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The Bahamas: Rebuilding Post-Dorian During a Pandemic

A conversation with our partner All Hands and Hearts

A year since Hurricane Dorian made landfall in The Bahamas, “We still have folks living in tents, or in compromised homes with mold and leakage issues, all while being apart from some of their family members. The recent storms added to the anxieties. While many planned to evacuate to the U.S., the current COVID situation removes that option,” says Leozona Bethell of All Hands and Hearts.

In November of last year, we reported on the sheer devastation that we witnessed during our assessment and how Malteser International Americas has been contributing to reconstruction efforts.

We determined that rebuilding schools was essential to healing the community of Abaco and would be an important step in bringing back its residents. With the help of the members of the Order of Malta, we identified schools that needed to be rebuilt and trustworthy partners to take the lead in reconstruction.

We partnered with NGO All Hands and Hearts to rehabilitate the Catholic school St. Francis de Sales, and Every Child Counts, an educational facility for children with special needs.

Fast forward to September – a month that usually signals back to school and new beginnings, as well as a new hurricane season. COVID-19 brought the world to a standstill for several months, yet news from the Caribbean islands has been scarce.

There are currently over 3,000 cases of COVID-19 in The Bahamas and 68 confirmed deaths, with a sharp increase in new infections in the last month.

With this unprecedented scenario, we wanted to know how COVID-19 is affecting post-Dorian reconstruction efforts in The Bahamas, so we reached out to our partners at All Hand and Hearts Aileen Boyle, Operations Manager; and Leazona Bethell, Partnership Manager.

Read the full interview here.

Statement of the Grand Chancellor to the 75th United Nations General Assembly

Albrecht Boeaselager called for a fair, wide and fast distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine

The Grand Chancellor of the Sovereign Order of Malta, Albrecht Boeselager, addressed the High-Level General Debate of the United Nations 75th General Assembly: “The Order of Malta firmly shares and supports the words of Pope Francis and the appeal launched last March by the German President Steinmeier and four other Heads of State. We believe that a fair, wide and fast distribution of the vaccine worldwide is not only ethical, but essential from the scientific point of view to contain possible next waves of the pandemic”.

Read the full statement here.

MI Americas & USAID Partner to Distribute Hygiene Kits to 1,300 Families

Malteser International Americas partnered with the United States Agency of International Development (USAID) to distribute 1,300 hygiene kits for COVID-19 prevention to 14 Wayuu communities from the Riohacha region in La Guajira, benefiting 1,300 families.These activities were led by Community Health Workers trained by Malteser International Americas in their respective communities.

With the support of WASH specialists (water, sanitation and hygiene) the Community Healthcare Workers have given workshops and training to over 5,000 community members in COVID-19 preparedness and prevention. The community health messaging has been adapted to Wayuu culture and cosmology, and the Community Healthcare Workers are also collecting data to monitor the implementation of these prevention practices in the communities.

The hygiene kits include hand-washing soaps, bathing soaps, laundry detergent, chlorine bottles, gloves, a hand-washing station and a water storage container.

This activity is part of the project “COVID-19 wash and health prevention and preparedness with focus on indigenous Wayuu in La Guajira” and was featured in Colombian newspapers El Heraldo and La Guajira Hoy.  Check out the photo gallery of of the MI Americas medical team and the Community Healthcare Workers in action.

Read the full story here.

Keeping Santa Marta Safe, One Neighborhood at a Time

In Santa Marta, Colombia, we’ve partnered with the local government to serve the city’s most vulnerable residents. August was a busy month for the medical team in the coastal city as our programs grew and reached more people than ever.

• We provided 975 consultations in general medicine and 130 in psychology.
• We admitted 60 new pregnant women to the prenatal control program, bringing the total number of participants to 66. Both uninsured Venezuelan women and uninsured Colombian women are participating in the program.
• We delivered 500 care packages with non-perishable food items and hygiene kits to 500 families, that will benefit over 2,500 people.
• Medical equipment was donated to the Santa Marta Municipal Health Department. Among the items delivered were: spinal boards, first-aid kits, scales, glucometers, stethoscopes, blood pressure monitors, measuring rods, and plastic chairs, among others.

Read the full story here.

COVID-19: A Lesson in Preparing Communities to Protect Themselves

As the world came to a standstill to curb the transmission of COVID-19, international humanitarian organizations were faced with the difficult task of adapting their life-saving activities while expanding their work to address the imminent threat of COVID-19 head-on.

For thousands of families around the Western Hemisphere, Malteser International Americas is the first line of primary care and an important source of public health knowledge. Our work is rooted in the 900-year-old tradition of the Order of Malta, and it stands on its Catholic values and humanitarian principles.

During this time, our core strategies have proven effective. Among these are our commitment to long-term development projects, our focus on emergency preparedness, and partnerships with local authorities and businesses, which have been rewarding.

Read the full story here.