities and take care of the objects they manufacture, distribute and sell. Proof of this is that, through the sale of their products, they have been able to finance the construction of a car park for adapted motorcycles.

Therefore, the project coordination team in Nepal has decided to conclude the first phase of the project. We are waiting for the borders to reopen so that we can continue our work, if possible, both in the health sector and in the expansion of the socio-educational sector, taking advantage of the outdoor spaces available at the center to improve the gardening, horticulture and leisure areas for the hospital’s residents.

Preventive action to minimise the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in Senegal, Honduras, and Nepal.

9 Oct 2020

Preventive action to minimize the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Senegal, Honduras, and Nepal.

The current crisis caused by the arrival of COVID-19 in Europe has led to the mobilisation of organisations working in humanitarian aid to assist the most vulnerable people around the world.

At Acció Solidària i Logística, we are also committed to this cause. As an organisation working on development cooperation and emergency projects around the world, we believe that at a time like this it is important to call for ‘global solidarity’, because this crisis affects us all. The consequences of this crisis will be devastating for many people, not only from a health perspective, but also socially and economically.

The pandemic has already reached more than 200 countries around the world, many of which do not have the structures or minimum conditions to deal with a pandemic of this type and where the consequences (health, social and economic) are expected to be very serious.

A.S.L. is launching a campaign to raise funds and take action in three of the countries where we are currently carrying out development cooperation projects: Senegal, Honduras and Nepal.

Our action aims to help minimize the effects of the arrival of this pandemic in these countries by ensuring the disinfection of spaces, providing preventive information to the population and facilitating their confinement by supplying food and other basic necessities.

Senegal:

In Senegal, a large part of the population lives below the poverty line, and the country does not have adequate health structures to deal with a pandemic of this type.

Senegal has a poverty rate of 52.3%. In terms of health conditions, 147 women and 219 men per 1,000 inhabitants die in the country. In addition, the country has other deadly diseases, such as malaria (almost 65 people per 1,000 die from this disease) and tuberculosis (with 122 people affected per 1,000 inhabitants).

Medina Boudialabou is a rural village of 860 inhabitants, most of whom live from agriculture and fishing. However, in order to purchase most of their food and basic necessities, as well as to obtain energy supplies, the population is forced to travel regularly to the nearest town, Ziguinchor, which is 14 km away.

The families in the village do not have a sufficient water supply and therefore do not have the minimum conditions necessary to maintain good hygiene and reduce the risk of infection.

Actions:

Since mid-April, ASL has been working in different phases.

The first shipment of funds was used to purchase equipment to control the three access points to the village and to disinfect people and vehicles returning from the city.

Awareness-raising and training activities have been carried out among the population.

Disinfection of houses and the village in general.

Purchase and distribution of food to all inhabitants to encourage the reduction of population movements, helping to comply with the lockdown order decreed by the government. (1,700 kg of rice).

After one month of working at the local level, and although there are more cases of COVID-19 every day in Senegal, the disease has not entered Medina.

We continued our pandemic prevention work during May, June and July, maintaining our efforts to raise awareness, train and inform the population about the activities being carried out.

Operational maintenance of disinfection equipment (3 entry points to the village, 1 entry point to the gardens and 1 mobile unit), monitoring of entry checkpoints and the use of disinfection materials.

Door-to-door awareness-raising and information campaign on COVID-19 in the 56 houses in Medina, carried out by the mobile team.

Purchase of 1,500 kg of rice (34 50 kg sacks) and distribution of 25 kg to each family in the village, this being the second food distribution to the population.

The government is reopening schools on 2 June, which means that pupils and teachers will start travelling to educational establishments. For this reason, ASL is distributing 100 additional face masks to pupils in the village (from the primary school and secondary school in the neighboring village of Djibonker) to improve safety conditions.

We are buying more bleach and liquid soap to reinforce the checkpoints.

Total disinfection of the Medina primary school before reopening the center.

On 5 July 2020, the Senegalese Ministry of Health reported 7,400 cumulative cases of COVID-19 and a total of 133 deaths in the country.

Raising awareness among the population, purchasing disinfection materials and products, together with the food aid that has been provided on two occasions, have been key to ensuring a reduction in the mobility of people who travel regularly to the city and to controlling the pandemic.

The involvement of the population of Medina on the one hand, together with the continuous help of ASL on the other, have yielded good results. Since the arrival of the pandemic in Senegal, Medina Boudialabou has had zero cases of the disease.

Since the end of July, our representative in the country has been working in the area after returning from lockdown, and we are trying to resume the activities planned in the town as part of the cooperation projects we are developing.

In September, we continued to help protect Medina against COVID-19 by purchasing the following materials for distribution among the population:

1.5 tonnes of rice (30 50kg sacks per family), bottles of liquid soap and bleach (2 boxes of each) and 100 face masks.

