Hands for life: Neonatology for newborns in Benin

The pandemic seems under control in the region, there are signs of improvement thanks to the administration of the first dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to which the population responded with good results. As of today, according to the WHO, the total number of confirmed cases is about 21,450, while the deaths are 146, the number of vaccine doses administered is 214,396.
A sore note to make is that the 20th of October our project manager, Antonio Carettoni, together with the president of Aleimar and one of our volunteers and photographer, were to set off to visit the project in Benin but because of Italian directives regarding covid-19 they had to postpone the trip in February hoping for an easing of the restrictions.

Luckly, Piero Buffa, one of the co-responsible members of this project who is a pediatric surgeon at the Gaslini Hospital in Genova, will depart the 4th of October for a month to dedicate 15 days to operate children and adults at the Fatebenefratelli Hospital in Tanguieta, and the other 15 days he’ll visit our centers and the families who we’re supporting through the project.

No matter the hard times the pandemic brought, our local representatives managed positively our projects and follow closely the kids. All the acknowledgments go to Chiara Pasian, who has been our lighthouse in Benin for over 15 years. Indeed, the project to build a unit of neonatology in the hospital of Sokponta reached its goal and it’s already working. Sensibilization activities to support childbirth, pre and post-natal care are kept going thanks to an obstetrician kindly made available by the Sokponta Hospital L’abbraccio, who visits families and in case of urgencies sends mothers to the unit. There, babies born with malformations, infections or underweight will be monitored.

The next project, which will start after all the documentation needed by the Government is completed, is to renew the dispensary that Aleimar built in 2007 in Kpossegan to create a small maternity unit that will also take care of the population of near villages and will promote prevention on hygiene, health and nutrition. In 2020 we already carried out weekly meetings in 7 villages to help mothers prepare for childbirth.
Last but not least, we want to thank profusely all of our donors, with your kindness from the 1st of June until the 20th of September 2021, Aleimar collected 371 USD$!