Categoria: News

A great pain

Posted on by Redazione Cuamm

Dear all,

Abraham and Moses. Two important names that evoke an ancient history, a history of dialogue, of great dreams, stories of the journey and exodus from slavery to the promised land. And their dream may have been realized by Abraham Gulung and Moses Maker Manyual, our two South Sudanese colleagues who lost their lives last Monday while working with Cuamm. A dream of commitment and help to their people and their country. One a driver and the other a nutritionist, they travelled the length and breadth of the territory around Yirol to supervise the activities of the Nutrition intervention. They were reaching the most distant and challenging health units, in that last mile of the health system that we hold so dear.

During one such supervision, while travelling in a convoy with their armed escort and local authorities, they were ambushed and killed. We don’t know who did this heinous act, not even why. Maybe an inter-clan settling of scores.

Abraham Gulung was 32 years old and a native of Abuongkeu village. Driver. An indispensable figure in a territory such as South Sudan. It takes a lot of skill and the ability to find quick ways and solutions around obstacles. Drivers know how to navigate all kinds of roads, drive their cars through the quagmire, past the chasms of water that form when it rains a lot. Abraham was an only child. He leaves behind his wife, Nyan-pen Maker Dolbai and four children, two boys and two girls, Mabeny, Mapier, Nyakuoth and Iding, the latter born a few months ago. In February 2020 he had begun his commitment as a driver for Doctors with Africa Cuamm. “He was always ready to rush to your aid, he used to say ‘I’m here, brother, ready to help you!’ and he did it with a beautiful smile,” our people from Yirol remember.

Moses Maker Manyual was also very young, he was 33 years old. Native of Tonj, capital of the State of the same name that borders the Lakes State where we are present as Doctors with Africa Cuamm. The fifth of ten siblings, he had attended school up to grade four in his region, and then continued his studies in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, where he had moved because of South Sudan’s war of independence. There he had managed to complete his primary education and graduate as a nurse from Kenyatta International University until he earned a master’s degree as a nutritionist. He had been working with Cuamm since January 2020. He leaves 3 wives and 5 children, two boys and three girls between the ages of 11 and the youngest just over a year old. “He was an energetic man, you could tell that even by his quick way of walking. At 7:30 in the morning he was among the first to arrive at the office and sent ‘Good morning’ messages when many of us were still struggling to wake up,” some of Yirol’s colleagues recall -. His smile and laughter were his calling card, so connecting with him was very easy”.

I heard the news of Abraham and Moses’ death while on retreat with other priests. An acute sorrow and pain that I am entrusting to the Good Lord, just as I continue to entrust to Him the mission of Cuamm and the commitment of every single volunteer and operator working in Africa, especially in South Sudan.

We are shaken and we live with great concern this phase of transition to the peace that is being built with so much effort. That is why I will be joining our people in South Sudan next week to support them and meet with the local authorities. Our determination to be close to the South Sudanese people is strong, despite the many difficulties.

Thanks for being with us.

Don Dante

 

Abraham  Moses

COVID19 A new space for the “Casa Sant’Antonio Abate” in Alano di Piave

Posted on by Redazione Cuamm

Though it has been active since late April, due to Covid restrictions, today, June 17th, was the first chance to have a formal opening celebration. This new space inside the garden of the Casa Sant’Antonio Abate health and social center makes possible visits for the residents, now and in the future: a gazebo that was already there and used as a rest area has been equipped with temporary protections on the sides, which allows visits with the relatives of home’s residents even when the weather is poor.

This improvement was made possible by Doctors with Africa CUAMM and the “Italian Response to Covid19: Improving governance and community preparedness for a resilient society (IRC19)” project.

This pandemic has been especially hard on vulnerable groups like the elderly residents of care homes like those in Alano di Piave, affecting them more, not only physically affected by the disease but also psychologically from the forced separation from their loved ones. Restoring family relationships is essential for the psychological and physical wellbeing of the residents and the peace of mind of family members as well. The gazebo with the new equipment is now easy to access and comfortable even for frail elderly residents and two completely safe meeting stations could be made inside. Though it had been completed in March and April, when there was still a great need for safe meeting places, it could only be officially opened now after the recent reopening of Italy.

