FIMRC has begun work on its fight to curb water borne illness in the village of Bumwalukani, Uganda. The first step is to perform a needs assessment and collect the necessary data on family water usage in the surrounding villages. The needs assessment was complete during the months of January and February 2007 by myself and FIMRC’s current Field Operations Manager, Ms. Amy Hessing. FIMRC provides direct, primary medical care to a catchment area of approximately 12,000 individuals. The clinic sees roughly 30 patients per day, 6 days a week. We found that after Malaria, Helminthiasis caused by water borne parasites is the second leading cause of illness among all of our patients. While it is difficult to track the exact number of those who have died of parasitic worms, there is no question that this is a large mitigating factor in many reported deaths in our area, especially among the demographic 5 years of age and younger.

Over 70% of the region receives its water from local streams and rivers which are biologically contaminated. The remaining percentage collects its water from wells and/or harvested rain water. With low levels of education, specifically health education, it is difficult for the population to draw a connection between something they cannot physically see in their drinking water and why they are getting sick. For those using wells and harvested rain water, contamination happens primarily by poor storage conditions.

FIMRC is grateful for the matching funds provided by the Omidyar Network. Currently we have begun to use these funds to provide much needed health education to a variety of village groups. Each lesson provides simple instructions for creating and storing potable water, a real life example of boiling and filtering water (for our altitude water must be boiled for over 4 minutes), and customary to the culture we provide tea at the end of every lesson. After we create a variety of culturally specific lesson plans, the next stage is to reach wider audiences. FIMRC plans to accomplish this with two methods. The first is to create a water sanitation video that will be finished sometime this summer (a copy of which we will gladly provide the group upon its completion).

Our Doctors, Health Outreach Coordinators, and Field Operations Managers on site provide routine house calls throughout the village. During this time we will bring a portable DVD player and show the video, allowing FIMRC to reach those that are unable to attend meetings yet still get the full effect of the lesson. We found that including technology makes our work more efficient, but also intrigues and entices the local population to watch and learn. The second method will be to hire local Water Sanitation Workers.
As unemployment is drastically high in this rural region of Eastern Uganda, we are always looking to provide the local population with opportunities to receive training and a trade skill, as well as a reasonable wage. To reach a wider audience in educating about water borne illness, we are implementing a Training of Trainers (ToT) program. We will train and pay local workers to go throughout the village and teach their own lessons, reporting their numbers weekly back to our clinic. This increases our outreach exponentially and we have already seen success with other training opportunities surrounding the clinic.

As I am sure many of you know, working in a third world and developing world country provides us with many challenges. Implementing any new program in such an environment takes time. FIMRC prides itself on creating programs which are well thought through, tested, and most importantly, sustainable. We appreciate your patience and believe you will find we have created a program that is effective, sustainable, and transforms the well being of a village.

I am happy to answer any direct questions any member may have. I ask that you write or call me directly. Giving my travel schedule and sporadic internet access, I am unable to keep up to date with the online threads as much as I would like to, however I am always with my mobile phone and blackberry! My email address is geoffrey.delizzio@fimrc.org and mobile phone number is +1.267.515.2008. I look forward to speaking and meeting with the group whenever possible, and as FIMRC and the Network continue to expand, work with you on many projects to come.

Warm regards, Geoff

Geoffrey JJ. DeLizzio
Executive Director
FIMRC