Pediatric Services in Remote Areas of Argentina

Dear Friends,

We are excited to begin a new year and to continue accompany the rural schools and communities in a new and successful academic school year from March through December. 

The schools that are part of our “Breakfast for a Child” program in Chaco and Misiones have received the first shipment of the year that includes nonperishable food items that will be served for breakfast and lunch; for most children this is the only meal they will have during the day. Also some of these schools now have safe drinking water thanks to all our supporters who made it possible during the last couple of years. In the pictures we can see the students and teachers receiving the shipments and enjoying their daily activities in the schools. More than 300 children benefit from this key program.

A new school also in Pampa del Indio (Chaco) has been added to our support network and will start receiving donations this month. The school #939 “Francisco Caceres” has a total of 252 children: 51 preschoolers and 201 elementary students; all of them belong to the Qom ethnicity.

Since 2015 we've been working together with Civil Association Pequeños Pasos and Conin Center of Loma Hermosa (Gral. San Martin, province of Buenos Aires).  This association provides support and health services; it is a space in which mothers, children, and adolescents can develop social skills enabling them to grow as well as helping them to avoid unfavorable situations and promote a healthy attitude. The beneficiaries are children from birth to preschool age, expectant mothers, and children from 6-15 years of age with unfavorable social situations. Center Conin for the prevention of infantile malnutrition provides permanent assistance from pediatricians, nutritionists, early care and stimulation, social workers, and psychologists among others.  Each of the 112 children participating in this program receives a weekly food basket. The center also offers different workshops and skilled labor training for the mothers. 

During the first quarter of the year we sent them 26 boxes with different items such as clothing for all ages, a sewing machine, mattresses, chalkboards, furniture, kitchen utensils and other items for the center or to give out to families. We are excited to share this charitable outreach project with this center and look forward to working together.

From early 2016 we’ve been working together with FANDA; an organization that is helping and serving children with hearing impairments since 1988 regardless of their financial resources. This organization has a hearing aid donation bank and has received the first donation of batteries in the year from Sumando Manos Foundation. We are all very happy that this has been made possible thanks to all your generous donations.

In LAS TALITAS, province of Tucumán the monthly pediatric services continue to benefit about 50 children per visit; sometimes their mothers have consultations as well and are treated as needed. The most frequent consultations were for respiratory diseases, skin diseases, fungal infections and parasitic diseases. In each case, patients were treated and given the necessary medication to treat the ailment.

At the “La Casita” in Florencio Varela, province of Buenos Aires - an average of 22 children are seen each month during the pediatric visit. The main ailments are otitis, bronchospasms, fever and parasites - all of which are treated and medicated if necessary. They were also seen by a pediatric dentist and received education talks on oral health and preventive care such as eating habits and teeth cleaning due to high cariogenic risks by the lack of good habits. The dentists performed extractions of temporary teeth and preventive and conservative treatments.

At the Feeding Center “Casa Feliz Sai” in González Catán, province of Buenos Aires, an average of 30 children are seen each month during the pediatric visit. The main ailments are respiratory and skin diseases - all of which are treated and medicated if necessary. During these visits, the children enjoy 2 meals throughout the day and fun, educational activities.

At the Feeding Center “Morada de la Paz” in Grand Bourg, province of Buenos Aires children received the pediatric visit together with an ophthalmologist and a child psychologist. The visit took place during the last week of 2015, it included primary care for children and adolescents; 10 children received glass frames for prescription glasses. For the current year the work proposal is a plan of monthly visits necessary for the prevention of visual problems and their corresponding referral if necessary. There will be interviews with children and adolescents that attend and their parents, in order to detect if there are learning problems in school. In those cases, children will be directed to perform a psychology assessment and in the necessary cases, they will receive treatment. The objective of this ongoing care is to identify school problems that have no visual cause and the same time to identify and solve those problems caused by visual impairment.

Our Nutrition, Health and Education programs that support more 7000 children in more than 90 schools, foster homes and feeding and community centers and their communities located in remote zones throughout 14 provinces in Argentina shows that our involvement in these programs is crucial to maintaining the health of these communities and by supporting the educational and nutritional needs we are being a vital part of their present and future.

Thanks for trusting in our organization to be the liaison between your generosity and the children in need to give them an opportunity for a better quality of life.

Links:

• Sumando Manos Foundation - Official Website