Message from the Project Leader - FORGE Health Service

July 24, 2008

(Note - This blog was written by Anthony, the refugee Project Facilitator for this project. As English is not his first language, there may be some minor grammatical errors in his writing. Care was taken to clarify any passages that were confusing, while leaving most of the blog untouched in order to preserve Anthony's original tone.), To what extent of living are we likely to be if we cannot be treated for a common cold? One of my living days during which time we were running away, I eye-witnessed a person dying out of a thorn-caused injury! How the group and I failed to offer any aid to the injured girl still leaves me with an unanswered puzzle. But because I was young, what did my elder groupmates do? Who knew anything to do? Not only this, but for many other life experiences that really made an impact on our lives all along our journey from Rwanda and Burundi specifically to where we are here in Zambia, made me decide with a strong push to pay much attention to health knowledge-granting subjects at school – eg Sciences and Biology. These experiences also complemented on my career in which I have much desires to study medicine. A refugee life has left us with both external and internal wounds. Overuse of muscles while running away day and night eating unknown to us food, drinking stagnant water, sleeping outside uncovered, going hungry for several days, body swellings, traumatism resulting from guns and bombs noise and losing our beloved ones and many other horrible life experiences we met, pushes our community to answer the question: what kind of people make up the community? Nevertheless, we thank UNHCR and the international community for all that they provided to help make us feel unhumiliated by providing security, residence, etc. However, some services are limited to communities of the Meheba settlement. For instance, the community where I live has had no school and no operating health center. But then who would attend school? Ill or living and healthy children? Our community members suffer differently after all, passing through all the above difficulties. We currently have more than 20 mad (crazy) persons and many more are traumatized. The whole community is at high risk to getting communicable diseases. How good was it if they knew how to prevent them? Malaria has become our neighbor. The community members have been trying to make it to the nearest clinic 15 kilometers away. Many died due to failure to reach the clinic especially those in critical conditions and vulnerable. Many mothers have been experiencing miscarriages and there have been few people referred to higher medical attention for more than five years now. Should it have not been for FORGE’s quick response to our need and expression, I couldn’t be in a position to say all this. I therefore thank FORGE for the opportunity given. We also thank FORGE as a community for the consideration of our need. Thank you.

FORGE Health Service - June 2008

June 16, 2008

(Note - This blog was written by Anthony, the refugee Project Facilitator for this project. As English is not his first language, there may be some minor grammatical errors in his writing. Care was taken to clarify any passages that were confusing, while leaving most of the blog untouched in order to preserve Anthony's original tone.)

Block “G” my resident area is one of the remotest communities of Meheba Refugee Settlement. This community has been going through various life challenges among them prominent being health problems.

During the need assessment through which FORGE usually finds it essential tool to sort out the problem faced by such and such a community so as to help address; it proved that the community lacks access to health services. This is so because of a long time the community has pulled through in absence of any kind of clinical services. The findings showed clearly that the population of all ages and classes suffered pain of lack of medical services since 2003 due to a sudden close down of the clinic. The clinic closing down was as a result of the failure of UNHCR and other organizations in support of the clinic like AAR and LWF to satisfy government’s expectation of the plan and progress of the clinic.

Upon receiving the good news from FORGE about being helped after the assessments of the need, the community freely chose seven Block Representatives (BRs) to help FORGE Management carry out the assessment. This was Stage I of the Collaborative Project Planning (CPP). Block Representatives among whom I belonged responded positively and voluntarily took responsibilities in Stage II where we walked through road 77-105 asking questions to all classes – youth, men and women, old and vulnerables. We didn’t have either problems with the rest of the community or between ourselves as BRs. We therefore found our work to be easy especially that the answers that they gave us were common. This clearly showed us the prominent need the community has.

It is from this stage’s experience that I was trusted and chosen by the community and my groupmates of BRs to proceed to the next stage - Stage III as a Project Facilitator (PF) so as to work together with FORGE Managers to work on the project proposal.

As a PF I feel supported, trusted and responsible for the development of this project. I therefore promise both FORGE and my community all the requested possible serves and commitment. In this regard I would like FORGE to feel to finding a conductive environment to work from and a cooperative community, and my community to feel represented.

With the provision of FORGE HEALTH SERVICE as the name suggestion this community, will enable patients who can’t make it to the nearest clinic get basic medicines; a good number of pregnant women and those pertaining to deliver get assisted by a group of trained midwives; and all children will access all possible care that they need. The total of 2200 population will benefit through transferal and consultation in addition to health monthly. We will therefore have achieved our goal to have a large stranded community growing, with a vision of seeing everyone well and healthy. I indeed thank FORGE in the name of the community to have generously made it to take this challenging task.

I thank you.

FORGE Health Service - May 2008

June 6, 2008

Geographically, Block G in Meheba Refugee Settlement finds itself at a drastic disadvantage in terms of receiving health services. Located at the back of the camp and far from any clinics, Block G houses refugees who feel isolated and underserved when it comes to health issues. Thus it was no surprise that when Block G's Block Representatives (those refugee leaders chosen by their communities and FORGE Project Managers to plan and enact a community-development project) found the major result of their needs assessment to be this: the people of Block G want health services.

Over the past few months, the Block Representatives have taken this challenging request to heart, weighing all their options and reviewing all of the resources available to them to ameliorate the health sector of Block G. They dedicated themselves to find a health intervention that would interest the community, could produce long-term effects, and that would have the greatest impact on their Block given the resources that they had available. They have investigated collaborations with clinics in other parts of the Settlement, both for medical referrals and for mentorship in planning their own health project. Ultimately, the group has decided to found the FORGE Health Service of Meheba Refugee Settlement, with the goal to improve access to medical care and health education in Block G, one of the most populated refugee communities in Meheba Settlement, which has not had a working clinic for more than five years.

Just in the past few weeks, the Block Representatives have chosen a Project Facilitator (PF) from among themselves to see this project through to completion. The PF will work for the next year to finish planning, implement, and evaluate the FORGE Health Service. As soon as we can raise enough funding -- just $5,000 -- to support the operating costs of the FORGE Health Service for two full years, implementation will begin, and the project will be up and running, administering consultation, advice, and basic medicine to those members of Block G who have been waiting so long. Check back for exciting new developments as the FORGE Health Service takes shape over the next few months.