Introduction.
Since 1999 the programme is part of the
Diocesan Pastoral Plan and it is continuing part of the Pastoral Plan 2007 –
2012.
Clients.
The programme has an intake of 160 participants
in Lodwar town.
The programme also deals with self-help groups
in Lokitaung, Katilu, Kataboi, Kaikor, Kalokol, Nasiger, and Kangatotha with
about 800 getting help through the programme. The intake of new clients in
Lodwar is carried out by the social worker and the home-visitor. In the other
villages the intake is the task of volunteers in the parishes.
In Lodwar 8 clients died and we had an intake
of 15 new clients.
Staff.
The programme is staffed by:
1 coordinator
1 assistant coordinator
1 informal social worker
1 full-time home visitor/community worker
2 part-time home visitors
1 part-time home visitor/office worker
1 WET member (Work Experience Training)
1 part-time cleaner
3 watchmen, 2 full time and 1 part-time.
- 5 staff members attended on a course about
Home Based Care and the assistant coordinator attended a 5 day course on
Management. Both courses were organized by MEDS in
- 2 Staff members also attended a course on
Home Based Care organized by the Medical
Coordinator of the diocese of Lodwar.
- 2 Staff members finished a driving course and
they got their driving licenses, 1 for a car
and 1 for a motorbike.
- 1 former home visitor, sponsored by the Ewoi
programme for a nursing course is
finishing her first year. From the second year of the course
she will be sponsored
by Anna Poot Foundation from the
- The informal social worker is still doing her
course; she did her exams but the results are not yet out.
The office.
One staff member is engaged in office work. She
takes care of the store and the food supply. She also attends the records of
the store and what is going out.
Three times a week she also teaches 3 young
handicapped clients
During 2007:
536 came
to the office for general assistance and special reasons
424 Medical
assistance.
4194 Food
assistance, the office gave out:
-
Maize/beans
3781
packets (1.3 kg)
-
Posho
2965
packets (1.3 kg)
-
Unimix
267
packets (1.3 kg)
-
Biscuits 869
pieces
-
Others (soap/oil/mats/cloth/mats etc.) 2420
After getting a donation the gate was extended
and the fence renewed.
During the last month of 2007 it was sometime difficult/dangerous to be in the office. People came from
the market, used alcohol and were fighting and shouting to the employees who
were in the office. After elections the office was closed for some time.
Home visits
Through home visits a lot of information about the
need of the old and handicapped people comes to the staff. Many people know the
home visitor who is active in a certain village and they give her information
about the needy in their community.
The home visitors continue trying to motivate
the relatives and community to assist the old ones in fulfilling their needs.
After reporting to the office, decisions of
helping can be made.
The clients appreciate the home visits very
much. Sometimes the home visitors are the only ones the clients can talk with.
Total Home visits: Social worker 736
Home
visitors 5,221
Others
36
Medical department
Until June the programme had a full-time nurse.
She finished her job after becoming pregnant. From July one of the staff
members accompanies the sick clients to the hospital or the nearby
dispensaries. She is carrying out the follow-ups and gives information to the
responsible home visitor about the situation of the client.
When there is a sick client who is not capable
of going to the hospital or dispensary, we can call a nurse from the hospital
who visits the sick granny at home.
The way of treating the old sick ones is in
this way working well and it is cheaper for the programme, because the salary
of a nurse is very high.
Mobile clinics.
The mobile clinic to Kalokol is still
successful. Sick old ones are coming up in a good number. A part-time home
visitor is doing the follow ups and monitors them and their relatives. Since
May we don’t get assistance from the sisters in Kalokol, they have other jobs
to do. Every month the clients got food and occasionally clothes, soap, mats,
etc.
The mobile clinics in the villages failed. People
were demanding free assistance, were harsh to the staff and the leaders did not
give the messages to the community. The time came to stop three mobile clinics.
Eye camp.
Three eye camps were held. Two
in Lodwar District hospital and one in Kakuma hospital.
A total of44 attended the eye camps with
results as follows:.
- 16 got an operation
- 14 got treatment
- 8
needed follow-ups
- 6
could not be treated.
After the cataract operations13 lients got back their vision.
Prevention.
- During
celebrations, mobile clinics and other group activities the clients were taught
about hygiene, how to use medicine, assisting each other,
income generating etc. These
workshops were successful.
- During
home visits the clients were taught about personal and environmental hygiene.
When it is necessary, the home visitor cuts nails and hair of the client and
assists with bathing.
- Mosquito nets were donated by the hospital
and from a sponsor abroad. The office is
still distributing these nets. The impression is that,
already, the malaria cases of the
clients have reduced.
Activities of the medical
department.
- 590 clients
got medical treatment in the office, hospital, dispensary, or at home (home
visits from nurse)
- 8 where admitted in the hospital
- 217 home
visits carried out by the nurse or the medical assistant
- 79 visits
to the different health facilities ( hospital,
dispensaries, clinics) .
- 673 clients
attended the mobile clinic, 59 cost sharing treatments.
- 271 Home
visits carried out by the nurse or medical assistant about special medical
reason/follow-ups.
Handicapped.
Ewoi programme is still dealing with
handicapped. The social worker is concerned about them. During home visits the staff
meets the handicapped, mostly children, or parents ask assistance because they
don’t know what to do or where to go. The programme tried to refer them to John
Paul II home in Lokichar. For “simple cases” the programme organized attention in
cooperation with the orthopedic technician from Kitale.