A general awareness session was also held to remind people that the disease is still present in the country and that protective measures must continue to be maintained.

ASL has funds available in Senegal to enable it to act quickly on any task related to the pandemic, both for new actions and for replenishing stocks of preventive materials.

Disinfectant materials.

Entry point to the town.

Food distribution.

Distribution of face masks to schoolchildren.

HONDURAS:

Honduras has a poverty rate of 19.3% and a malnutrition rate of 177 and 170 men/women per 1,000 inhabitants. Other diseases are also present, such as tuberculosis, which affects a total of 38 people per 1,000. The country does not have adequate health structures to deal with a pandemic of this type.

During the month of May, 1,685 cases were detected and a total of 105 people died from the virus.

The Honduran government has decreed a lockdown for the population. In the towns where ASL works, the vast majority of people are engaged in informal trade and transport, while many others depend directly on remittances from their emigrated relatives (many of whom have stopped receiving them as a result of the emergency).

A large part of the country’s economy is based on this informal trade, and people who sell on the street (71% of the economy comes from these traders) are suffering a loss for many families due to the ban on leaving home.

For this reason, it is difficult for the population to comply with the authorities’ lockdown recommendations and stay at home, as they do not have the food they need to survive or the money to buy it.

El govern hondureny realitza repartiments d’aliments a les famílies que consideren més necessitades però, no obstant això, en un país amb gairebé 8 milions d’habitants, aquesta mesura no arriba a tothom i resulta insuficient.

ASL vol intentar garantir un millor confinament de la població, evitant els desplaçaments i assegurant l’arribada dels productes de primera necessitat a famílies del municipi de La Masica, on ASL hi treballa en diferents projectes de cooperació al desenvolupament.

Al país la ONG sempre ha col·laborat amb els bombers i alguns dispensaris locals. Aquests col·lectius estan en primera línia en l’assistència a la població davant l’emergència. La idea és ajudar-los amb materials de prevenció dels que no disposen en la quantitat que necessiten.

Actuacions:

A finals de maig, ASL adquireix menjar i productes d’higiene personal per elaborar bosses solidàries que es reparteixen a les 200 famílies de l’aldea de La Masica. El repartiment d’aquests productes és imprescindible degut a les condicions d’aïllament físic d’aquesta població i on els aliments governamentals no hi han arribat.

La bossa solidària consta d’arròs, llegum, farina, pasta, salses, sal, sucre, mantega, condiments, cafè, avena, sopa, sabó per a roba i vaixella, clor i desinfectant. Calculat per a que les famílies puguin aguantar durant un mes.

Durant el mes de juliol s’adquireix i es reparteix materials de prevenció als bombers de San Pedro Sula, Potrerillos, Villanueva i el Centre de Salut de Monterrey. Entitats amb les que ASL sempre ha col·laborat i que mantenen equips d’intervenció en primera línia d’assistència a la població.

El repartiment consisteix en desinfectant, alcohol antisèptic, mascaretes de protecció i quirúrgiques, guants i bates.

Preparant les bosses solidàries.

Repartiment de les bosses.

Donació al centre de salut.

Donació als bombers de San Pedro Sula.

NEPAL:

A finals del mes de gener de 2020 va aparèixer el primer cas a Nepal, semblava inevitable un imminent contagi de tota la població, agreujat pel precari sistema de salut i els pocs recursos per lluitar contra l’epidèmia. Res mes lluny de la realitat ja que la situació es va contenir moderadament. Al país, el segon cas de contagi no va arribar fins la tercera setmana de març, quan es va declarar el confinament. La situació d’alarma a tot el mon, només fa presagiar lo pitjor pel Nepal, un dels països mes pobres del mon.

El 24 de març, seguint l’exemple de l’Índia, Nepal declara el tancament total de fronteres, aeroports i tots els negocis, amb només dos casos declarats de Covid-19. Provocant lo que finalment serà una situació insostenible, escassetat d’aliments i ensorrament total de l’economia de subsistència de milions de famílies.

La situació tampoc es econòmicament bona als països d’acollida dels emigrants nepalesos, dels que en depèn l’economia del país, tenint en conte que la primera font d’ingressos es l’enviament de diners dels milions de nepalesos que treballen a l’estranger. Al ser una crisis mundial, molts d’ells es queden sense feina i forçats a tornar a casa des de països amb alts índex de contagi. Això acaba per provocar que el virus es propagui al Nepal.

El principal problema del Nepal a dia d’avui, no ha estat el Covid-19, si no les conseqüències derivades de la seva prevenció. Els casos continuen augmentant considerablement cada dia. Però, l’índex de letalitat es insignificant en proporció a la població. Es molt probable que mori mes gent de fam o altres raons vinculades al confinament, que del propi virus.