“On behalf of all of us at Casa Sant’Antonio, I would like to thank Doctors with Africa CUAMM for the new visitor space they have donated to us,” says Matteo Segafredo, president of the Casa Sant’Antonio Abate Foundation. “It has been essential during these months because it was place for our elderly residents and their children and relatives to visit, so long-awaited and desired by all. The numbers speak to its importance: 160 meetings with family members in the gazebo house in May and 88 meetings in the first half of June. CUAMM’s gift also looks to the future too and will be invaluable even when Covid-19 is just a memory. It gives Casa Sant’Antonio the advantage of an extra place for enjoying the pleasure of spending time together, including in evenings, since it is lighted, and even in poor weather, since it is protected. What’s more, since it is located in the garden facing the street and is a short way’s from the parish church, it lets our residents be part of the town’s life.

“This is the 17th health facility that we have helped as part of the IRC19 project for a prompt response to the Covid-19 emergency. Other care homes have also requested facilities to bring family and residents together in this difficult time. This shows how important it is in long-term residential care to make people and their loved ones at the center of focus,” says Andrea Atzori, Head of International Relations at Doctors with Africa CUAMM.

 

USAID (United States Agency for International Development), which funds IRC19, is the U.S. government’s leading development organization, active in more than 100 countries.

This press release was made possible thanks to the generous support of American citizens through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The content is the responsibility of Doctors with Africa CUAMM, recipient of the Fixed Amount Award (FAA) No. 7200AA20FA00013 and does not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States government.

Donate blood save lives

Posted on by Redazione Cuamm

In a country like Sierra Leone where maternal and child mortality is very high, transfusion medicine is essential. Blood becomes a real “drug” and it is fundamental. In fact, the distrust towards donation continues to be very strong and therefore the need to invest in raising awareness and advocacy is even stronger.

Due to the shortage of blood in the blood banks, health personnel often has to donate its own blood in emergencies, as happened last week to Steven Ngoma, Cuamm doctor in supervision in Bo district.

“We had an emergency of a pregnant woman with severe pre-eclampsia who absolutely needed a transfusion in order to get the surgery to survive. In the blood bank, however, there were no blood bags available, as the last donations dated back to December 2020 – says Steven -. Fortunately, my blood type was the same as her and therefore I donated mine, so that she could be taken in the surgical theater as soon as possible.”

Steven Ngoma’s story often repeats itself not only in Sierra Leone but in all the countries we work. On World Blood Donation Day, we want to draw attention to this simple gesture that can make a difference and save lives.

South Sudan Tragic ambush in Yirol

Posted on by Redazione Cuamm

On the 7th of June, Doctors with Africa CUAMM vehicles, travelling in convoy in the far west area of Yirol West County, in Lakes State, South Sudan, were ambushed by unknown people, for unclear reasons. As a result, two CUAMM staff tragically died.

Mr Moses Maker, 35 years old, was working with Doctors with Africa CUAMM as Nutritionist. Initially deployed to Cuibet County, he had then moved to the eastern side of Lakes State, being based in Yirol Town and in charge of organizing and supervising all activities related to the prevention and treatment of acute malnutrition. In particular, he was involved in the integration of nutrition services in the health care package at primary health care facilities and within communities in Yirol West and Yirol East Counties.

Mr Abraham Gulung, 31 years old, was working with Doctors with Africa CUAMM as Driver. He was supporting all activities implemented by CUAMM staff jointly with Yirol West Country Health Department, as supervision visits to primary health care facilities and drugs or nutrition supplies last mile distribution.

On that tragic day, they had travelled together to assess the work done in some facilities and to preposition some food supplies stock before raining season.

They were serving their people with passion, spirit of sacrifice and dedication.

We embrace the pain of the families of our dear colleagues. Their loss is a great tragedy that strikes the Cuamm family and our service in a country that we hope will soon find stability and a path of authentic and lasting peace.

