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He explained how the camp that was built for 10,000 is housing
30,000 people and how difficult it is for the families to survive
on the $10 a month salaries they receive. He said before the garden
program started, it was not difficult to see malnourished children
in the streets of the camp. But now almost everyone is gardening
and he has to seek out children that are malnourished.
Larry's work
I am still the Regional Health Consultant for the PC(USA), so
I will continue to travel to Cameroon and other countries to help
the church with its health programs, but most of my daily work
is done through the structure of the SANRU project here in Kinshasa.
The project was started by Presbyterian missionaries in the early
1980s to help Protestant health programs be more effective with
their primary health care programs. It now works with all church
groups and has greatly influenced the health care system of this
country. Currently we have funding from USAID to help develop
health services for about 12 million people in 75 health zones.
These zones include all the hospitals and health centers of the
Presbyterian Church of Congo. I'm technical advisor. This means
that I help develop new strategies and programs. I have been working
on developing a malaria net distribution strategy, starting a
group purchasing system for essential drugs and medical materials,
and developing a health management system.
Developing a malaria net distribution system is required sponsoring
two national conferences for government, national, and international
organizations involved with malaria control. Together we outlined
a strategy that uses long-lasting insecticide-treated nets and
targets pregnant women and small children, but allows for commercial
marketing of nets for the general population. SANRU will distribute
at least 100,000 nets this year.
This month we have officially opened a new group purchasing system
for essential medicines. The system allows hospitals and health
zones to buy quality drugs with only a 10% mark-up from wholesale
costs. Almost all of the Presbyterian health programs have already
started to use the system. With the help of Project CURE/MBF,
the program is also able to provide medical materials and equipment
for very low cost or for free.
One of my biggest challenges this last year has been to develop
a management information system. It is just about impossible to
manage a quality health institution with a 30 to 40 percent deficit,
inadequate drugs and materials, and a manual accounting system
that just gives the most rudimentary information. Yet that is
the situation of almost all health programs in Congo. SANRU has
been working with a team of national and international consultants
to develop a system that simplifies but improves the accounting,
accurately tracks and predicts stock needs, and analyzes all of
it by service center. The manual version is being tested in the
field now and the computerized version will be tested in April.
Though SANRU is primarily a health development program, with
the current situation in Congo, it must also act as a disaster
relief organization. With help from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance,
CWS and other church denominations, SANRU has responded this year
to the volcano eruption in Goma, the Nyankunde massacre, and the
tornado that destroyed 1700 homes in Yumbi. Because this work
is outside of our contract with USAID, it is completely dependent
on church donations. Last month we would not have been able to
distribute blankets to tornado victims in Yumbi were it not for
the shipment of white cross blankets we received from Presbyterian
Women's white cross program.
It is very rewarding work to be able to assist the local church
to develop its capacity to do health missions and respond more
effectively to the needs of the Congolese people. By working together
with other churches, we become an effective force for addressing
the needs of this impoverished country.
Larry Sthreshley
The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
30
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