Health and hope in Burma after Cyclone Mora

Over the last 2.5 years, the community in Lailenpi has been working hard to re-build the buildings that were destroyed by Cyclone Mora in 2017. The training centre is critical to the outworking of Health & Hope's vision of providing facilities for: 

- Training for Community Health Workers (CHWs) who give vital healthcare to people in remote communities;

 - Maternal Health training of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs), local trainers and government midwives;

- Support for up to 100 students studying full-time in our Education for All project;

- Office space and a logistical base for emergency relief in times of civil unrest and national disasters.

Even over the last few months, the building has been vital for enabling our training programmes, workshops and education projects to continue. As we near the end of the building project, we want to thank every person who has given generously to support our work in this way. With the final funding  having been recently provided by a corporate foundation, we are now entering the last phase of the project: installation of electricity, plumbing and the finishing touches to the offices and classrooms.

In February we were fortunate enough to be supported by SolarLEAP who funded and installed a solar powered computer suite and offline electronic library at the Training Centre. The library will provide an incredible resource for the local community and students.

Of course, the current global crisis is causing much concern for our team and the vulnerable communities in the region. Our website has been updated with the latest news on our response to the COVID-19 crisis: Prevent, Detect, Respond. This currently involves a number of preventative outreach visits being conducted in remote communities. The health team are working alongside Community Health Workers (CHWs) to educate communities on the virus and prevention of transmission, providing PPE and other tools such as thermometers for CHWs, as well as supporting individuals who show symptoms through self-isolation. 

We have received some expert design input on how part of the Training Centre could be converted into a self-contained COVID-19 support unit, should the need arise to respond to patients affected by the virus in the region. It is incredible to have a facility like this available so that we can be ready to respond to critical needs, as and when they develop. Support for this proposal, as well as enabling patient transfers to tertiary care hospitals (over 2 days journey) are dependent on us sourcing additional funding under the ‘Respond’ phase of our strategy.

As we work with the team in Myanmar to develop our plans in response to the current situation, we will endeavour to update you further on this, but in the meantime, if you have any questions about this or any of our other projects, please do get in touch with me via email: philippa.wilford@healthandhope.org.

Thank you again for your continued support and partnership with us in this programme - we look forward to updating you with the final photos of the finished building soon! 

Links:

• Health & Hope's response to COVID-19

Building a two story 100'x60' Training Centre in one of the most geographicly remote places of Myanmar comes with it's fair share of challenges.

I was reminded of that during my latest visit, with it taking us four days just to travel to and from the project site in the remote mountains of Chin State. When you're also having to transport building materials, it can be a bit frustrating if you forget that essential item of equipment and it's a 12 hour journey (or longer) just to get to the nearest DIY store.

We started constructing the Training Centre in January 2018. When we set out, we determined that everything would be done through the hands of the local townspeople. Where they had experience, we would build upon it.  Where they didn't have the skills we would provide training. 

I kept reminding myself of that as I looked around the project, a year after I'd visited previously. Unlike another building in the area that used contractors from the city, the Training Centre stands as a testimony to what can be achieved through the efforts of local craftsmen, some of whom have learnt a trade through the building process, and are equipped to use that in the future.

Despite being incomplete, the Training Centre has already seen a year's worth of use. The first rooms hosted training for local villagers before the building even had a roof, as we launched a new phase of health training for Community Health Workers in December 2018. In June 2019, just as the roof was being fitted and the monsoon rains begain, 96 students moved into the building as part of the new Education for All project where they will be studying until March. In December we've run further training on maternal and neonatal care for Area Health Coordinators and will be running additional workshops in March.

Whilst we raise funding for a separate dormitory, the first floor of the training hall has been turned into an accommodation block for the students and the second floor is in the final stages of being converted into office space and accommodation for local staff.

What I like about the building is that it isn't perfect. The ceiling tiles don't quite line up with the walls. The concrete render isn't quite as smooth as you would want it to be.There were even a few patches of mould that needed cleaning off where the monsoon rains had wet the concrete prior to the external render being finished. The reason I like this, is because every imperfection in the building, which will last for generations, spoke volumes about the hands that had created it and the lessons that had been learnt in the process.

Lessons about how to make concrete, how to tie reinforcement bars, what grade of steel to use, how to cut roofing bars, how to plumb in drainage, how to put up a hanging ceiling, how to make a staircase. Alongside the practical lessons were thousands of hours spent in relationship with local villagers working hand-in-hand on a project that they initially said was impossible to build!  

We raised the roof last year to squeeze in an additional floor at the top of the Training Centre so that we could both make the best use of the space and start the education project as soon as possible. As a result, we're a little over budget (7.5%).  We have a building engineer finishing his calculations, but we're estimating it will take another $25,000 to complete the electrics, internal render of the main training hall, provide furniture for the offices and put down proper flooring.  If this is a project that you are able to support, or can recommend to someone you know, please do let us know (email Chris at: info@healthandhope.org).  

If we can, we'd like to complete the work before May so that local staff can move out of an 8-year old timber building unlikely to make it through another monsoon.

Thank you so much for your support. 
Chris

PS Do check out our latest news page for a short video of the Education for All project. It's a fantastic example of how the Training Centre is being put to use.

Links:

• Video of Education for All project in the Training Centre