Project Yayasan Haraban Sumba

Rotary club Dronten ondersteund het project Yayasan Harapan Sumba, Project Hope Sumba.

Binnen dit project worden in de periode 2007-2009 200 sanitaty units gerealiseerd.
Dit ten behoeve van de verbetering van de hygiëne in de dorpen.
Het sanitaty project wordt lokaal geleid door de in Sumba aanwezige Nederlandse verpleegster Ine Oomens. Zij is voor een periode van twee jaar betrokken bij Yayasan Harapan Sumba
Een deel van haar project is het realiseren van 200 sanitaty units in de dorpen in Sumba.
De dorpelingen moeten zelf zorgen voor al het grondwerk en de opbouw. De materialen zoals cement, pijpen en dergelijke worden vanuit het project geleverd. Tevens wordt de begeleiding gedaan door de in het project opgeleide lokale ?opzichter?.
Inmiddels, februari 2008, zijn 72 units gerealiseerd. (Zie foto?s)


Project Goal

To improve the level of health care available to the people living in the villages of West Sumba, particularly the women and children, and to provide them with basic education regarding hygiene, sanitation, nutrition and disease avoidance.

Project Objectives

1. Improve access of the women to regular health care for themselves and their young children.
2. Provide basic health education to women, schoolchildren and school teachers.
3. Provide the women with information regarding nutritional, low-cost food which can be prepared from the crops they grow themselves.
4. Assist in combating TBC and malaria falciparum in the region.

Progress of Program

Staffing
We have an excellent Dutch nurse working with us. She is also a health teacher with many years of experience. She has developed a very practical program of cooking and nutrition instruction with several villages.
The other two staff members are Sumbanese locals, unusual in that they have university training. They speak the local languages and are able to work independently and in sympathy with the local people?s level of understanding.

Education of Kader Posyandu

We are supporting five Posyandus, training the kader each month, both on their tasks as kader at the Posyandu and about pregnancy, new baby care, care of sick or underweight newborns, nutrition, contraception and immunization.


Health Training to Local People

We are still supporting At the Posyandus we are helping with immunizations, checking children for wounds, illnesses, etc. and teaching the women how to deal with them. At some Posyandus the kader are cooking with the women, using materials provided by the women themselves.
We are focusing intensively on four groups of villages where both men and women are working actively with us. The Kepala Desa and bidan desa asked us to work in these specific villages. identified as both the most backward and in need of knowledge, and among the most enthusiastic and willing to work with us.

We are providing recipes to them using foods the people grow themselves, with the villagers providing all the materials. During these cooking sessions we also talk about health, hygiene, sanitation, etc.

As a result of these discussions the villagers have a great desire to have toilets for the first time. We have agreed to help the first group of villages (56 houses) to build one toilet for each two houses. About 80% of the materials and all the work will be from the people themselves, with help from us only of 3 sacks of cement per toilet. This will be the first time a large group like this has worked together to achieve a common goal, and will be a wonderful example for the villages around them.

TBC Program

We have given information to over 1000 people regarding TBC and tested over 180 people. Those who tested positive have entered the national medicine program and we have supported them with home visits throughout the 6 month treatment. So far the number already cured is 25.

We are also paying for those who have already been tested and show TB negative, to be examined including medicines to cure their illnesses, usually long-term bronchitis or other chest ailments.

Progress towards Development Outcomes

1. Improvement of the weight, health and general condition of children attending the Posyandus.

Our Posyandus now operate every month and are much better run. This has induced more women to attend, therefore more children are immunized and receiving more pregnant women are receiving iron and the other services offered at the Posyandus.

The process of persuading women to attend the Posyandus is a long and slow one, but we are seeing greater attendance. This is also seasonal. If the women are busy in the fields, planting or harvesting, they often will not take time to come to the Posyandu.





2. Acceptance and use by local women of new health practices

The local people attending the ongoing health discussions and cooking sessions are very receptive to new information. Many of them are incorporating better food into their children?s diets as well as taking better notice of illnesses, wounds, etc. Working with whole kampungs at a time is increasing our effectiveness, as is having the active backing of the Kepala Desa and bidan desa.


Future Plans

The health problems in the villages in West Sumba are caused to a small extent by poverty, but much more by lack of any kind of knowledge. They can be overcome slowly by regular, repetitive meetings with the villagers, cooking together with them, consistently reinforcing the benefits of immunizations, of proper food, hygiene and sanitation.
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