AWARE Project Receives Donation

ADRA STP's AWARE-RH Project (Action for West Africa Region - Reproductive Health) recently received a large donation of medical equipment (valued at nearly $25,000) from the AWARE-RH headquarters. Funded by USAID (US Agency for International Development) and implemented through AWARE-RH and EngenderHealth, ADRA STP's AWARE-RH Project aims to rehabilitate sagging health clinics, construct new clinics in areas without one, and boost the quality of healthcare received through providing health skills refresher training and sustainable employment to health clinic workers.

This shipment is the final piece of the puzzle that enables the AWARE-RH Project to inaugurate and open the Ribeira Peixe Health Post, which was built many years ago, but languished without the finishing touches necessary to operate. Part of this shipment will also go to bolster the functionality of Hospital Dr. Manuel Quaresma Dias da Graça, the only hospital on Príncipe island. "We are deeply grateful for this generous donation," writes the AWARE-RH Project Director for ADRA STP, Dr. Adam D. Kiš. "This equipment is very badly needed in our intervention areas, and we would have had to pay exorbitantly for what we received as a free gift instead."

The Police and the Nurse

Last Friday morning, a police officer from Angolares, the capital town of the district of Caué, the poorest district of the Island of Sao Tome, followed and stopped Nurse Ana Maria, an ADRA STP worker.
Ana Maria is the responsible person for the ADRA project activities with women and girls in the district of Caué where she works directly with 6 women and girls associations, promoting health, education, income generating and women rights and participation in the society.
After the initial surprise for having been followed by the police – nurse Ana was informed that the Women and Girls from the ADRA supported association from the community of Ribeira Peixe had filled an official complaint and were requesting action from the police.
The reason for the complaint was that after the association organized a cleaning activity in the community, a person from the community defecated in one of the places that had been cleaned. The group decided to make a stand point, denouncing the situation to the police and making everyone know that they stand by new values and that the cleaning of their community protect them, their children and everyone else against diseases like cholera.
With the intervention of nurse Ana, the situation was resolved but the stand point was made and a clear message was sent, the women from Ribeira Peixe stand for hygiene practices.
The project - developing women’s and girls competencies - is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland and ADRA Finland.