Abayudaya Projects Overview
The Most Important Abayudaya Community Needs
The most vital Abayudaya community needs are improved healthcare, disease prevention, and sustainable economy.
The Abayudaya Health & Community Development Project
The democratically elected Abayudaya Executive Council requested that Be'chol Lashon serve as the clearinghouse for long-range planning and financial resource development. Extensive feasibility research led to the design of a five-year Abayudaya Community Health & Development Plan.
The Abayudaya Executive Council and Be'chol Lashon in consultation with government of Uganda, The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, physicians, engineers, and donors are helping to implement health care delivery and support systems.
Improved healthcare and community development provided by the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda to their Christian and Muslim neighbors fosters good will and cooperation among the communities.
Project Components:
| · | Building a Health Center |
| · | Preventing Disease |
| · | Developing Sustainable Economy |
Building a Health Center
Based upon the Ministry of Health guidelines, Abayudaya community qualifies for a "Health Center III" Center to provide medical care to the Abayudaya Jews and their Christian and Muslim neighbors. The Abayudaya Heath Committee is working with government officials to obtain the necessary guidelines for building, staffing, and maintaining a Health Center.
A suitable site, with access roads, good drainage and sufficient space has been designated and the plans have been drawn for a Health Center in Nabagogye called Sha'arei Refuah (Gates of Healing). Clearing the land for the Health Center began in the summer of 2007.
The Health Center will be the first of its kind in the area. It will act a training center for students who have completed secondary education and wish to train in nursing, and other health professions.
First Aid Station
While the Medical Center is being planned, an already existing building has been renovated to serve as a First Aid Station. Dr. Samson Wamani, an Abayudaya medical school graduate, is staffing the First Aid Station along with other medical professionals. In addition to attending to any immediate medical concerns, one of the most important activities of the first aid station is providing education about disease prevention.
HIV/AIDS prevention
The First Aid Station provides HIV/AIDS prevention education, testing, and counseling. Every six months they coordinate free communal education and testing in conjunction with organizations such as the AIDS Information Center (AIC). AIC provides counselors and lab technicians, and performs educational skits as part of the dissemination of information about the deadly AIDS virus. AIDS medical treatment is referred to other facilities.
Women's & Children's Health
The infant mortality rate in Uganda is high. Many women give birth at home in their village and never seek pre- or post- natal care. Often the conditions are not sanitary and both mother and child contract tuberculosis. The midwife on staff will make special visits to women with complicated pregnancies requiring special attention, in addition to offering education about nutrition, the birth process, and care of infants to all women in the region.
Village Health Workers
Village Health Workers travel to all the villages to provide healthcare education including the proper use of the mosquito nets and screens, sanitation, nutrition, and pre- and post- partum education. They also provide de-worming, vaccinations, plus malaria and HIV/AIDS testing. The workers attend a 6-month government certified medical training program. They are equipped with bicycles to visit the entire region twice a month and have cell phones to make medical-related phone calls. When cases are identified beyond the scope and skills of a Village Health Worker, the patient is either brought to the First Aid Station or referred to the nearest hospital in Mbale.
Preventing disease
One of the best ways to improve healthcare is to prevent people from getting sick. Education about preventing disease significantly reduces a variety of health concerns, particularly malaria, the primary cause of death in Africa.
There is no question that the first step in providing healthcare in Africa is providing water for sanitation. However, since mosquitoes breed in water, it is equally important to provide the tools to avoid disease. This includes mosquito nets over beds and screens on the windows, doors, and vents of buildings to provide barriers against mosquitoes and other vermin. Sanitation will be also being improved by replacing outhouses and pit latrines with flush latrines and toilets.
Water
Be’chol Lashon launched the Abayudaya Community Health & Development Project in March 2007 with the drilling of the first well in Nabagoye. Since Nabagoye is located on top of a hill, the water needs to be pumped up to the village. The Mbale Electricity Authority installed new poles and electric lines to the well to power an electric pump. Generators are also necessary as the electricity in Uganda is unreliable.
Sites have been tested to determine the best locations in the remaining Abayudaya villages, and drilling for water is in process. The wells and tap stands have a significant impact on the populations in the region.
"Water is life and sanitation is health. Water, a basic human right, is at the heart of a daily crisis faced by millions of the world’s most vulnerable people. This crisis threatens life and destroys livelihood on a devastating scale. Water gives life to everything. People need water as they need oxygen. Without both, life would be non-existent. When people are denied access to clean water, it means that their freedoms are being constrained by vulnerability and ill health. Delivering clean water, removing wastes from water, and improving sanitation, are the three of the most basic foundations for human progress facing the Abayudaya Health Committee."
