We are still celebrating Christmas and what it means, here at LAMB. As in previous years, we have big red illuminated stars on all the buildings, visible from quite a distance in this flat land. The big stars show the way to Christ. We also have lots of other decorations in the hospital this year. They of course brighten up lives and are fun, but in this environment they do also remind people that we are Christian.
There’s lots that could be written about this month, but this newsletter focuses on what is happening out in the community areas of LAMB and on some research to be done.
One of the things that LAMB has done for quite a number of years for the towns and villages round about is to operate clinics and safe delivery units, (where babies are born). Each of the 28 clinics/ SDUs covers communities of about 30,000 people, so not small.
Until a year ago, LAMB has been very much responsible for running all the clinics. Although it has always been the intent to hand over clinic management to the communities themselves, this really started gathering momentum a couple of years ago.
More or less exactly one year ago, seven of the clinics were registered with the Government as official separate organizations. So, for the past year they have been starting to run really under their own steam, with LAMB there to help rather than manage. This month has been the time for all the first Annual General Meetings of these clinics/ SDUs, and the reports on how things are going. On average there were about 100 people at each AGM, with more men than women at some AGMs, and more women than men at others.
Although it is early days, and many things can still go wrong, these first AGMs have all been a great pleasure to see, with lots of wise and perceptive questions and comments from attendees. The clinic organizations in all the seven areas have done a great job in getting funding commitments from their communities, and there really has been a switch in power from LAMB to the communities. If this continues to work, then it is much more sustainable for the long term than LAMB running the clinics, since it does not rely on overseas donations. It felt like a great gift in the last days up to Christmas.
In other parts of LAMB too there has been a lot of activity. In particular in the (Information) Research unit. It now seems almost certain that we will be doing at least one new activity in 2011, and one other activity that can be completed more fully.
The work that we will complete involves recording for all the households in the relevant areas summarized information about the family ‘wealth’ and income. (Wealth in our local context definitely does not mean the households are rich !). This information can then be linked to the health problems of the family members, and we can start to get a better picture of where extra care and attention is really needed. This kind of information also feeds into national and international understanding of the health problems in poor communities, and what might be done about it.
The new activity is also health focused research, but not in our normal way. It looks at how people in the villages make decisions, in particular when they have a dilemma to choose between two both necessary things. For LAMB, our concern is how people make such decisions related to health, taking into account their various cultural backgrounds.
Now as 2011 approaches, here at LAMB we continue to look forward to the future, and the challenges and promises it brings. We will continue to try to serve in the way that God would have us serve.
We wish you all a very Happy New Year.
