On The SPOT: August Newsletter

This month, Order of Malta Worldwide Relief - Malteser International Americas pays tribute to two colleagues who recently passed. We mourn the loss of Dr. Yohannes Ligiam and Anne Broquet, two extraordinary individuals who made their life's work in helping others. We extend our condolences to their friends and families.

You can pay tribute to our colleagues -- or to your own family and friends -- by making an honor and/or memorial gift to Malteser International Americas. You can also notify friends and family of your gift with one of our eCards.    

Be sure to visit our social network pages on MySpace and Razoo, as well as our YouTube channel. Finally, you can help us today by forwarding this email to a friend and by making a donation to help support our efforts. Your support helps us continue our work to relieve suffering and make a difference in people's lives.

Dr.Yohannes Ligiam during an HIV/AIDS sensibilisation campaign

Malteser International Mourns the Loss of Dr. Yohannes Ligiam

Malteser International mourns the sudden and unexpected death of its highly esteemed staff member Dr. Yohannes Ligiam. Dr. Ligiam had been working as a HIV/AIDS-Project Manager for Malteser International in Wa/Myanmar. He died of a sudden heart attack on July 14 while on his way from his hotel to an internet cafe. He was 56.

Dr. Ligiam was a dedicated colleague who committed his life and work to helping others. His thoughts were always on the people he assisted and his co-workers. His death has hit us all unexpectedly. We will never forget Dr. Ligiam. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, his colleagues and friends. We will commemorate him.

Anne Broquet discussing with a monk in Sri Lanka

Malteser International Pays Tribute to Anne Broquet 

Malteser International is grieving for its colleague and friend of "Ordre de Malte France", the relief service of the French Association of the Order of Malta. Anne Broquet died on July 16 in Paris after a long illness. She was 60. Broquet's last deployments took her to Sri Lanka and India for the emergency relief after tsunami.

With Anne Broquet, Malteser International does not only lose a highly esteemed colleague and important team member, but also a very close friend and convincing example of Christian faith and living. Our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family.

AFRICA

Testing for sleeping sickness in Yei South Sudan

Sudan: Health Care Now in Prisons

Malteser International is working on behalf of local health authorities to assure health education in prisons of Yei in South Sudan. Beginning in July, in cooperation with representatives of the health authority, Malteser International organized health education and training for about 100 prisoners and prison staff and informed them about frequent diseases like tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, sleeping sickness and leprosy. Treatment of these diseases and the visit of other prisons in Yei are planned in cooperation with the local hospital.

Sudan: Raising Awareness for Malaria Season 

Malteser International conducted malaria awareness-building sessions in June for 225 community health volunteers in North Darfur. These volunteers received comprehensive training to educate in their respective villages on malaria prevention and control: the destruction of breeding sites for anopheles mosquitoes; identification of symptoms; and the importance of seeking malaria treatment promptly. The goal is to improve awareness and knowledge and also to promote community participation on malaria prevention.

These community health volunteers also throw light on the danger of malaria for pregnant women and the benefit of sleeping under long -lasting mosquito nets. During the peak of the malaria season, Malteser International distributes mosquito nets to all pregnant women coming to the health centre for pre-natal care.

Malteser International realized measures of compound sanitation in all supported health facilities by installing water tanks, building incinerators and planting a total of 80 desert trees.

Uganda: Community-Based Health Teams in Kaberamaido

In June 2008, Malteser International started a new flood relief project following the severe floods in September, 2007. We aim to build awareness for the community-based health system in the district of Kaberamaido. Citizens will be taught the dangers of an outbreak of epidemics, for example, after flood disasters. The health situation in Kaberamaido remains critical after being severely affected by the floods last year. 

ASIA

During the computer software training in Aceh Besar

Indonesia: Implementation of Health Information System Reaches New Level

Since 2005, Malteser International has been supporting the public health authority of the district Aceh with the implementation of a computer-based health information system, where all the relevant data of patients are saved. After the tsunami, such a system was urgently needed. The software training for the staff in the health centers will be completed in the end of July. A new phase of the project is beginning: more and more specialized staff from the local foundation Air Putih will assure the sustainable use of the programs in the health centers. 

