The project in Allipalli was born in 2005 from an initiative of Paolo Vrespa, now in charge of the Project, which, with the active collaboration of SMOM Onlus, leads to the opening of a dental clinic in December of the same year and of a small dental laboratory in December. of 2007. The parish of Allipalli is made up of 16 villages with an estimated population of about 40,000 people, of which about 30% are under the age of twenty. In this context, there was no dental unit. Given the difficulties for the movement of the population, it is estimated to be able to provide dental and dental technical assistance to about 3,000 users. In 2005, the structure welcomed 350 boys and 100 girls between the ages of 5 and 15, which over time have increased to about 650 boys in all. Not being able to find local operators, the dental clinic is run solely by volunteers who alternate in the facility in shifts of about 20 days whenever possible. To date, SMOM Onlus has managed to send 2 or 3 missions per year of Volunteer Dentists and Dental Technicians in order to guarantee basic levels of assistance. Travel expenses are borne by the volunteer while food and accommodation are borne by the Allipalli mission, except for special needs which each one personally provides. "
General objective
Train qualified local staff to make the structure self-sufficient and independent over time.
Reduce the prevalence of the disease in the area
Provide adequate dental and dental technical care to the guests of the mission and to the less affluent population.
Equipping and starting the emergency room and rooms for the elderly.
Launch a program to improve the hygiene of the mission premises.
Hire and educate local staff responsible for the sanitation of young children.
Hire and train local staff for the management of kindergartens and play spaces for preschool children.
Specific Objectives
Organize a sufficient period of training for local staff by sending volunteers.
Perform an epidemiological screening.
Formalize the computerized keeping of health records and care provided to allow the interchangeability of information between health personnel.
Empower staff on the hygiene and health aspects of the dispensary and mission rooms used as dormitories and services.
Verify, with appropriate registers, the attendance and the activities carried out by the staff hired.
Needs Analysis
In 1989 Father Maria began his ministry in Allipalli, a land with a long tradition of nomadism, where 15 villages were slowly formed with a population by now dedicated to almost exclusively agricultural work employed by 4 - 5 landowners, owners of everything and in practice also masters of the life of the families of all their laborers. A population estimated at around 25-30000 people (the figure is approximate because an official census has never been taken). Only recently has society been organizing itself and the problem of knowing the numerical consistency of the population arises. In 1990 the population was still 90% illiterate, with very little means of subsistence. It was, and still is, a problem to be able to feed once a day. The basic dish consists of a dish of rice with a sauce of various vegetables, especially with chilli. The landowners' land work is hard, tiring, done exclusively by hand in the cultivation of rice, maize, pineapple, sugar cane, jute, banana, coconut, vegetables etc… All workers are hired by the day and paid by the evening. Men receive around 1 euro, women around 0.75 euro and boys 0.50 euro per day.
The Indian state does not have the financial resources to support the health education programs necessary to reduce the formation of pathology.
Starting from this socio-economic context, Father Maria intervened with the help of the funds made available by the 'Peace Workers' association, trying to respond to the primary needs of the community. By building, among other things, a dispensary, new premises are now added to this structure, housing 2 dental operating units and a dental laboratory.
Currently the dispensary has the premises to accommodate 4/5 patients in emergency. Periodically, a couple of doctors of the opposite sex visit the male and female population, currently this happens every two weeks. In addition, a gynecologist provides care for pregnant women every 15 days and the health care is guaranteed by a professional nurse nun residing there permanently throughout the year.
Every six months, in the last two years, medical interventions have been organized, with the collaboration of volunteers and / or other local structures, which led to thousands of on-site eye examinations, which were then resolved with the creation of a few hundred pairs of glasses and with hospitalization for the treatment of the most serious pathologies in hospitals equipped for the appropriate treatment.
the mission has an autonomous current generator, very useful if not indispensable in an area where the supply of electricity is not only rationed but often fails for long periods even in the theoretical delivery times.
Activities
With the first evaluation mission in December 2004, Dr. Paolo Montecucco and Dr. Paolo Vrespa carried out an inspection at the Allipalli mission to agree on the characteristics of the intervention. They met the local leaders of the Mission and accepted their request to support their association in the project to bring dental assistance to Allipalli. The Project envisages the structuring of a primary and secondary dental prevention service for the infant population and open to the population of the rural community. By sending dentists for the structuring of preventive projects and for the training of the local staff who will lead them.
Therefore, SMOM will provide the necessary dental professional skills to allow this project to be carried out: provide the plant design, dental equipment, small instruments, consumables and provide for the presence of qualified personnel to allow the planning of correct assistance. to the population, education programs and the training of local personnel capable of continuing the activity in favor of the community even at the end of the project.
The presence of an efficient support structure with local staff will allow SMOM to implement health and preventive education programs that will initially take place with qualified volunteer staff. SMOM will guarantee the human and economic resources necessary for the first 3 years of activity of the dental practice object of this project. The project will create the conditions for assistance to the self-sustaining population. The training of the local dentist and a dental hygienist, the latter will deal with the dental education of patients and the maintenance of the state of health and in the future will be able to independently manage the motivational hygiene assistance of patients in the community.
Subsequently, in more recent years, the dispatch of dentists and dental technicians 3/4 times a year to ensure the continuation of activities with support and training of local staff in the dental technician field.
Intensification of the support and supervision of local staff in charge of medical / nursing activities. In particular, in view of the renovations that will lead to the full usability of the environments in charge of the infirmary, first aid, hospitalization for elderly in need, nursery school and preschool kindergarten, specialized doctors will be sent: pediatricians, geriatricians, gynecologists, psychologists, and professional nurses.
Expected results
Ensuring dental assistance to children in Allipalli and to the inhabitants of the neighboring rural community. Structuring an efficient dental service. Reduce the prevalence of dental disease. Train qualified local staff capable of promoting community dental health
Project Annex
ALLIPALLI SMOM ONLUS
Local context
The absence of adequate assistance structures and personnel trained in therapeutic and preventive interventions indicate the need for an intervention aimed at making the outpatient facilities efficient, training and qualifying local staff available to promote health through educational programs, carried out with the support of Italian volunteers in the community, aimed at reducing the prevalence of the disease in the area
Technical Project Data
Continent
ASIA
village
INDIA
Location
ALLIPALLI
Project start
2004
Duration
10 YEARS
Project status
ACTIVE
Project manager
PAOLO VRESPA
Project Cost
€ 12,000
Contact