ASL va començar a treballar al Nepal durant el terratrèmol de 2015, realitzant diferents tasques d’ajut d’emergència i prosseguint després en projectes de cooperació al desenvolupament en diverses àrees i àmbits. En aquests temps de treball, coneixem entre d’altres organitzacions, a Hugging Nepal. És tracta d’una ONG amb seu a Palma de Mallorca i que conta amb molts voluntaris espanyols i internacionals, que durant aquesta crisi i tancament de fronteres, s’han dedicat a adquirir, cuinar i repartir aliments, porta a porta i en llocs comunitaris, a les persones més necessitades de la capital i nucli de població més gran del país, Kathmandu.

La confiança en la gran tasca d’aquests voluntaris confinats a Nepal, i el repartiment dels aliments a nuclis de població on ASL esta treballant en cooperació, ens porta a col·laborar, en la mida del possible, en aquest projecte.

Actuacions:

A mitjans de juliol, ASL realitza un enviament de fons econòmics que permet l’adquisició i repartiment d’aliments durant alguns dies en les zones de treball de la ONG.

A finals d’octubre vam rebre la notícia del suport econòmic per part de l’ajuntament de Sant Feliu. El dia 29 del mateix mes, vam fer una aportació que va repercutir en el subministrament de 1.145 kg d’arròs entre d’altres aliments, resultant en una ajuda alimentària a 265 persones i aproximadament 70 famílies.

A mitjans de desembre, vam enviar una donació econòmica als nostres companys de Huggings Nepal, coincidint amb la inauguració d’un menjador social. Aquesta instal·lació és necessària a causa dels impediments de les autoritats locals a realitzar aquest repartiment casa a casa i al carrer. Des del menjador es pot controlar més les quantitats i l’aprofitament dels aliments. ASL pretén col·laborar amb el manteniment d’aquest projecte tan imprescindible en temps de pandèmia al Nepal.
El nostre suport es quantifica, aproximadament, en 1.100 kg d’arròs i 600 kg d’altres aliments per cuinar al menjador social.

Nens en la cua del repartiment.

Repartiment de menjar cuinat.

Local del menjador social

Help for migrants in Velika Kladusa (Bosnia)

10 Mar 2020

Context and background of the action

Last winter, a volunteer and member of ASL visited the towns of Sid (Serbia) and Velika Kladusa (Bosnia) to produce a photo report exposing human rights violations in this area of the Balkans.

During his stay, he identified the main need to be addressed: providing warm clothing to the refugee population living in poor conditions in the Velika Kladusa camp and surrounding areas. All the testimonies he collected reported brutal attacks by the Croatian police during their failed attempts to cross the border into Croatia.

A few months later, our volunteer made another trip in a van, filled with clothing and supplies to help these migrants cope with the winter, but it was insufficient given the size of the migrant population settled in this area.

In addition, when refugees attempt to cross, their shoes and clothes are often torn due to the difficulties of the journey itself and the nets and obstacles they encounter.

Given these circumstances, refugees are forced to remain at the borders for months, in deplorable conditions, which intensify and become even more difficult to cope with during the cold months.

Given that around 900 people are currently trapped in the Velika Kladusa refugee camp and that the flow of migrants in this area is increasing, ASL wants to help meet some of these families’ basic needs by providing materials, clothing, and basic foodstuffs to make their wait a little more dignified.

The project

To address this issue, Acción Solidaria y Logística launched a clothing drive to send items to the field, with the aim of providing these families with enough supplies to protect themselves and better withstand the harsh weather conditions.

First phase

The first phase of this project was the result of detecting a lack of clothing, footwear, and basic hygiene supplies among young people who are temporarily living in the city of Velika Kladuša, Bosnia.

In early July, ASL called on its NGO partners to collect, organize, and pack these clothes.

This action was carried out in cooperation with the NGO No Name Kitchen, which was mainly requesting summer clothing and footwear.

In this way, ASL obtained donations, mainly clothing, from its partners as well as from various collaborating entities dedicated to collecting used clothing.

In addition, ASL received a donation of 2,000 doses of children’s vitamins and minerals from Nutrigen (part of the company Belleza Estética y Salud S.L), which will be used to supplement the nutritional deficiencies of young people and children in the countryside.

The two volunteers’ intervention lasted a total of six days, of which they spent three traveling and three working in the field.

The tasks carried out by the volunteers generally consisted of sorting and distributing clothing in conjunction with the organization No Name Kitchen, which works to provide basic and legal assistance to migrants.

