St. Lucia Achievements and Future Goals
Those who have recovered from acute illness and returned to their communities, provide education to others through their experience regarding health maintenance, preventing opportunistic disease, and HIV/AIDS transmission, which aid in decreasing stigma. In 2005 St. Lucia received a grant from the International Council on Management of Population Programs (ICOMP). The funds were used to train eleven community health worker, 6 are now working with St. Lucia and reach 6,023 people in the Baraa Ward and 10 community health workers are working in the Moshono Ward in 4 sub-villages and reach 23,000 people. These people now work within the community, educating and training families on caring for loved ones with HIV/AIDS, conducting home visits, preventing transmission, and providing counseling where needed.
Volunteers through KARAMA CONNECTION who have had the pleasure of working at St. Lucia, returned to their home countries to raise funds for this organization. It is through this fundraising, that 2 acres of land were purchased for the purpose of future sustainable development, and construction is complete on a new, larger home for our orphans and patients. With the goal of sustainable development being the focus, a vegetable garden has been planted at our current house for nutritious and low-cost food. St. Lucia and volunteers have also built a chicken coop on our current property to obtain a consistent source of low cost meat and eggs.
In the autumn of 2006, St. Lucia received a grant from Barclay's Bank and with the help of Annuniciation Church in Louisiana, US, a cow shed was constructed and populated with cows. This is great news, as cow milk will provide a sustainable source of nutrition for our orphans and patients, and ideally, will provide a source of income once the cows produce enough milk that some may be sold in the community.
We received grants from TACAIDS (Tanzania Commission for Aids) and PAMOJA PROJECT which were used for training of community health workers to extend the HBC activities reaching 6,023 people in one ward. Through this grant we are going to reach 23,0000 people via trained volunteers from the community.
Areas for Improvement/ Current Problems
Despite these generous grants and support, adequate and sustainable funding remains the most significant challenge St. Lucia faces including transportation, staff salaries, registered nurses, three community workers, and one supervisor who coordinates community workers and oversees doctor medical visits. Additional costs include food, clothing, medicines, administration and Internet fees.
Also support for HBC by extended families, terminally ill patients and emergency hospitalizations is needed.
Additional costs include any number of unforeseeable events such as hospitalization for patients progressing in their disease process, or falling ill to opportunistic infection, schooling and school uniforms for the children, transportation to and from school or the hospital, as well as clothing, cleaning supplies, preventative equipment (such as mosquito netting or screens) etc. Costs are paid through the services and donations from current and previous volunteers (although few in numbers), and also through applying for grants from other organizations. In order to continue with this life saving work St. Lucia funding is desperately needed. Please donate today.
Future Goals
Many of the future goals for St. Lucia are centered on sustainable development including animal rearing and crop production. Another future goal for St. Lucia is to attain the resources to provide education to the children within the compound. Having education provided at the compound will deplete less energy from the children in their already compromised state of health. It will also be less of a burden on an already limited budget.
For distant future goals, St. Lucia would like to eventually have two separate houses in the compound. One for the orphans, and one for the hospice patients as well as to incorporate a nursing school on the compound, where nursing education can be taught, and practicum's can be carried out in the hospice and orphanage. This will provide not only quality education for future nurses, but it will also staff the home with caring individuals who share the same mission and values as St. Lucia.
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