Monday 21 October 2013
In October 2013, one of Guernsey's Commissioners for Overseas Aid, Dr Nick Paluch, returned from a trip to the Eastern Province of Zambia where he took the opportunity to visit two projects supported by the Commission.
At the St Francis Mission Hospital in Katete, he was able to check on the progress of some much needed staff accommodation which is being built with funding from Guernsey based charity 'The Friends of Katete' and with a grant from the Commission.
The 400 bed hospital serves a local population of more than 250,000 and acts as a referral centre for the whole Province. Whilst he was there Dr Paluch was able to join the medical ward rounds and help in the outpatient clinic. He said:
"The hospital serves a large population spread across a large and very remote area. This makes it difficult for them to recruit and retain staff but the accommodation which the Commission has funded has improved this, although the hospital, like many in rural Zambia, still relies heavily of volunteers from abroad. At present there are just two resident Zambia doctors and the hospital's busy 80 bed paediatric ward was being covered by a single junior doctor from the UK.
The cases of infectious diseases were far more common than in Guernsey. I assisted in the treatments of many patients suffering with malaria, meningitis, TB, typhoid and of course HIV/Aids. Although at one point affected as many as 14% of the Zambian population, I got the impression that the rate of infection is slowly but surely coming under control. I saw that compliance with treatment was generally quite good and undoubtedly this is part of the reason the improvement in the management of this disease. I was deeply saddened to see that on the surgical ward the number of children with severe and extensive burns from the open village fires."
Before he left Dr Paluch presented the building team with a plaque which will acknowledge the financial support given to the hospital by the people of Guernsey.
During his stay he also visited the Tikondane School and Community Centre situated next to the hospital which received a grant from the Commission a few years ago to build a community and assembly hall aptly named the 'Guernsey Great Hall'.
Tikondane School has 700 pupils and the community centre runs a variety of activities including a sheltered workshop for the unemployed, preschool classes and HIV counselling. It also organizes irrigation and permaculture projects in the surrounding villages and makes sure that the vital boreholes and wells are kept maintained and repaired. Dr Paluch said:
"I was delighted to see how much the community hall is used. It has made a great difference to the day-to-day lives of this community in a very impoverished and remote corner of Zambia. The whole community were delighted to meet me and asked me to convey their thanks to the people of Guernsey for the overseas aid which has helped to fund this building."
Further Information
Dr. Paluch undertook this visit in his own time and at his own expense. Like all the six Commissioners, Dr. Paluch undertakes his work with the Commission on a voluntary and unpaid basis. Their work involves spending many hours reading and evaluating all the applications the Commission receives for funding and monitoring the delivery of each project which receives a grant aid award against the project's stated objectives and budget.
The Commission has supported the Friend's of Katete charity in its work improving the health services in Katete since 1999, through the following grants:
1999 - £40,000 for the construction of two additional housing units at St. Francis' Hospital to assist in attracting and retaining medical staff
2000 - £20,000 for an extension to the housing units funded in 1999 to provide further accommodation for medical staff at St. Francis' Hospital
2005 - £20,500 for the construction of a multi-purpose hall at Tikondane Community Centre, Eastern Province to provide facilities for community education and training events, medical clinics and other community events as well as a source of income for the community and to maintain the building
2010 - £6,650 to provide additional sanitation facilities and extend the multi-purpose hall at Tikondane Community Centre built in 2005 with funding from the Commission
2013 - £43,850 to increase employee housing stock at St Francis' Hospital through the construction of two three-bed houses and one single-bed house which will be used to attract and retain much-needed qualified medical staff, as well to provide accommodation for visiting medical Specialists
