Health Care for All in Caué

The last day of October was a day filled with hope for a third of the population of the most isolated district of the island of Sao Tome, Caue. Out of the 3 administrative health areas of the district, only the population of the region of Ribeira Peixe didn’t have access to permanent health services, having to travel for long distances or wait several days for treatment. Through the contribution of the AWARE project (http://www.aware-rh.org/) in Sao Tome and Principe, funded by USAID and implemented by ADRA, it was possible to inaugurate the Health Post of Ribeira Peixe.
The opening of the Health Post was anticipated with excitement by the population, health authorities and the central government, all of whom were represented at the ceremony at the highest levels.
The district health delegate’s excitement for the quality of work accomplished was visible in his words, “… I hope that in the near future, the central hospital in Angolares will shine as brightly as this health center. Entering the facility, one would think that he is in a first world country …”
The donor was represented by a local US Embassy representative, the USAID West Africa regional office, and a regional AWARE representative. Dr. Fatimata Diabate, representing the AWARE/USAID delegation, manifested her satisfaction for the outcomes achieved by the project in Sao Tome and Principe and the excellent collaboration between the project and the national and district health authorities.
After thanking USAID, AWARE and ADRA, the minister of Health, Dr. Arlindo Carvalho, closed the ceremony by appealing to the good relations and strong collaboration between the health personnel and the community.
This ADRA project’s ongoing activities include renovating 1 Hospital, 2 Health Centers, and 8 Community Health Posts; training and equipment will be provided to health personnel and communities in a combined strategy to increase the access and quality of Health services in Caue and the Island of Principe.

AWARE Reinforces Local NGO's

Reinforcing the capacity of local NGO's was built into the scope of the AWARE Project, which is funded by USAID and implemented by ADRA-STP. "While there is a considerable number of NGO’s (81) registered in the National Federation of NGO’s (FONG), one of the major setbacks in the fight against poverty and promotion of development in São Tomé and Príncipe is the reduced number of NGO’s with capacity to implement effective programs, especially in the health sector," writes Emanuel G. Costa, Country Director for ADRA-STP and one of the primary authors of the AWARE Project. To address this, the AWARE project organized three training sessions for local NGO's in August: one in Project Proposal, one in Monitoring and Evaluation, and one in Financial Management. More than 25 local NGO's sent representatives to the training sessions. AWARE contracted several professional consulting agencies to conduct the trainings, which were attended by over 30 people on most days.

But reinforcement of capacity doesn't stop with trainings. "I am very happy to announce that we will be entering into partnership with four local NGO's as a result of these trainings," writes Dr. Adam D. Kiš, AWARE Project Director. "We have set aside funds within our budget to be awarded as subgrants to local NGO's, who will use the funds to help achieve specific AWARE Project objectives, such as constructing community health posts. Now, because of the training sessions provided by AWARE, these NGO's have been empowered to write good proposals and will have practical opportunities to practice good financial management and monitoring and evalution through implementing their subgrant activities."

At the end of the final training session, a certification ceremony was held to acknowledge the efforts and accomplishments of all involved. The ceremony was covered in the news by the national television company, and this news coverage can be viewed in the video clip at the top of this blog entry. If the embedded video is not working, you can click here to view it in a separate browser window.

NOTICE: This video clip was purchased by ADRA-STP (the Adventist Development and Relief Agency – São Tomé e Príncipe) with USAID/AWARE funds (the United States Agency for International Development/Action for West Africa Region Project) from TVS (Televisão Sãotomense), the national television company of São Tomé e Príncipe. ADRA-STP wishes to give full credit to TVS for filming all parts of the video clip, and for cropping, deleting, editing, narrating, and otherwise formatting the final content of this video clip.

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."

STP welcomes new project director

ADRA STP announces the arrival of the Project Director for the AWARE project, part of a regional USAID/AWARE program. “We are delighted to welcome Adam, his wife Kristi and their son Zachary into the ADRA STP family. Adam has the skills to successfully lead our main project and contribute greatly to the overall mission of our office.” says Emanuel Costa, country director for ADRA Sao Tome and Principe.

Adam and his family - first day in Sao Tome

Adam Daniel Kiš, the new Project Director for the USAID/AWARE health project in São Tomé and Príncipe, has previously worked in Benin with Adventist Frontier Missions (student missionary), Malawi with the University of Florida (Master’s research on AIDS), and Guinea (Conakry) with ADRA (Deputy Country Director and HIV/AIDS Technical Assistant) and the University of Florida (doctoral dissertation research on AIDS). Adam received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Florida in May 2007. Adam has also taught anthropology courses as a contract teacher at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. His wife, Kristi, grew up in Malawi for 13 years as a missionary kid; their 21-month-old son, Zachary, will be the fourth generation family member to grow up overseas while his parents work for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. “We are excited to be here in São Tomé and Príncipe and are eager to work for ADRA,” Adam writes. “We look forward to collaborating with local officials to achieve the goals of the AWARE project and to increasing the capacity of people living and working in Caué and Príncipe to serve their communities better.”