Health and vaccines in Karamoja tackle the emergency

Posted on by Redazione Cuamm

Today, May 21, marks the kick-off of a Doctors with Africa CUAMM’s project in partnership with UNICEF, in all nine districts of the Karamoja region in Uganda. The intervention aims to strengthen the health system to ensure better access to and use of quality health services with a focus on nutrition, HIV, and emergency health management including Covid-19. The project is particularly dedicated to the most vulnerable groups: women, children and adolescents, and it is part of a larger pre-existing programme of collaboration between UNICEF and the Ugandan government. The projects has the following main objectives:

  • Enhancing the capacity building of district authorities to plan, coordinate, implement and monitor integrated services, along with strengthening the capacity of health facilities to provide these services;
  • Increasing the involvement of communities to promote changes in attitudes and behaviours, and increasing demand for and use of integrated services.
  • Improving the capacity of prevention, preparedness and response to emergencies related to natural disasters and public health. In particular, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, UNICEF has provided additional funding to help Doctors with Africa Cuamm in implementing vaccination activities in the region in support of the Ugandan Ministry of Health, and in strengthening community awareness on Covid-19;

In Moroto, in the presence of the Ugandan Minister of Primary Health Care and the Country Representatives for CUAMM and UNICEF, an event is taking place to launch the project and the Community Engagement Strategy, the ministerial strategy for community engagement to ensure that people are adequately sensitised and actively contribute to prevent and control the spread of the virus. To achieve broader community engagement, special attention will be paid to raise awareness on this strategy among religious leaders.

Voices from the Front Line The World in the Time of COVID-19

Posted on by Redazione Cuamm

From the global North to the global South, from the world’s metropolises to its most rural areas, nowhere has been left unscathed by the COVID-19 pandemic, making all of us more aware than ever of our shared vulnerability, and underscoring the fact that health is a global issue that needs to be dealt with as such.

It’s precisely for this reason – to move beyond national boundaries and examine the pandemic from a global perspective – that Doctors with Africa CUAMM has put together a series of virtual meetings, “Voices from the Front Line: The World in the Time of COVID-19”, as part of our organization’s Italian Response to COVID-19 program, to be broadcast thanks to the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The five events will offer firsthand accounts by those who’ve been fighting on the front lines against COVID-19 in various parts of the world: health workers including doctors, nurses and researchers as well as others from public, private and non-governmental organizations.

What kind of strategies have been the most effective in terms of ensuring the continuity of health services, and where have they been implemented? Will the global South get the vaccines it needs? How has international development cooperation been impacted by COVID-19? How hard has the pandemic hit women, and how important will their contribution be vis-à-vis the reopening of society? These are just some of the questions we’ll be looking into as we attempt to identify good practices and models that can be shared on an international level.

The talks will be streamed live in English on Doctors with Africa CUAMM’s Facebook and YouTube channels starting 26 May 2021.

Event schedule

26 May 2021, 6 p.m.
Public and private accounts from Italy and Germany during the COVID-19 epidemic
Register for the event

June 2021, 6 p.m.
Advancing international development in times of crisis
Register for the event

July 2021, 6 p.m.
Last-mile vaccination: a challenge or an opportunity for African health systems?
Register for the event

September 2021, 6 p.m.
Empowered women for more resilient communities
Register for the event

September 2021, 6 p.m.
The challenges facing female health-care workers during the COVID-19 epidemic
Register for the event

As Agnes and Patrick the story of Sierra Leone

Posted on by Redazione Cuamm

Sierra Leone is one of the countries with the highest maternal mortality rate in the world, 1,120 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, along with infant mortality rate, 78.5 deaths per 1,000 live births (UNDP, 2019). Behind these staggering figures are people, stories of women and children who face daily challenges and still too often lose their lives due to poor health practices, inadequate and ill-equipped health facilities.