The two volunteers reported on the harsh conditions in which these people find themselves. Not only do migrants suffer from the helplessness of not being able to cross the border after more than 10 days of trying, but those inside the camp complain about the conditions in which they live: they live in very small spaces, without adequate medical care and without anyone giving them the attention they deserve.

Second phase

The second phase of the project consisted of a food collection and awareness campaign in different schools in the province of Girona, complemented by a second trip to the field, with the aim of carrying out improvement works on the No Name Kitchen volunteers’ house.

Food collection and awareness-raising in schools

Acción Solidaria y Logística held various talks and workshops in a total of five schools: La Noria and Levantino schools in Mar de Sant Antoni de Calonge, Escuela de la Villa de Palamós, Fornells school in La Selva and Vall-llobrega school.

Some of the schools decided to collaborate in the food collection, such as the Fornells school in La Selva and the Vall-llobrega school.

In addition, ASL visited the Palamós Municipal Library, the Mes Gavarres gym and the Quitxalla nursery (Vall-llobrega).

Improvement works at the No Name Kitchen volunteer house

In October, ASL organised a second trip to Velika Kladusa to carry out work on the house of the volunteers of the No Name Kitchen organisation, with the aim of improving conditions before the arrival of winter.

The improvements consisted of closing the openings in one of the floors and installing doors to keep out the cold. Windows were also installed to make the most of natural light.

Improvement and rehabilitation of wells on Dibo Island (Mozambique)

9 Mar 2020

Improvement and rehabilitation of wells on Dibo Island (Mozambique)

On 14 March 2019, for the first time in history (since records began), a cyclone of Idai’s magnitude struck Mozambique. It was the country most severely affected, along with Malawi and Zimbabwe, causing more than 600 deaths and leaving nearly a million people homeless.

A few days later, on 25 April, Cyclone Kenneth struck Mozambique again, along with Tanzania.

Specifically, on the island of Ibo, Cyclone Kenneth affected more than 8,000 people, who lost their homes, their livelihoods and decent access to basic social services.

Access to drinking water has been an ongoing problem on the island, although it is true that after the two cyclones this problem has worsened considerably, as many of the island’s water wells have been affected and there is a lack of hygiene and sanitation systems.

For this reason, the lack of safe access to drinking water and basic hygiene infrastructure is the main source of gastrointestinal diseases and child malnutrition.

ASL’s intervention

Following the passage of two cyclones through Mozambique, the Fons Català de Cooperació al Desenvolupament (Catalan Fund for Development Cooperation) and ASL’s EREC team decided to carry out a joint intervention to assess the damage and study which sector should be prioritised in order to improve the lives of those affected. With the support of the IBO Foundation, which has been working on the island for years, the members of the EREC team carried out an analysis of the damage, focusing on access to drinking water and housing.

First trip to the field

On 20 June, two volunteer members of ASL’s EREC team travelled to the island of Ibo to assess the most appropriate intervention, given the damage caused by the two cyclones (Kenneth and Idai).

After studying the damage and taking into account the economic and time factors available to us, it was determined that the most effective and urgent intervention was to repair and improve some thirty community wells that supply drinking water to the population.

The analyses carried out detected that most of the wells contained bacteria that cause gastrointestinal diseases in the population, as well as excessively high pH and salinity levels.

Of all the wells visited, eight did not have any type of cover to prevent animals and other sources of contamination from falling in; six did not have a pump or had a broken pump; two were in disuse; and most had leaks of contaminating groundwater.

With this information, ASL decided to send a second team to the field to repair these community wells and continue testing the water to determine the problems with each well and the required chlorination levels.

Second field trip

The second field trip focused on improving community wells to make them safer for the population. Two ASL volunteers travelled to the island of Ibo in mid-August.

First, the wells with the highest usage and consumption by the population were chosen in order to maximise the number of people benefiting from the project. Local staff were hired to carry out the initial tasks: building a cover to secure the well, laying the foundations for the well and building a washing area to facilitate the cleaning of clothes, thereby helping to divert dirty water and reduce contamination of drinking water.

Construction of a school in Villanueva

24 Jan 2020

Construction of the John Cook School in Villanueva

Project

THIS IS THE THIRD SCHOOL WE HAVE BUILT FROM SCRATCH IN THE DEPARTMENT OF CORTÉS, SPECIFICALLY IN THE BELLAVISTA NEIGHBOURHOOD, AND IT ACCOMMODATES ALMOST 200 CHILDREN.

Due to the poor condition of the house that had been used as a school until then, in 2012 we decided to build a new building on a nearby plot of land. The school has six classrooms, a kitchen and a computer room, which we equipped with a dozen computers in 2016.

More than 45,000 violent deaths in the last 10 years
ASL has been working in the country for more than 15 years in 14 schools and medical clinics that have been built or expanded.