Background on Organization and Work
The organization I'll be working for is the Spain based Fundación De La Comunidad Valenciana Dr. Grau Albert (Dr. Grau Albert Valencian Community Foundation). In Spain, the term "foundation" is synonymous with non-profit. The organization is headquartered in Valencia, Spain and works exclusively with St. Josephs Hospital in Kitgum, Uganda.
St Joseph Hospital is a General Hospital located in Kitgum District. It was established in the late fifties and became fully operational by 1960 as a hospital with 100 beds. Currently, the hospital belongs to the Gulu Catholic Archdiocese and is accredited to Uganda Catholic Medical Bureau, with a capacity of 350 beds.
The hospital counts with 350 beds distributed as follows:
- Surgical Ward (male and female) 64 beds
- Medical Ward (male and female) 62 beds
- TB Ward (male and female) 32 beds
- Maternity 28 beds
- Children’s Ward 104 beds
The hospital receives economic contributions from the National Government of Uganda, foreign NGOs, and individual donors. The majority of the funds go towards programs to improve child survival, reduction of maternal mortality and reduction of the burden of mortality and morbidity caused by malaria, tuberculosis and HIV.
The first project I have is to implement the project titled "Strengthening of preventive measures and hygiene promotion in the communities of Kitgum district". The project will contribute to the sustainability and improvement of activities in preventive health that are currently been carried out in Kitgum District through the strengthening of community activities and the training of health staff in health issues. It will further empower individual and group capacities of the participants in the project and also reinforce their associative work structure.
The aim of this project is to deal with the high level of vulnerability of preventable diseases related to the lack of hygiene habits that provokes an increase in levels of malnutrition and other diseases. The low capacity of response by the community when first symptoms are detected (fever, diarrhea) is the reason why the project focuses on improving awareness of basic hygiene and other preventative measures.
The project is really two parts, working first with the staff at the hospital and then with the communities surrounding the hospital. I will be handling most of the community based work so I will initially be visiting communities to select for participation in the project. We hope to have ten communities that participate and it will be important to organize community health organizations or contact previously existing community based organizations. When the hospital staff is finished training, they will then visit the ten communities to give workshops and meet with the various groups. I will be managing the project along with my Spanish partner, Ana.
There is a lot that is unknown at this point; what is the communities level of interest? How high is the capacity of the hospital staff? What language will the workshops be administered in? And the list goes on. I look forward to finally touching down in Uganda and seeing what is actually in place and what we have to do to reach our goals.
St Joseph Hospital is a General Hospital located in Kitgum District. It was established in the late fifties and became fully operational by 1960 as a hospital with 100 beds. Currently, the hospital belongs to the Gulu Catholic Archdiocese and is accredited to Uganda Catholic Medical Bureau, with a capacity of 350 beds.
The hospital counts with 350 beds distributed as follows:
- Surgical Ward (male and female) 64 beds
- Medical Ward (male and female) 62 beds
- TB Ward (male and female) 32 beds
- Maternity 28 beds
- Children’s Ward 104 beds
The hospital receives economic contributions from the National Government of Uganda, foreign NGOs, and individual donors. The majority of the funds go towards programs to improve child survival, reduction of maternal mortality and reduction of the burden of mortality and morbidity caused by malaria, tuberculosis and HIV.
The first project I have is to implement the project titled "Strengthening of preventive measures and hygiene promotion in the communities of Kitgum district". The project will contribute to the sustainability and improvement of activities in preventive health that are currently been carried out in Kitgum District through the strengthening of community activities and the training of health staff in health issues. It will further empower individual and group capacities of the participants in the project and also reinforce their associative work structure.
The aim of this project is to deal with the high level of vulnerability of preventable diseases related to the lack of hygiene habits that provokes an increase in levels of malnutrition and other diseases. The low capacity of response by the community when first symptoms are detected (fever, diarrhea) is the reason why the project focuses on improving awareness of basic hygiene and other preventative measures.
The project is really two parts, working first with the staff at the hospital and then with the communities surrounding the hospital. I will be handling most of the community based work so I will initially be visiting communities to select for participation in the project. We hope to have ten communities that participate and it will be important to organize community health organizations or contact previously existing community based organizations. When the hospital staff is finished training, they will then visit the ten communities to give workshops and meet with the various groups. I will be managing the project along with my Spanish partner, Ana.
There is a lot that is unknown at this point; what is the communities level of interest? How high is the capacity of the hospital staff? What language will the workshops be administered in? And the list goes on. I look forward to finally touching down in Uganda and seeing what is actually in place and what we have to do to reach our goals.
If you're curious about my past work experiences, you can visit the blog I kept in Nigeria...there are some great stories and pictures from the other side of Africa.
Username: nigeriaguest
Password: Nigeria
Comments
Post a Comment