NEWS - SEPTEMBER 2010

Update on Solar-powered fridges.:

Ian Dallard, A volunteer and trained engineer from Scotland, recently undertook the enormous task of overseeing the ‘maiden voyages’ of two solar-powered fridges for camel transportation of vaccines for immunisation. These two fridges included:

1) The “camel refrigeration solar pack” designed by Clem Davies and Daniel Birmingham (two volunteers from Australia) and funded by Donna Thorson of CHAPS.

2) The solar-powered fridge designed by Prof Soboyo and his team from Princeton University. This project represents a partnership between Princeton University and the Art Centre in Pasadena California, USA.

Ian Dallard monitored both fridge trials. Initially he accompanied the Princeton/Art Centre fridge on a camel route for approximately ten days. Whilst this fridge represented a good size and had a strong battery there were some problems with the design. The saddle frame needs to be altered and the glass solar panel is cumbersome. A month later Ian accompanied Donna Thorson’s fridge on another ten-day excursion. This fridge used a solar powered blanket, which was more suitable for camel transport but less powerful in terms of sourcing energy. In conclusion these trial runs were extremely valuable in that they helped to identify important areas for the modification and improvement of both units. Ian has produced an extensive report on his findings. We trust that this report will provide the first significant step towards making these fridge units more suitable to the “African environment”. We greatly appreciate Ian Dollard’s dedicated efforts on this project.

Re-usable Sanitary Towel project:

Volunteer, Conrad Chilvers (UK) recently made another visit to CHAT/NCT Trusts. On his visit Conrad focused on the re-usable sanitary towel project. His aim was to research the viability of this project for ‘cottage industry’ purposes. During his stay Conrad set about proving that the production of re-usable sanitary towels is viable as a “cottage industry”. He helped to design a “production line’ and taught some PLWHA’s how to implement this project for income generating purposes. Conrad designed and produced templates that minimised the cost and wastage of materials. He also constructed an efficient ‘cutting table’ for a cost effective workplace. Conrad took great care to check the ‘costing’ of each size, thereby ensuring that whoever takes this project on as a small business will have clear guidelines regarding expenditure and profit

Volunteer News from The Mobile Clinic:

Dr Tara Dallard a trained medical practitioner from Scotland joined the camel mobile clinic for one month on the 13/05/09. During this time she walked approximately 180km’s with the camel caravan. On this excursion the mobile clinic visited 15 stations. Apart from treating common complaints such as upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), malaria, conjunctivitis and gastroenteritis, 140 males were tested for HIV/AIDS of which, three were found to be positive. Of the 220 women tested two individuals were found to be positive. 101 women were given PMTCT information while 6000 condoms were distributed. 164 women were reached with Family Planning information. 820 adults and 1123 youths were also reached with HIV/AIDS information. In conclusion Tara sreported that: “I loved the scenic environment, walking up and down the mountains. We had to change our route a couple of times due to herds of elephants feeding right along our route. I would encourage all my friends to volunteer part of their time to see Africa through the eyes of CHAT”.

Contributions from Community Health Africa - a Poverty Solution (CHAPS).

This organisation is a 501(c) (3) non-profit establishment founded in 2008 and based in Maryland/USA. CHAPS aims to raise funds for the support of healthcare programs in Northern Kenya. The team includes, Donna Thorson (president), Molly Fay (secretary) and Meg Holgate (treasurer). Together this team and their volunteers continue to find innovative ways of raising funds for NCT/CHAT projects. Over the past year Donna Thorson (previously a materials and processes engineer with Boeing) developed a prototype vaccine refrigeration system to transport immunisations by camel into remote rural areas. This fridge has recently undergone its initial trail excursion under the supervision of Ian Dallard. Furthermore, CHAPS in its initial fundraising drive has successfully raised US$ 60 thousand for the purchase and donation to NCT of a new 4X4 TDI Land Rover. This vehicle has already proved to be an invaluable asset to the daily activities and overall vision of the mobile clinic programme. For further information see the CHAPS (Community Health Africa Poverty Solutions) website: www.communityhealthafrica.org

Developing a mental health and psychosocial services programme for CHAT/NCT.

Efforts are underway to strengthen the impact of mobile health delivery to Laikipia and Samburu through the structures of CHAT and NCT. A strategy for Primary Mental Health Care and Psychosocial Support is being developed that will focus on promoting psychological well-being for 1) People Living with HIV/AIDS and 2) People suffering from long and short term psychiatric illness. This initiative will utilise modern and traditional models for diagnosis, treatment, counselling, nutritional support and care. The inclusion of traditional healthcare providers (THP's) and the use of existing structures for psychosocial support will be central to the project.

Sponsor a FPCBD (Family Planning Community Based Distributor) in the Field.

NCT/CHAT are designing a direct contribution package for FPCBD’s. The Trusts believe this will achieve maximum impact against poverty alleviation. A sponsorship that is aimed directly at FPCBD workers in their village/community is the most sustainable way of ‘assisting’ in the reduction of overpopulation, poverty, disease and suffering. These Family Planning practitioners potentially achieve more substantial results in their local activities towards poverty alleviation than most other programmes. In an effort to assist the work of these FPCBD’s, NCT/CHAT aims to focus on attracting direct financial support from individual donors.

NCT/CHAT Funding Update:

Nomadic Communities Trust (NCT) has received a four-month funding extension from PEPFAR 1 until end of July 2009. The Catholic Relief Services (CRS) won the tender for PEPFAR 2. They have recently floated the call for proposals. NCT has submitted a proposal. CHAT is still waiting for funds from the Global fund (Round 7), which is pending. The APHIA II FHI continues to support CHAT/NCT until September 2009.

Back to top