We finally have a date for the start of the next training for our village midwives - 15 January 2012. Unfortunately only 40 trainees can be accommodated on the training course run by the provincial Ministry of Health whilst there are 46 midwives waiting to be trained so sadly we will have to delay the training of 6 village midwives for a further year which is very disappointing for the women and for the villages concerned. We have recently selected the 60th village for Kids for Kids support and we dearly want to include the volunteers from this village in the list of trainees. Some of the older villages already have one trained midwife and in some cases we have been asked to train a new midwife to replace someone who has had to give up, usually because they have moved away from the village. In these cases we can feel assured that the woman will take her skills and use them in her new village providing the comfort of expert help at the time of pregnancy and childbirth to yet more women in the villages.
For the women who are finally selected as trainee midwives this will be both an exciting and sad time. Exciting as they are eager to learn their new skills but sad as they will be leaving their families for a year - the length of the training course. This indicates what a huge commitment it is for the women and their families. Many of the volunteers have young children and the families will care for these children whilst their mothers are away on the training course. However, the length of the course demonstrates the importance which we attach to ensuring that the women are adequately trained to deal with complex pregnancies and difficult delivery situations. This means that we can assure the women in the villages that they can trust the village midwives as they are highly trained. Their services are eagerly awaited by the women in the villages who approach pregnancy and childbirth with very mixed emotions - delight at the prospect of having a child but fear should they encounter problems during their pregnancy as there is currently no trained help at hand. Their fears are supported by the unacceptably high maternal mortality rate in the villages - a situation which we are earnestly trying to address.
Another exciting development is that we are in consultation with the provincial Ministry of Health over the possibility of KIDS FOR KIDS funding a new midwives training school at Mellit in the north of the province. This would ease the situation which we are presently facing by virtue of the limited capacity of the Midwives Training School in El Fasher. It would also mean that women from the villages in the north would be able to undertake their training closer to home which would enable family members to visit them more easily. We are still in the very early stages of discussions and will keep you informed of developments in due course.
Good progress has been made in launching the programme of activities in the five new villages adopted in 2011-12 - Um Layouna, Amar Jaded, Hilat Kabir, Elfaki Ali and Siwailinga. All the villages have formed their Village Development Committees and Animal Loans Committees who will be responsible for managing the project activities. These committees are the key to the sustainability of the development in the villages and hence Kids for Kids places great emphasis on training these committees in management, decision making, record keeping, accountancy, committee procedures and monitoring and evaluation techniques. In addition the members of the Animal Loans Committee are trained in the loaning procedures. With the completion of this essential capacity building phase we are now able to move on to the development activities. These are launched in a sequential manner focusing initially on enhancing livelihoods with the initial emphasis on the provision of goat and donkey loans. In preparation for the distribution of the livestock 2 volunteers from each village have been trained as paravets and a revolving veterinary drugs fund has been established in each village - this ensures that the beneficiaries of the livestock loans have access to basic veterinary care in the village. In addition all the beneficiary families have received thorough training in animal husbandry to ensure that they are able to look after their animals properly. The animals are now being sourced for the families who can look forward to being able to provide better nutrition for their children through having ready access to the goats' milk. This will contribute to improving the health of the children.
Other activities to improve the children's health are in hand. The volunteers from the villages to be trained as first aid workers have been selected by the communities and the arrangements are being made with the Sudanese Red Crescent to provide the necessary training. In addition, a new training course for the volunteers who have been selected to be trained as village midwives is expected to commence in November. Project staff are also in the process of procuring blankets and mosquito nets to be distributed to the beneficiary families. The mosquito nets will help to significantly reduce the incidence of malaria which is a killer disease for children whilst the blankets help to reduce respiratory infections amongst children through providing warmth without the need to keep the fire alight at night which has meant children are sleeping in a smoky atmosphere which is very damaging to their health.
Last week has seen celebrations for the 10th anniversary of Kids for Kids. A key part of the celebrations was a workshop attended by representatives from the 59 Kids for Kids' villages. This has provided an opportunity for the communities to provide valuable feedback on the usefulness of the project activities and to provide guidance on the way ahead.
We are most grateful to all our loyal supporters who make all this possible and make such a difference to the lives of these families and communities.
Good progress has been made in launching the activities in the five new villages. The initial emphasis is always on building the capacity of the community to manage the project activities as this is absolutely crucial for the sustainability of the development initiatives. Hence we always ensure that this is done thoroughly and only move forward when we are sure that the community has attained the required level of understanding of its responsibilities and adequate management competency. To this end training has been provided for all the villages for the members of the Village Development Committee which spearheads the overall development and the Animal Loans Committee which is responsible for managing the cornerstone of the development activities supported - the provision of loans for goats and donkeys to the poorest families. This training has covered committee procedures (minutes, agendas, voting systems, etc.), administration (record keeping, reporting, etc.), management skills including monitoring and financial skills including maintenance of accounts and transparency. In addition the members of the Animal Loans Committee have received detailed training in the management of the loans scheme.
Following this the paravets have received their training to ensure that there is adequate help on hand when the beneficiaries receive their goats and donkeys. The beneficiaries and the members of the Village Development Committee and Animal Loans Committee have all received a thorough training in animal husbandry. Arrangements are now in hand to source the goats and donkeys for the beneficiary households.
In the meantime discussions are ongoing with the provincial Ministry of Health and with the head of the Midwives Training School to arrange for the next training programme for the women who have been selected by their communities to be trained as village midwives. The training course lasts for a year and this means that there can be some delay in slotting a new course into the schedule given the limited numbers of trainers and facilities. However, we hope that a new training course will start within the next few months. All the names of the trainees have been submitted to the Midwives Training school and the women are eagerly awaiting the call to El-Fasher to commence their training. They are an incredibly dedicated group of women - it is an immense step to go away from the village for a year for women from a very conservative society - many will never have left the village before, so it is both exciting and daunting for them. It is only possible for the women to go because of the fantastic support provided to them by their families and the wider community - many of the women leave behind young children to be cared for by relatives - this represents a huge sacrifice on the part of the women to be separated from their children for such a long time.
The Chairman and CEO of Kids for Kids, Patricia Parker, is currently in Darfur, both to review the progress of the projects and to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Kids for Kids.The celebrations have included a workshop attended by representatives from all the 59 Kids for Kids villages providing an opportunity for exchange of views on the various elements of the programme and to provide pointers as to the future path