Myanmar: Relief for the Survivors of Cyclone Nargis; Proceeds Basic Health Care and WASH Activities on Middle Island

In addition to the relief measures in Labutta in the severely affected Irrawaddy Delta, Malteser International now also takes care of health care and water supply for about 62,000 people in the northern part of Middle Island, located about 40 kilometers from Labutta. After cyclone Nargis hit the coast of Myanmar this past May, the government of Myanmar requested medical teams of the International Hospital Yangon provide assistance to the population of Middle Island. The International Hospital is now handing over four health centers on Middle Island, providing medicines, staff and equipment.

Four medical teams -- consisting of  five doctors, seven nurses and one pharmacist -- distribute insecticides to prevent an outbreak of infectious diseases like dengue or malaria. "The insecticide will be put in all cisterns and water tanks because dengue and malaria are transmitted by mosquitoes breeding in the water", Dr. Marie Theres Benner, Senior Health Coordinator of Malteser International reports from Yangon. In the worst case, the diseases lead to death if no medical support is given. The insecticide avoids the breeding of the mosquito larvae and minimizes the number of infections. "Before the start of the campaign, we have trained the health workers in the use and handling of the insecticides. We have informed the people living here on Middle Island how they can protect themselves against infections and how they can identify them in an early stage," Dr. Benner explains. Malteser International will build 75 rain water harvesting tanks as well as 2,000 fly proof latrines and rehabilitate 100 water sources on Middle Island that have been flooded by sea water during the disaster.

The hospital on Middle Island has been completely destroyed by the cyclone

Families on the island who have lost all their belongings during the cyclone receive cookware, soap, plastic sheets, rain coats and other urgently needed relief items. Malteser International trains community health workers in order to enable them to inform their communities about infectious diseases and how to avoid them. 

In Labutta, a heavily destroyed coastal town in the Irrawaddy Delta, the aid measures of Malteser International still go on. Staff members provide medical care for 16,000 internally displaced persons and 24,000 inhabitants. Malteser International is also supplying about 100,000 people in Labutta and its outskirts with safe drinking water. More than 15,000 mosquito nets and 2,700 "family kits" with cookware, hygiene articles and water cans have been distributed to the neediest families. 

Visit our website for more information or to make a donation to our Myanmar fund.

Women during the CEFE Training

Vietnam: Business training for the Poorest Women in Hoa Quy

Malteser International is using business skills training to respond to an alarming situation for many women in Hoa Quy in the district Ngu Hanh Son. These women suffer from a lack of almost everything required in daily life and are not able to comply with the basic needs of their families. In this training, named Competency-based Economies through Formation of Enterprise (CEFE) training (http://www.cefe.net/) the women get basic economic knowledge and learn selling skills. After the training, they are able to set up a small business, earn money and thus sustain their families. The project is financed by the German consulate in Ho Chi Minh City.

Rehabilitation of health facilities in Kashmir

Pakistan: New project supports disaster prevention

Malteser International will begin comprehensive measures for disaster prevention in areas that are regularly threatened by forces of nature like Azad Jammu and Kashmir in Pakistan. Due to the geographic conditions, these regions suffer regular earthquakes and other natural forces. Long-dated disaster prevention is necessary as the effects of the October 2005, which killed an estimated 73,000 people.

Celebrate World Water Week

On August 18, the 2008 World Water Week was inaugurated iwith a conference in Stockholm. The theme of the week is “Progress and Prospects on Water: For a Clean and Healthy World with Special Focus on Sanitation.” It takes place at a time when billions of people live without sustainable access to safe drinking water or suffer ill health due to poor sanitation, when worsening food crisis battles bioenergy for land and water resources, and when global climate change is shaking the overall water balance. One of the focal points of Malteser International Americas is to ensure safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in countries that do not make the news every day.

From Safe Water and Sanitation to Good Health

Download our latest publication "From safe water and sanitation to good health -- Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) projects in Asia". Learn how simple methods can help make a difference toward clean drinking water more about  and discover how WASH programs help saves lives, especially the lives of children.

Flooding in Central and Eastern Europe

Malteser International is providing relief for victims of the floods in Central and Eastern Europe.

Situation
Heavy rains and storms which started on 22-23 July have led to severe flooding in parts of Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Moldova and Slovakia. Areas of Ukraine, Romania, and Moldova are most seriously affected. About 40,000 people have been evacuated in these countries.

