Archive for the ‘Health Clinic’ Category
As Samantha wrote on her last post before leaving DRC, the batch of supplies has now been delivered to the health clinic in Kanyaruchinya: 10 Bags of OMO Soap 20 Bottles Yddis Detergent 10 Chlore bidons 4 Baby washing basins 1 Kerosene bidon for lams
Before I leave DR Congo I should like to provide you with the final update on the health clinic in Kanyaruchinya. It really was one of my favorite projects while I was here, and is a good example of what WildlifeDirect is all about - getting money from you to the people on the ground, and making all the difference.
This is the next batch of supplies that is ready to go to the clinic. There is a lot of cleaning product - powder for the blankets and clothes, disinfectant for the surfaces, hard core chlorine for the floors. There are also 4 baby tubs to wash the newborns, and in the yellow container at the end there is 30 liters of fuel for the oil lamps. I last blogged about this on 17th December, at which time I still had about $800 left of the $2,305 I initially raised in October. Now I have about $580 left that I am going to leave with my good friend William who built the clinic in the first place. He will purchase the cleaning materials & any other basic items that they need at the clinic as and when they request it. He is often driving past so he can literally just pop in.
The clinic is so busy at the moment, because, as I told you, it is right next to the IDP camp where we, with WWF, are supplying the fuel wood that is purchased entirely with WildlifeDirect donations.
So thank you everyone. I am going to write one last post tomorrow on this blog about my wonderful visit to JACK last week… and that will be it! Samantha
I went to the health clinic yesterday to check up on how things were going and to deliver more supplies. I had not been since I took a lot of new equipment on 16th Nov that was purchased with some of the donations I received from you all.
In a bizarre coincidence, this clinic is RIGHT NEXT to the IDP camp that will be set up by the UNHCR for the 4,000 plus Kibumba refugees for whom we are trying to raise the $20,000 for fuel wood. It quite literally could not be any closer. So at least we know that the IDPs have relatively good access to a medical service.
The clinic staff told me they have been very busy already as civilians fleeing the fighting have moved toward Goma. Often, before going to IDP camps, civilians will stay with family members.
This is some of the supplies we have already provided with your donations - blankets, water filters, oil lamps, gynecological scissors etc.
Then I left more stuff - which I get them all to sign for.
This is what I left: oil lamps, chlorine, other cleaning fluids, blankets, laryngoscope, otoscope, oil lamp fuel, soap, brooms, mops, rags, buckets etc.
I saw Josephine on my way out. You can see her daughter’s foot just sticking out behind her! Josephine remember was the first one I met in early October when I decided to launch the appeal for the mattress for the delivery bed. Josephine lives with her husband and 6 children, but because of the fighting family members are staying with them. So now instead of 8 in a small house, they are 18.
I still have money left from your donations, about $800. So when I return from vacation in January I will go back up there and see what they need. I had received more donations originally than I requested, which of course is fantastic - but this is not a bottomless pit so I want to make sure I spend the money on what they really need. So spreading it out over a period of time I think is the best way. For example they will probably need more cleaning supplies etc.
Thank you everyone.
Samantha
So today I finally made a delivery of the material I have bought with your donations to the health clinic in Kanyaruchinya.
I drove up there in a friend’s truck (we don’t have a vehicle here in Goma) with all the stuff. There were some women there who had just received treatment.
Justin and the other nurses were there to meet me and we unloaded everything into the main office.
They were extremely pleased with everything - and so far that is only half of it. I will deliver the other half soon - it could not fit in the car.
The delivery sheet
So this is what was delivered today and signed off on by 4 of them: 20 Blankets 6 Large Oil Lamps 6 Small Oil Lamps 1 Stethoscope 1 Baby Scales 1 Gynecological box with scissors (that was their favorite thing!) 1 Blood Pressure Gauger 2 Water Filters
To be honest I think they were all quite dumb struck and did not expect me to deliver on my promise.
