Emergency Health Fund for the Shipibo people

As part of our actions to help the Shipibo people, at the beginning of this year we attended A. a 71 year old master craftswoman, who is going through a process of terminal cervical cancer, she is the eldest of a family of craftswomen, mother of another famous painter and craftswoman. She needs quality of life in her last moments, medication to keep her stable and the family also needs support to maintain their nutrition and psychological support to express the emotions they feel in the process of accompanying the matriarch Anita. Given these needs, Alianza Arkana decided to support her by purchasing medicines and food, as well as assigning an intercultural social worker, who was responsible for listening to the concerns of the family and guide them in relation to the diagnosis and the necessary care to be taken towards the patient.

This master craftswoman has been one of the 6 beneficiaries of FES (Intercultural Health Emergency Fund) of these first two months of 2022. Like her, N. an artisan from the Native Community of Paoyhan with a diagnosis of meteorisms in the abdominal area received support from the Fund for her diagnosis, treatment and mobility. Also, E., a 7 year old girl, granddaughter of the artisan from the Native Community Limón Jema, received support from Alianza Arkana to pay her treatment for Pellagra, alleviating the economic worries of her grandfather, who supports her.

These are the artisan grandfathers and grandmothers who keep the legacy of the wisdom of the Shipibo people who today are in a delicate health situation and without further support from the Peruvian State.The care of them and their families is crucial to not lose their culture, intangible heritage of humanity, it is up to us to safeguard their lives and the ancestral knowledge they protect.

Because of the relationship of trust and work created between Alianza Arkana and the Shipibo-Konibo Native Community of Paoyhan, as well as the knowledge we have of the health situation of the Shipibo brothers and sisters of Paoyhan, we decided to allocate part of the Emergency Health Fund to the care, accompaniment and transportation of the community members who required to be transferred to health centers outside the community.

Also, in coordination with those in charge of the community's medical post, a stock of medicines was delivered to make up for the lack of medicines for the various health problems in the community which, due to the lack of medicines in the public health system, are not adequately treated.

A total of US$ 1225 was allocated to cover these objectives. This allowed us to provide comprehensive coverage to 7 villagers, who were transported from Paoyhan, received social assistance throughout the process by the Alianza Arkana team, received the necessary medicines for their treatment and finally were transported back to their homes. 

The support provided by the Alianza Arkana team, although it has been able to help overcome some medical emergencies with relative success, is aware that the Paoyhan community members do not have comprehensive health care from the State, much less with cultural relevance. The needs are not only in health, but also in intercultural issues. Therefore, we hope that with the next donations we will be able to propose culturally relevant care both in the medical centers of the chosen communities, as well as in the process of care in other health centers. For this, we believe that the main "bridges" are the young Shipibo professionals, who speak Spanish and their native language. We hope to work with other Shipibo communities, applying the learning from the Paoyhan experience.

The last campaign concluded in March and the results were very important for us:

• 62 Shipibos assisted
• 60% adult women
• 40% aged between 36 to 55
• 20% emergencies by Covid-19
• 70% used less than $130 to be served
• 7 months' salary for a Shipiba coordinator. 

 This was possible thanks to the campaign we carried out together with Xapiri organization, who raised $10,000.

 With hospitals still collapsing and income limited, the new campaign can be a great help to our Shipibo brothers and sisters, and for this we need your support!  We want to raise approximately $25,000 to cover more than 100 emergencies. Recently, we received $4,000! Now we have to keep working to reach the full amount.

Help us to reach this goal!

IRAKE!!

Alianza Arkana recognizes the hard work of medical workers in Peru in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. However, we do not cease to criticize the public health system, abandoned by the governments and which has forced vulnerable populations to seek alternative solutions to a decent treatment in a hospital.

There are more than 150 Shipibo-Konibo communities in the Peruvian Amazon, of which only 63 have a basic health center, all of them precarious, and without the capacity to offer a comprehensive and effective service to the families. This reflects the lack of interest of the political parties and their militants in improving the living conditions of the indigenous population.

In the case of urban areas, there are no specific records about the Shipibo population and the health centers they use, but we have empirical knowledge about their needs and deficiencies. We are talking about health problems that are not only the 1517 cases of Shipibos infected by COVID-19, according to official government reports, but other diseases or emergencies that were abandoned by the pandemic, silenced by historical state deficiencies, including: childbirth problems, strokes, cysts, hemorrhages, infections, etc.

The Health Fund for emergencies promoted by Alianza Arkana contributes to solve these needs, which are not published to respect the privacy of patients, providing financial support to those who really need it.

Unfortunately, this is a fund that depends on donations, so your support is essential!

Share our work or help us with a donation.

Irake! Thank you very much!

Thanks to a succesful campaing with our allies, Xapiri Ground, we funraised to cover health costs for our emergency fund during COVID-19. Thanks to all our donors we managed to produce the following succesful results!W

APPLICATIONS RECEIVED: 43 FAMILIES

We recieved applications from 43 families to financially support their health emergencies during COVID-19. 

FAMILIES SERVED: 39 FAMILIES

We served 39 families. 

PEOPLE SERVED: 48 PEOPLE

From those 39 families, 48 individuals were helped. 

DECEASED: 2 DECEASED

2 people deceased as their health was too complicated and there was nothing further we could do. 

REQUESTS TO BE TAKEN: 4 REQUESTS

There are still 4 requests to attend. 

In total we also attended 11 men, 29 women and 8 children. 

We had  a budget of about $180 per family. 10 cases used up to 40% of the budget, 9 cases used up to 50% of the budget, 9 cases were over 65% of the budget, 6 cases used up the total budget, and 3 cases exceeded the budget. 

This makes for a very eficient used of the resources gathered which allows us to be able to support a few more families in need. 

We are very proud of Ruth, a young shipibo woman, who has been coordinating the activities of the fund, and supporting the families in need. Thanks to your donations, we can help those most severely impacted by the COVID-19 epidemic, and those with other illnesses that make them vulnerable to COVID.