In Ukraine, the number of people killed has risen to 34. About 25,000 people have been evacuated. 9,000 houses and 24,000 hectares of farmland are still flooded. In Romania, the floods are reported to be the worst for 40 years. Five people are reported to have been killed. About 9,000 houses were damaged, and 26,000 hectares of land were flooded.

Action of Malteser International and the Order of Malta Relief Organizations in Central and Eastern Europe (OMRO)

Malteser International has provided a total of 20,000 Euro for first flood responses. 10,000 Euro of this amount will be used by the Romanian Relief Organization of the Order of Malta, the SAMR, for small scale distribution programs in some affected areas where branches of the SAMR are already active. The second part of the fund will be used by the Ukrainian Relief Organization of the Order, the MSD. They will possibly concentrate on small rehabilitation works in greater Lviv district.

The Hungarian relief organisation, the MMSz is also conducting flood responses in Cis-Carpathia and they have started a donation campaign in Hungary.

The Czech Relief Organization of the Order, the MP has offered 71 dryers which may get used on demand by Romania and Ukraine or any other OMRO. The use of the dryers may be an option when water levels have declined.

You can help with a tax-deductible donation to Malteser International Americas. Visit our Support Us section to learn more about how you can help.

 

Nobody should fall in the water pond anymore…

Esther Suchanek is working as a project assistant for Malteser International and currently writes a travel diary from the disaster region.

How people in remote areas contribute to improve their living conditions Today, I leave the disaster region for a visit in one of the other project regions of Malteser International in Myanmar. Very early, in the pouring rain, we start our trip to the Mayu Kan peninsula close to Sittwe, in the north west of Myanmar. Here, Malteser International has been implementing a project to improve the water and sanitation as well as the health situation in 26 villages since 2006.

Two years ago, all started with a survey amongst the people in the villages to see what exactly their needs are. Then, together with the  inhabitants, the plan was made about how to go on. For example, the survey had shown that the construction of latrines should be a major point on the agenda: Malteser International was going to provide the materials for the construction, but the villagers themselves had to decide how many latrines they needed and where they wanted to build them. Furthermore, staff members of Malteser International distributed mosquito nets (namely 5165 – every household in the project’s catchment area received one) and  water filters. In addition, health promoters educate the people about risks of diseases like malaria and the importance of clean drinking water. Water ponds are being cleaned and rebuilt so that they will stay clean in the future.

In That Yet Chaung, a small community with about 145 households, we meet the village leader who proudly presents us his new latrine. Here, the people are very engaged and committed to make a change. “Before we started with the construction of the latrines, we had a meeting, every household had a vote. The result: every household wanted to get its own latrine”, the chief says. And so it was done. Where before there were only five latrines for 128 households there is now one latrine for each family.

Malteser International provides a basic set for the construction, the people often bring additional material to make the latrines more stable and look better. “The inhabitants of this village take such good care of their latrines that they will easily last ten to 15 years”, Julio Sosa, project manager at Malteser International in Sittwe, says.

Laughing, the village chief tells us how before, people often fell in the water pond because its edges were muddy and slippery, making the water dirty. This can’t happen anymore since Malteser International built a new concrete stair for the villagers to reach the water.

Furthermore, the villagers together with Malteser International plan to construct a fence so that animals won’t go drinking from the pond anymore. That will make the water even safer for drinking. The construction of the new health centers goes on at full speed.

We walk back through the village to the boat. Everything is very clean and in order. The rain is still heavy and the paths turned into little rivers. Before the arrival of Malteser International and the installation of the latrines, the waste water of many families flew across here...

In total, we visit three villages in which Malteser International works in the sector of WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene). But this is not all: the organization is currently also constructing five health centers in this region where before there was not even one. Up until today, the medical care is being taken care of by midwives that are each responsible for up to seven villages and work from home. A new health structure is therefore urgently needed. When the construction of the health centers will be finished, the Ministry of Health will take over and sustainably operate them. Of course, they are all provided with latrines and rain water harvesting tanks. And they are cyclone-proof, which is very important in this region where cyclones regularly strike in the beginning of rainy season, destroying many buildings. The construction is going on at full speed; the hand-over will take place soon.

It is good to see how the people here on Mayu Kan are happy about the assistance and how they commit themselves actively in the planning and implementation of all project measures.