And I kid you not when I say this was their favorite thing! I think it looks scary myself but they could not take their eyes off it.
So thank you thank you thank you and thank you for ALL YOUR DONATIONS and making this POSSIBLE! I explained again to them all in detail that it was people in other countries who had read about the clinic on the internet who had given money. I took a print out of the blog posts and explained it also.
In my last post I mentioned everyone but thank you again - Sue A, Kathy S, Cathy R, Strictly P, Esther R, Tom TJ, Lisa, Wanda, Wim, James, Gary, Christine & Sheryl.
It really is fantastic to be able to do this kind of thing - and of course would be totally impossible without the generosity of each and every one of you. Believe me, this donation will make a difference.
Samantha
ps - Check out Godfroid Wambale’s new blog on WildlifeDirect - he works in the north of Virunga and speaks amazing English. He just did his first post as a video post so you get a great feel of who he is.
So here is where I am at on the health clinic. Just to recap:
On 5th October I went to the health clinic in Kanyaruchinya just outside of Goma. The delivery bed mattress was disgusting to put it lightly and I requested $100 in funds for a new one.
Wanda, Wim, James, Gary, Christine & Sheryl all donated enough money for the new mattress and more - $230 in total. I went back to the clinic on 9th October to get the new mattress set up, and received requests from the nurses for other materials.
I blogged about these additional needs on 10th October. I requested $1,223.
Since then I have had the following donations: Sue A. $1,500, Kathy S. $30, Cathy R. $250, Strictly P. $200, Esther R. $100, Tom TJ. $200, Lisa $25. This comes to $2,305.00! I think you will all agree this is a great amount. I will be doing the shopping this week, and delivering it all to the clinic either this week or early next. I have a bunch of stuff already in my hallway (some blankets, oil lamps, stethoscope etc), but need to buy the whole lot.
With the money remaining I will see what else the clinic needs and purchase it for them. I may buy more cleaning products for example, but in a month or so when the others are finished. I will post the receipts and photos of when I hand over the materials on this blog.
Thank you everyone for making this possible. I hate to beat a dead horse but this is totally what WildlifeDirect is all about.
Samantha
So I have $155 left from the money you all donated the other day for the health clinic. You donated $230, I spent $75 on the new mattress for the maternity bed, so that leaves $155. As I told you Justin, the head nurse, gave me a list of ten other things they needed. He knows I am not a major donor institution, so he really did keep it to the bare minimum. I have taken photos and checked out prices today.
With the $155 left I will buy: the Stethoscope/Blood Pressure Measurer, 5 Chlorine bottles, 7 Disinfectant bottles, 5 Blankets, 2 Big Oil Lamps & 2 Small Oil Lamps. This means I still need: 15 Blankets - $150 4 Big Oil Lamps - $40 4 Small Oil Lamps - $14 1 Baby Scales - $100 1 Box Scissors - $500 3 Water Filters - $135 1 Otoscope - $100 1 Laryngoscope - $150 3 Bottles of Disinfectant - $9 5 Bottles of Chlorine - $25 TOTAL: $1,223 This is an achievable amount. And really it is for such a worthy cause. It will go straight to where you want it to go. The scissors are also a very important request - it was number 1 on their list (I told Justin to do it in order of priority). Here are the receipts from yesterday’s mattress. Just need to add one more for $10 for materials. First is for the labor ($20), second for foam ($25) and third for leather cover and nails ($20).
The women, men and children who use this clinic will really appreciate all your contributions. These are people who are living on less than $1/day, if that. There are many people in need in eastern DRC, but this is one contribution that you can make that will make a difference to people’s lives.