Agnes and Patrick live in Bo, Sierra Leone, and their story fortunately had a different ending. They got married in 2013 and their greatest wish was to have a baby. Shortly after the wedding Agnes became pregnant but lost the baby during the first months of pregnancy. After several attempts, Agnes became pregnant again and together with Patrick decided to travel to Freetown in the hope of finding better health services for mothers and children. Despite their efforts to seek better care, a complication arose in the seventh month of pregnancy due to inadequate antenatal care visits, forcing her to undergo an emergency surgery which the baby did not survive.

“It was really hard for us” says Patrick. “After some time, Agnes became pregnant again and we undertook a new arduous journey looking for better assistance than that we had received in Sierra Leone”. The first stop was Ghana, with the hope of obtaining a visa to go to Canada, where Patrick’s brother Mustapha lived. Then Nigeria, where the pregnancy was interrupted again in the third month. Finally, they returned to Sierra Leone where Agnes and Patrick finally started a new chapter thanks to their meeting with Dr. Tiru Nitsuh Addis, an Ethiopian gynaecologist working in Bo with Doctors with Africa CUAMM.

“Dr Tiru’s approach was completely different from all the experiences we had had with other doctors. He asked us to tell him our story, our medical background, he listened carefully to my wife, her fears and our concerns about this new pregnancy after so many difficulties and losses we had experienced”, says Patrick. “He did a procedure called “cerclage” at 16 weeks of pregnancy, he supported us and followed us step by step throughout the months of pregnancy”.

And so, on 7 May, Divine was born. “I am so overjoyed that I can’t even eat. We are so happy and grateful to the Lord, to Dr. Tiru and to the hospital’s maternity team for everything he has done for us”, Patrick adds. “Now, after 12 years of uninterrupted work, I can stop for a while to take care of my wife and my little girl. Over the years, Agnes and I have experienced first-hand what poor and inadequate health care” continues Patrick. “I have witnessed how women suffer, I have seen how this country is losing women and children”.

What Patrick and Agnes have experienced is not a unique or an exceptional case, but the story of many couples, many women forced to deal with a health system that is still too fragile, where there is a shortage of medical equipment, drugs and above all of qualified and motivated health personnel. “We absolutely must invest in education and training, not only here in Bo but throughout the whole country”.

TAKING CARE OF THOSE WHO GIVE CARE FIT4CARE EXPERIENCE

Posted on by Redazione Cuamm

Fit4care  was presented last week in Padua with an online event with many participating guests. This is an innovative course for the well-being of health professionals that Doctors with Africa CUAMM is developing with the unconditional contribution of MSD Italia, as part of the “Italian Response to Covid-19” project, funded by the United States government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Super-heroes, angels, guardians of life, the only contact between Covid-19 patients and their families: health workers have been all this and so much more, for all of us, over the last year and a half. This all makes investing in health workers and their well-being a necessity in Italy as well as in Africa, as Doctors with Africa CUAMM has seen every day for 70 years in the 8 countries in which it operates. CUAMM wanted to do more than just thank them by finding a practical way to “take care” of them, to improve and promote their health and their training. Thanks to the support of the American government through the “Italian Response to Covid-19” project, along with an unconditional contribution of MSD Italia, two special training courses were created, Fit4Care and JustInTime, which are starting to bear their first fruits, presented today.

The initiative is part of Doctors with Africa CUAMM’s work in Italy. When the pandemic broke out, CUAMM immediately took action in Africa to support the safety of health workers in the 23 hospitals in the 8 countries in which it operates. In Italy, in spring 2020, it also donated respirators to several hospitals in northern Italy. Since June 2020, CUAMM has been involved with “Italian Response to COVID-19: Improving Governance and Community Preparedness for a Resilient Society (IRC19).”

Project focus: supporting health facilities; helping vulnerable groups such as the homeless in La Spezia and immigrants in Puglia’s ghettos; raising awareness on issues such as global health; and training health personnel, the focus of this initiative.

“COVID-19 has been devastating for both of our countries, but our cooperation in the midst of the pandemic shows the strength of the bonds between Italy and the United States. We will stand by Italy, and together we will overcome this difficult time. With the Fit4Care program that CUAMM is launching today, we can give extra support to the medical personnel working on the front lines, treating the sick, administering vaccines, and making it possible for hospitals to function,” said the Chargé d’Affaires of the United States Embassy in Italy, Thomas Smitham.

