Hands for life: Neonatology for newborns in Benin

Dear Donors,

in November Aleimar will come back to Benin for the periodic monitoring trip! Our volunteers and Country Managers Antonio and Piero will go once again to Benin in order to visit our local representatives and our children. Piero, thanks to his experience of former doctor in Italy, will have the opportunity to monitor the health conditions of all the children supported by Aleimar’s projects in the country. Moreover, they will hav the possibility to visit the Hospital L’Abbraccio of Sokpontà.

In Benin the local population is in average 17 years old and women generally become mothers when they are 20 years old. In Benin hospitals observe a correlation between malnutrition of young girls and the birth of underweight children. Child malnutrition hits slowly and silently, reducing the physical and intellective development of children that become less able to resist to illnesses and infections.

That’s why Aleimar wants to start a joint collaboration with the Hospital L’Abbraccio of Sokpontà in order to increase awareness raising and training activities in 25 rural villages around of Les Collines District and we want to support more the precious work done by the local staff. Informing mothers on nutritional habits and hygiene practices is an important path that can lead to a real improvement in children and mothers’ health.

Thanks to your support we can make all this become possible!

Thank you!

Dear Donors,

Aleimar is really happy to write this updating report and to share with all of you really good news about the project “Hands for life” that our Organization keeps pursuing. As a collaborator of the Project Office of Aleimar, I’ve personally taken part in the periodic monitoring trip that has lasted one month, from the middle of April to the middle of May. Together with Antonio, our Country Manager, we have travelled many kilometers from the north to the south of the Country, visiting all the projects and above all embracing our children supported by you.

Their joy, curiosity and desire to get to know each other are really moving. All the children hosted in the centers that Aleimar supports are growing and learning in a safe place, away from violence or abuse. During our trip we had the opportunity to meet in person all our local representatives and to talk about the general situation in Benin. They have reported that international events are causing a strong impact in the daily life of the Beninese population. The general rise in prices, in particular of staple food, is steady and push a lot of families in vulnerable conditions: a lot of them cannot afford and provide a proper nutrition to their children and also a lot of mothers cannot follow a balanced diet.

Moreover, climate change keeps on showing evident and dangerous effects: in Benin half of the population works in the agricultural sector and it mainly relies on rain water. Now, at the end of the dry season, farmers witness a strong reduction of crops and an always higher difficulty to find water through wells. Uncertainty and resilience are nowadays part of the life of a lot of people that have to face drought as well as sudden floods.

Despite these problems, Aleimar has never stopped and wants – also thanks to your precious support – to help the most fragile part of the population of Benin. In particular, during our monitoring trip we have visited “Abbraccio Hospital”, the pediatric hospital of Sokponta. Here the neonatology department is growing and there are also Italian surgeons that decide to come to Benin for some months to operate in favor of a lot of newborns. We have met the local staff that every day works for the most fragile part of the population and we have visited the neonatology rooms.

Thanks to all of you that, through your support to this project, make it possible to provide professional pediatric assistance for a lot of children in need!