This little girl, born 2 days ago, will be one of many who benefit from your donations
Josephine, Giselle & I, yesterday And I personally guarantee I will deliver your donations to them. You can donate via this blog by hitting the Donate button. Please leave a note saying that your donation is for the clinic, or leave a comment on this post! Thank you very much. Samantha
I have just returned from the health center in Kanyaruchinya. The pregnant ladies now have a brand new mattress on the delivery table thanks to your donations: James, Gary, Wanda, Christine, Wim and Sheryl. Thank you! In the morning I bought the foam and the leather and the nails in Goma. Then I dropped the carpenter and the man who uses the sewing machine up at the clinic, about half an hour away. I picked them up a few hours later. Needless to say, Josephine and the others at the clinic were stunned to see me. And then very pleased indeed. I tried to explain the blog and how you guys had all donated, but I don’t know if they really got it. So next time I go up I will print out the blog post and your comments, and then they will understand. It makes it so much easier when you can actually see it. I explained about how important the photos were - as I snapped away again today.
After dismantling the old mattress they got to work on the new. You can see what the old mattress looked like where the hole had been. I know its gross - but it is important you see how essential this was and how grateful the ladies will be.
When they were done they fixed it back onto the delivery table.
Josephine was thrilled. And she took what was left of the foam to her house to make a bed for her daughter. Another man cut out a piece of foam to use as a blackboard eraser. He has lots of kids at home and a blackboard apparently.
This is the head nurse, Justin. He made out a list for me of other things they need. Now of the $230 you guys gave I spent $75 in the end. A little less than I thought. So I am going to buy cleaning products, as requested by Josephine, for the maternity ward. They don’t have any. They also want blankets and scissors to cut the umbilical cord. This of course is going out of my league - I am so utterly squeamish. Tomorrow I will post the receipts and the list that Justin wrote - because tomorrow I also aim to get some prices for the things he wanted. I explained clearly that I wasn’t the World Bank, or the European Development Fund, or the European Union - so he kept his list reasonable. It was a pretty eventful day all in all. There was a lady there, 46 years old, who had given birth to her 13th child hours before I arrived, and was wandering around as if nothing at all. I was agog.
This is the lady - child no. 13 had exited only hours before Thank you everyone for making this happen. Please check in tomorrow to see the receipts… and more requests! Samantha
This morning I was on the road to Rumangabo and I stopped off at a health center in Kanyaruchinya - this is about half an hour from Goma in the foothills of the Nyragongo, the active volcano that spits out smoke continuously over the city and unleashed its fury in 2002. As health centers go in this part of the world it is pretty good. It is built from bricks and mortar, and has good storage facilities for water. Here there is only rain water so this of course is vital. However the delivery table for some reason has a big hole in the middle of the mattress. So to put it bluntly liquids can seep down and it is overall not a hygienic situation. I want to resolve this situation. I just looked into a new delivery table and that was over $1,400 to buy locally at Asrames. But I found a better solution. I can buy a new mattress ($30), put leather over the top to strengthen ($25) and take a man to do all of this in situ ($25). So total cost is $80. Max $100 (by the time things are a little more expensive than you anticipate).
Josephine the midwife, with nurses Ibrahim and Bartolome
Josephine has 6 children; Giselle on her back is the last. I asked them to measure the table.
This lady was waiting to give birth in the room next door, as Josephine did a few months ago
The health center, built in 2003 with EU funds
The Nyragongo volcano This health clinic services people in this area - people who live in the surrounding area to Virunga National Park. Ibrahim told me there are about 17 births a month and 125 patients, on average. A common illness is malaria. When I was there today it was quiet. Ibrahim said it was because they are waiting for the next round of medicine from the European Development Fund. So the EDF takes care of medicine, but no one else takes care of anything else like furniture, equipment, cleaning products etc. A new delivery table is the tip of the iceberg. But Josephine was adamant that they really needed one because of hygiene. Please help. You can make a donation via the donate button on this blog. Please add a note in to say what the donation is for, and I guarantee I will go out and get a new mattress for the delivery table. You can leave a comment on here too. Thanks Samantha |
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