“We are now well aware of the repercussions on mental and physical health caused by Covid-19, which have been recently described in the BES 2020 report from ISTAT. This is why MSD Italia wanted to support this initiative that CUAMM is presenting today. We see health workers as the ones most exposed, in every respect, in all the hardest phases of the pandemic and so deserving of special attention, beyond our enormous gratitude for the help they have given our country,” says Nicoletta Luppi, President and CEO of MSD Italia. “We wanted to focus our support on Fit4CARE to help health personnel in an innovative way in the regions of Southern Italy, where they had to give their tireless hard work and great professionalism, especially in the most critical phases of the emergency, to compensate for the shortcomings of the national health service which, unfortunately, is still not at the same level throughout the country. This is because we believe that investing in people and health is investing in the future.”

“Solidarity consists of practical actions, and training is one of these, which has the important value of generating real change, as we see every day in Africa and Italy,” said Don Dante Carraro, director of Doctors with Africa CUAMM. Training has always been central to Doctors with Africa CUAMM’s mission and remains a cornerstone of what we do. CUAMM has been working for years with 39 universities in Italy to create Global Health courses and in the field training of young doctors and medical students. A few numbers can give an overview of the work done: 256 Italian medical residents have gone to Africa with CUAMM from 2002 to the present, and 327 students from SISM (Italian Secretariat for Medical Students) have gained experience in one of our field projects. It is a unique opportunity to experience medicine consisting of having only basic tools at hand that make them have to find solutions. Now more than ever, this has great value, because the pandemic has shown us that we’re all vulnerable and we may also not have all the tools.”

Pietro Giurdanella, councilor of the FNOPI Central Committee said, “We support and encourage the work of Doctors with Africa CUAMM and its professionals, because what they do is made up in large part of the cultural and professional knowledge of nurses, especially considering the difficult circumstances in which they are working. The hospitals and settings in which Doctors with Africa CUAMM works are also the places, people and actions of the nursing profession, whose cardinal principle is “caring for others.” Mothers and children, from pregnancy to childbirth, in the neonatal period, during their growth and their adolescence, are among the most important people we care for, both because of their fragility, like that of older populations, and because it is with them that an awareness of health must be born and grow. This must be fostered from the start so that it can be understood and really shape populations that would otherwise be at high risk. We consider the creation of the role of the transcultural nurse as a great achievement we have made in those countries where different cultures coexist.”

“For over 70 years Doctors with Africa CUAMM has invested in the training of doctors, nurses and local staff in Africa,” says Andrea Atzori, Chief of Party of the IRC19 project. CUAMM decided to draw on the strength of this wealth of knowledge and experience to help in Italy as well, forming a network with other important organizations to make a contribution to a new approach that puts the focus on health professionals, not only by training them to manage the emergency specifically but also taking care of their complete mental and physical well-being. Five hundred health workers were trained from March 1 to April 30, including 200 students and 300 workers at numerous health facilities.”

This press release was made possible thanks to the generous support of American citizens through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The content is the responsibility of Doctors with Africa CUAMM, recipient of the Fixed Amount Award (FAA) No. 7200AA20FA00013 and does not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States government.

COURSES

Fit4Care and JustInTime

  • Fit4Care was developed jointly with industry experts and sponsored by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. The course is intended for all social and health workers, aiming to be a chance for training and focus on their physical and psychological well-being. The goal is to give them simple, easy-to-appy tools to improve their health and well-being that these months of emergency have often undermined.
  • JustInTime gives priority non-clinical training, focused on emergency management in health facilities and work organization in emergency settings. This training package was developed with the Research Center in Emergency and Disaster Medicine (CRIMEDIM) of the University of Eastern Piedmont. It is intended for all social and health workers.