Jacob Mwosuko, Abayudaya Health Committee
Mosquito Nets
Mosquito nets over beds are important to combat malaria. A study featured in a New York Times article dated October 9, 2007 cites the success of net distribution in the fight malaria, "...insecticide-filled nets, when used by 80% or more of a village, create a barrier that kills or drives off mosquitoes, protecting everyone in the area, including those without nets..." Nearly 1,000 mosquito nets have been purchased and distributed in the Abayudaya community. Nets are now being distributed among the remaining population of Namonyonyi sub-county.
Screens
All windows, doors and vents need to be fitted for screens as barriers against mosquitoes and other insects and vermin. Screens need to be customized for the homes and since construction is not standard, some of the homes need to be retrofitted with frames before the screens can be installed properly. This project is underway in Nabagoye Village, and will continue in the other villages.
Developing sustainable economy
While community health is the primary component of the project, other systems need be in place in order for the Health Center to be successful. The Abayudaya Jewish community is shifting from being donor reliant to being entrepreneurial and self-sustaining. Community development projects will provide jobs and income for individuals to pay for utilities and healthcare themselves.
Guest House
The Abayudaya community hosts an increasing number of tourists and volunteers each year. The community needs to increase their accommodation capacity. Thus far, the Abayudaya community members have been hosting individuals in their homes, providing food and lodging without appropriate compensation.
A Guest House has been completed with funding through Be’chol Lashon to capture a desperately needed stream of revenue. The Guest House offers a viable economic development opportunity for the community, allowing them to benefit from the expanding tourist industry. This is a legitimate business opportunity moving the community towards economic self-sufficiency. The Guest House has the potential to host other sustainable enterprises such a restaurant and tour business.
Micro-Lending
Micro lending is a viable way to start small business projects in the community. Expanding commerce provides much needed jobs and the necessary revenue for the community to support health care systems and utilities. Some entrepreneurial endeavors, such as a guesthouse and Internet café, have been financed by donations, and are being developed into self-sustaining businesses with additional funds from micro loans. Other projects, such as a restaurant, are being developed with micro loans exclusively as are the other projects outlined below:
Dairy Program
Uganda's high child mortality rate is related to poor nutrition. The Abayudaya Health Committee is starting a dairy program to provide a consistent source of protein and vitamins for malnourished children and mothers. Once a stable source of milk can be established, Village Health Workers can sell the milk at a low cost to families. This economically sustainable business will significantly improve the health of the community.
Crafts
The Abayudaya women currently crochet kippot as a source of income. They are in the process of expanding their production and distribution capacity, as well as experimenting with additional items such as baby blankets, necklaces, scarfs, and baskets.
Dried Fruit
The community is planning to start a dried fruit business to generate revenue. Community land adjacent to the synagogue can be used for agricultural purposes Certain fruits, including pineapple and plantain, can be cultivated. The community is exploring purchasing food dehydrators and packaging equipment for processing the fruit. They are exploring opportunities to sell it in the local Ugandan market as well as exporting to other markets.
Background
Feasibility Research
Be'chol Lashon conducted feasibility research with a variety of experts. A JDC engineer from Israel evaluated the water and electricity in the villages. An American tropical disease specialist (licensed to practice in Uganda) conducted field research regarding health services. Ugandan government officials were also consulted about health services in the Namanyonyi sub-county region.
The research confirmed that improving healthcare is a critical need for the Abayudaya Jews and their neighbors. Diseases such as dysentery, amoebas, infections, tuberculosis, and malaria flourish, and HIV/AIDS are prevalent. The community suffers high morbidity and mortality rates.
The available water in the villages is contaminated and clean water from wells is located long distances from the villages. Women are responsible for manually pumping the water and carrying it back to their homes. This includes young girls carrying "jerry cans" or 20 kgs (44lb) water containers-that are sometimes close to their own weight.
The Ugandan Ministry of Health initiated a health program in 2004 with the goal of regularly reaching the population for preventative health issues such as vaccinations, de-worming, vitamin supplementation, reproductive health, sanitation, malaria and HIV/AIDS. These services are normally conducted through a health center. However, in the area where the Abayudaya reside, neither the "parish" nor the Namonyonyi sub-county has a Health Center.
The nearest medical center to the Abayudaya Jews, Mbale Hospital, is strained to the limit and not conveniently accessible to all the residents of the region. One of the reasons that the health centers in Africa are severely overcrowded is lack of measures to prevent disease.