Liliane foundation is assisting in sponsorship.
At the moment we gave attention to 10 handicapped most children. Seven are on
the waiting list.
The office handed over 13 handicapped children
to John Paul 2nd
Home for physically handicapped at Lokichar.
Food.
For the poor weak old
people getting food is still a problem. The only source of food is the food
distributed by the relief organizations. If there is relief food it is
difficult for them to get it. Some old ones are begging daily in town.
For a group of about
eighty clients, the programme provided food every week except during June and
July.
This food contains
1.3 kg maize/beans 1.3 kg flour, two times a month ¼ lt. of oil and a small
packet of salt. The programme also offers extra food for clients with special
needs. This includes those who are on strong medicines e.g. ARV’s and to clients
who have to take care of grandchildren (aids orphans).
During the year the
programme got some food from the diocese. It did not get food from any relief
organization.
A few times the
programme supplied some food to Lokitaung and Kataboi and food was given to the
clients in Kalokol during the monthly mobile clinic.
Transport
The programme is using a Hilux Pick-up. The
staffs are using bicycles when they go to the field. The nurse took driving lessons
for riding the motor bike but unfortunately she left the programme before she
finished the course.
The day watchman is doing the repair of the
bicycles and every four months a mechanic is carrying out the general service.
Income generating Project.
One staff member is doing the income generating
activities. She helps clients to get some income through a small loan and guide
them how to do the business. The old ones can spent the profit for their daily
live.
Also the staff members stimulate the clients to
make mats, brooms, sticks, collecting firewood. etc.
But this is never enough to buy the most necessary food and household items.
59 Of the clients are doing an activity for
sustaining their lives and 5 are in the income generating project.
These IGP activities consume a lot of the staff
members time and need a patient and committed attitude.
Finance.
The sustenance of the
programme still depends on well-wishers. Through their kind help the programme
has been able to carry out their activities according to the aim of the
programme. The Board of Management and the Staff of Ewoi programme are very
grateful for all the donations from abroad to run the programme.
The programme is
still looking for a long-term sponsor.
Cost-sharing is
working well in some areas. But the staff members have to continue to motivate
the clients.
Building houses.
To build houses for
the old people who need a better house is one of the aims of the programme. But
by experience we learnt that the relatives and community left every thing to
the staff of the programme. Therefore the staff made the decision to stop this
activity for a while and made clear to the relatives and the community that
they have to participate. This was successful because several clients got new
houses build by their relatives and community members. On these occasions the
programme had given assistance and provided some food for work.
Activities.
-
The Board of management held two meetings.
-
The programme organized a
Easter celebration for the clients in Kalokol and celebrated the “International
Day for the Elderly”.
-
Weekly food distribution for about 80 clients.
-
Several times homeless people were picked from the
street, their homes were found and staff members brought them back home, after
bathing, cutting hair/nails and putting on clean clothes.
-
During the mobile clinic in Kalokol the clients got
some food, soap and if necessary the programme gave out clothes, bedding,
utensils etc.
-
Through the activities of the Orthopedic Technician
some clients and non clients got orthopedic equipment as calipers, artificial
legs, polio boots.
-
Through a sponsor from the
-
A total of 8 workshops were organized. Nasiger (2x) Kangatotha (2x) Kaikor (2x)
Kataboi and Katilu. Attendants were members of Small Christian
Communities.
-
The programme continues teaching 3 handicapped
youngsters, because “Adult education programme” has no staff to give attention
to them.
-
Clients are more used to pay cost sharing. The
clients don’t complain about it.
-
Two staff members are doing a distance course for
management and one former home visitor is doing nursing in KMTC Lodwar.
-
Five staff members went to down country to attend a
workshop about Home based Care and the assistant coordinator attend a 5 days
workshop about management. Both courses were organized by MEDS.
The programme organized several work shops for the staff
.
Regularly the programme kept in contact with:
Chancellor
of the Diocese, District Officer, Forestry office, Chiefs, Social Ministry,
Social Service, Hospital, Liliane Foundation, Help Age, Dispensaries, Police,
Justice and Peace, Children’s Officer and other public organizations.
-
One outing for the staff was organized.
Problems faced by the programme.
-
Involving the members of the Small Christian
Community is still a problem. But through the workshops held in different
parishes we see improvement.
-
Transport is expensive because of the bad roads. Car
and bicycles needs repair frequently.
-
Through the campaigns and political rally’s it was
dangerous for the home visitors to do their activities in the field.
During the
election time the office was closed for some weeks.
-
People outside Lodwar expect that the programme can
give food and other goods to the elderly in their parish. This is not always
possible.
Planning
2008.
-
Continuing the activities of 2007
-
Continuing the workshops for the Small Christian
Communities and extending them.
-
More activities to teach the clients about health and
social issues organized by the Community Health worker and the social worker.
-
Appoint Wet members in Katilu, Kataboi and Kaikor to
assist the old and
motivate the community.
-
Trying to find a long-term sponsor(s)
Finally the Board of
the programme and the management are very grateful to all the well-wishers who
made it possible to sustain the Ewoi programme. Without them it was not
possible to assist the poor needy old people in Lodwar and surroundings.
Also thanks to the
staff. They are hardworking. They showed a responsible
attitude and were always willing to assist the poor. They are a good example
for the whole community.
Lodwar,
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o