Nurses: close to the patients the backbone of health systems

Posted on by Redazione Cuamm

What would a hospital do while struggling with daily emergencies and the extraordinary one of Covid-19, without nurses? Very little. For this all over the world, nurses have been a symbol of dedication and care and the true backbone of health systems. In Africa, where healthcare is even more brittle and medical staff is often lacking, the role of the nurses is even more crucial.

Matilde Adelghi works now as a nurse at the Lui hospital in South Sudan, after her experience on the front line in Lombardy during the first wave Covid-19 of march 2020:” Being on the frontline of Covid has certainly helped me a lot, both for the managing and logistic point of view. My experience was useful for the organization of the isolation tent for suspected cases of Covid-19 and we have also developed a very dense training course of three days, which was particularly appreciated by nurses, where we dealt with the themes of dressing and undressing and the correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE). The experience in Italy allowed me to transmit not only theoretical knowledge but also what I’ve learned in practice”.

Doctors with Africa CUAMM in South Sudan is also involved in staff training, supporting the Nursing and Midwifery School of Lui, a training that does not only mean investing in technical and specialist knowledge, but also convey motivation to students and nurses, working on their professional identity so that they feel proud of playing an important role within the health system.

“I believe it is essential to train nurses so they can be aware of their role – tells Matilde -. The most important aspect remains dialogue and exchange to tackle critical issues together, trying to encourage people to think about the solution to problems. The nurse has a privileged view on care – continues Matilde – because works alongside the patient and is exposed to all their needs that often go far beyond just health. If the nursing is of high quality, it can really make a difference”.

Today, on World Nurses Day, it is more important than ever to recognize the essential role that this professional figure plays in patient care and assistance in Italy as well as in Africa.

A gaze that opens up again

Posted on by Redazione Cuamm

In Uganda, in the northern regions of Acholi and West Nile, the situation as regards visual health is worrying: there is a shortage of qualified specialist doctors, and health centres do not provide appropriate eye care services due to the lack of instruments and equipment necessary to tackle visual diseases.

Doctors with Africa Cuamm with CBM Italia (Christian Blind Mission) intervenes in these regions through the project “Foreseeing Inclusion” that aims to contribute to the reduction of avoidable blindness and that also invests on the training of health workers: 1,012 those trained in 2020 in order to sensitize communities on visual diseases, organize the fields of ophthalmic surgery and take care of the periodic monitoring of patients.

The beneficiaries of the project are many and with various diseases, from those suffering from simple cataracts that over time caused blindness, to those who became blind as a result of trauma. The stories of the people we meet every day in the field underline how simple surgery like the cataract removal can change life and their families.

Abdala, a 60-year-old refugee from the Imvepi camp in the Terengo district, suffered cataracts for at least 5 years before surgery: “It was like living constantly in the dark. First, I lost sight in 2018 and after two years, I became very blind. Little by little, I found myself needing help to do anything, even the simplest. My wife had to take care of me 24 hours a day and I am very grateful for this – she says – as well as thank the staff of Medici with Africa Cuamm and CBM for convincing me to do the surgery that gave me the opportunity to see“.

Thanks to artificial intraocular lenses, the day after the operation, Abdala has normally recovered the sight to the right eye. “I am now autonomous again and have a normal life without having to constantly ask my wife for help”.

The story of Isaya, a 47-year-old refugee from the Rhino camp, was blind for 27 years after stepping on a mine. “A lot of people like me lost their sight after stepping on a land mine. Living without being able to see and be autonomous is a great suffering, I could not move alone, work to support my family, I felt useless and often mocked for my fragility. I tried to go to many hospitals but no one could solve my problem. – Says Isaya -. Fortunately, a Cuamm health worker from the Village Health Team advised me to go to the Ofua health center and I asked my brother to accompany me because I did not want to give up. I was able to operate and thanks to the surgery, I saw the face of my wife, of my children. Now I can finally see what I haven’t seen in 27 years“.

The stories of Abdala and Isaya are just some of the many happy ending stories made possible thanks to the project “Foreseeing Inclusion”, which aims to improve the quality of life not only of people who undergo visits and interventions, but also of their families.