They even founded committees to take care of their new facilities like the ponds and fences when they were built. In addition, the access to health care will be secured. This combination will hopefully change the situation of the people for the better in the long term, even after Malteser International will have left the area. The stone just needed to start rolling.

Esther Suchanek

Commitment for Malaria Patients and Undernourished Children

Esther Suchanek is working as a project assistant for Malteser International and currently writes a travel diary from the disaster region.

After visiting the project close to Sittwe, I went further north to Maungdaw, where Malteser International is supporting the people in very remote areas. During a trip, I had the opportunity to see some of the activities in the projects in person.

After a long journey, we arrive in Kha Moung Zeik. During the rainy season, it is especially hard to get here – since most of the "roads" are not passable by car, we are travelling by boat. Along the river, you can see the every day life of the people. In this part of Myanmar, very close to the border with Bangladesh, almost 95 percent of population are Muslims. They often don’t have good access to healthcare and education. Since 2004, Malteser International has been implementing a broad programme to improve the health situation of these people.

In Kha Moung Zeik, we visit a school, where Malteser International has constructed two rain water harvesting tanks, six latrines and two hand water pumps. The principal of the school tells us that before they had the water tanks, drinking water had to be supplied by villagers and that it was very difficult to have water in the dry season. Now, the students have clean water all year long. The hand water pumps were constructed to wash the hands after using the latrines. For the children, our visit is a very welcome change and distraction during the school day. Curiously, they look out of the classrooms. One teacher even interrupts his lesson to come outside with his pupils and to show us one of the rain water harvesting tanks and how they make use of it.

Our next stop is a "Mother Child center" (MCC) close to the school. Here, undernourished children between two and three years get one meal per day on six days of the week. The room is provided for free by a villager and two kindergarten teachers cook for the children. As "payment", they can also eat here with two of their children. Malteser International provides the money for the food and makes sure that the little ones and their families find their way to one of the 26 MCCs operated by Malteser International.

Once a month, Malteser International organizes growth monitoring sessions in the villages. If the children do not weigh enough for their height, staff members of Malteser International talk to the parents and offer them to send their child to a MCC. Surprisingly, not all parents agree to do so, because some mothers do not have time to accompany their child, others cannot or do not want to leave the house to go to a MCC.

We arrive just in time for lunch, about 25 children sit on the floor and eagerly spoon up their bowls. On the other side, some mothers and grandmothers are sitting around. Today, in addition to the two kindergarten teachers, a health educator from Malteser International came to talk to the women about balanced nutrition and its importance. The women listen attentively and we hope that they have the financial means to actually follow the advice's. But there is reason to be confident, because many of the little ones look already better than they looked when they came here for the first time. We say good-bye to the group and start our way home.

The pupils in Kha Moung Zeik are happy with their new rain water harvesting tank providing safe drinking water the whole year long. The outpatient department (small health center) and the attached malaria-unit operated by Malteser International are situated right next to the team compound. So our way leads right through the "waiting room" (on here, this means the whole area around the outpatient department) and pass the open windows of the treating room. The malaria unit is very busy, the patients have to be registered, then a drop of blood is taken which is then examined under a microscope by a laboratory technician. If the test is positive, the patients receive medicines or, in severe cases, are referred to a health center that is located at about six hours walking distance.

If the test is negative but if they still have pain, the patients go right next door to consult the doctor of Malteser International. Of the 80 patients tested so far today, the malaria test was positive in 50 percent of the cases. Malaria is a big risk factor in this region and the center of Malteser International is the only facility in this remote area where it is screened and where medicines are subscribed and handed out. The doctor next door mainly treats diarrhoeas and respiratory infections. He and one nurse work like on the assembly line: Every day, about 100 patients come to see them – there is no time for long breaks.

It’s been a long day, even for us, who were only visiting the projects. The staff members of Malteser International who work here day by day, trying to improve the situation of the people, are really admirable.

They don’t "just" do their job; you can see that they really like what they are doing and that they are committed to the people for whom they work. This evening they sit outside on the team compound and I can hear laughter and giggling. Until ten o’clock, when the generator is turned off and the only thing I hear are the sounds of the amazingly beautiful and lively nature in this remote region of Myanmar.

Esther Suchanek