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| Sunday, 13 June 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Building bridges through healthcare by Carol Aloysius Three decades ago a young Japanese medical student on a humanitarian mission to help refugees in war torn Indonesia, decided to set up a medical non-governmental organisation that would cater to the most pressing health and mental needs of refugees globally.
The underlying objective of Dr. Shigeru Suganami, founder and president of this unique organisation, was to promote health and well-being of underprivileged people throughout the world through short-term emergency relief projects and long-term developmental projects. With this in mind, AMDA hoped to forge a global network of partnership for peace and development with a "greater degree of accountability, professionalism and transparency". Now in its twentieth year of existence, his organisation is not only recognised by the United Nations, but ranks as one of the world's largest international non governmental organisations with 30 Chapters (branches) and 19 project offices in Asia (including Sri Lanka), Africa, Europe and North and South America. In the past decade, AMDA has worked in over 50 countries including Sri Lanka in emergency and developmental projects, which have helped to improve the quality of life of thousands of beneficiaries. "Sri Lanka is one of our success stories", says Hajime Matsunaga, Director of the Peace Building Project through health in Sri Lanka (PBP). The PBP was started in Sri Lanka in February 2003 at the request of the Special Envoy to Sri Lanka Mr. Yasushi Akashi, says the Project Director. Currently it has opened three offices in Colombo, Kilinochchi and Hambantota, with a fourth expected to be opened in Trincomalee soon. "AMDA international provides help to all sorts of people in need, to victims of natural and man made disasters, war, famine. It also helps to implement development, projects in various fields including health, education, environment, income generation, women empowerment, community development rural development and social development among other things. All our activities in these areas are based on mutual assistance and community participation. Our two main guiding philosophies in carrying out such projects; recognition and respect for different cultures; and a respect for the innate capacity of communities to help themselves, Mr. Matsunaga told the Sunday Observer in an interview recently. Unique medical organisation Since it opened its first office in Sri Lanka, this unique medical organisation has been in the forefront of delivering healthcare and health education to the most underprivileged communities in the three areas it opoerates. At present it runs mobile clinic services in remote areas in the Vavuniya and Kilinochchi areas in Jaffna, where it is difficult for people to visit hospitals. "These mobile clinics are carried out in nine places and more than a hundred persons visit our clinic daily", says Mr. Matsunaga. AMDA has also helped install an X-ray machine gifted by the Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA) at the general hospital, and due to the lack of a qualified radiologist, AMDA doctors are currently trying to teach one of the hospital staff members to operate the machine, says Matsunaga. The project also operates mobile clinics in Trincomalee, and Hambantota. Patients visiting these clinics hail from the three leading communities in the country, which is a vital factor for the success of the project. "The the country, which is a vital factor for the success of the project. "The mix of ethnic religious groups, Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala is a very important factor in Our peace-building efforts through healthcare," Mr. Matsuanga stresses. He vividly recalls, the look of shock and disbelief on the faces of the villages when he and his team of medical personnel comprising three Japanese nurses, a Cambodian doctor and a co-ordinator and radiologist along with a local translator visited Kilinochchi for the first time. "It was culture shock for them as Japanese people are a rare sight in the district", he reminisce. "Today we share a common bond with them and they have learned to trust us as friends". Due to the language barriers, the Japanese team had to first hire a translator from the area. But "We also began learning Tamil so that we can communicate directly with the people", he says. Today, the nurse and doctor have both learn sufficient Tamil to be" understood" by the people . Along with the mobile medical clinic in Kilinochchi, the AMDA team also began a health education program to create awareness about basic health and hygiene rules initially targeting the patients and later going out to the schools nearby. "Our aim was to empower schoolchildren, their parents and teachers with knowledge and skills in simple first aid so that they need not make that long trip to hospital simply to dress a wound or cuts. Lessons were given in oral hygiene, personal hygiene, environmental cleanliness, how to use a latrine. We taught them lessons with the aid of pictures which is easier for them to understand. We also visited primary and preschools and asked the children to draw how a child should brush his teeth, wash his hands, use the toilet properly, and keep the environment clean. It was a hands-on experiment in health education which went down very well with our target groups", Mr. Matsunaga recalls. Positive results In Hambantota where AMDA operates an office with full time workers including a co-ordinator, a collaborative health education programme with the Public Health inspectors and the Principal of each school (around 15 - 18 schools have been visited in this district so far) has so far brought positive results, says Mr. Matsunaga showing pictures drawn by primary schoolchildren at Lunugamvehera and Suriyawewa districts, of schoolchildren doing shramadana to clean their environment, and several colourful pictures drawn by grade five students in these schools on good toilet habits, on personal hygiene, washing of hands and the correct way to brush their teeth. "We showed them our pictures first to create awareness of these subjects and then asked them to draw their own pictures. the results were most encouraging". The project is in its second year of operation and AMDA's local Project leader says it is time to let the local community takeover AMDA officials will leave Sri Lanka next year, "We are now trying to train local people, local nurses, doctors, teachers and PHI's to takeover our role and be in the forefront of such activities in the future", says Mr. Matsunaga. As he reiterates, the focus will continue to be health and health related activities. Respiratory diseases are very common in these areas, so are skin ailments and eye problems. We will continue to screen and identify disease, take blood pressure, test our patients for heart problems and advise our patients on developing healthy lifestyles. In addition we will concentrate on empowering the local community with skills in first aid so that they can help themselves". The AMDA peace building Project is a fresh innovative approach to peace building in a country where a peaceful resolution to the 20 year conflict is badly needed. The positive results reaped thus far, can only augur well for the future. |
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This decision led to the formation of the Association of Medical
Doctors of Asia (AMDA), a humanitarian, non-political, non-sectorial and
non-governmental organisation which carries out its activities under the
banner "A Global Network of Partnership for peace through projects
with sogo-fujo spirit under local initiatives".
