We are delighted to update you on the progress of the Abayudaya Community Health and Development Project.
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Malaria is the #1 Killer in Africa
The Abayudaya Jews live among their Christian and Muslim neighbors. Mosquito nets were donated to the Abayudaya community members in 2006, but their neighbors are not protected. The goal is to distribute nets to at least 80% of the entire population in each village for maximum protection against malaria. An article in the New York Times dated October 9, 2007 cites a study that found that, "...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. Individual nets tended to just drive mosquitoes next door, to bite someone else."
The Abayudaya Health committee is planning to distribute nets to all members of the villages of Namutumba, Nasenyi, Nangolo, Namanyonyi, and Nabagoye. A Be'chol Lashon intern, Mara Rothbard, who specializes in public health, worked on the ground in Nabagoye with the Abayudaya Health Committee to plan this project in January. She participated in the first distribution process in Namutumba, along with local leadership, Dr. Samson Wamani (an Abayudaya doctor), and the Village Health Workers. A follow up net distribution has already taken place in Namutumba and another one is scheduled for Nasenyi in April.
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Yasher Koach to Dr. Samson Wamani on his Presentation at the AIDS Conference in Tanzania
Dr. Samson Wamani was invited to present at the Bagamoyo HIV/AIDS Conference in Tanzania on February 26, 2008. The conference was a regional training workshop that brought together medical workers and health care advocates from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Africa. The goal of the training workshop was to improve skills of the participants and to establish a people centered health system using the Participatory Reflection and Action (PRA) model. Several delegates wrote papers aboutthe work of their organizations in the areas of prevention, care and support to HIV and AIDS patients. Dr. Wamani was the only participant from a faith-based organization. He explained: "I introduced my self as a Jew from Uganda. At first most people thought they had not heard me well. I gave them a brief history of the Judaism in Uganda before talking about how we use participatory, reflection and action methods in the struggle to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS in the community. When I finished, three Jewish delegates from WHO (World Health Organization) introduced themselves. They said they did not think that someone from Africa could ever stand boldly and tell people that he is Jewish." On the last day, Dr. Wamani was invited to attend the World Health Organizatio's first Global Forum on Human Resources for Health.
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