June 30, 2009

Health Promotion in World Divisions

ECD: Kendu Hospital Serves Kenya
Kendu Adventist Hospital

BY TSEGAYE FESAHA
 
2009 1518 page53 capendu Adventist Hospital, a church-based health care provider in Kenya, has been associated with treatment of diseases and spiritual nourishment for patients and staff since 1925. As much as the staff cares for the sick, it is also the hospital’s responsibility to care for and improve the land and be environmentally friendly in order to promote healthful living. For the last three years the hospital has been running a community-based environmental program that has focused on tree planting and landscaping. With collaboration from a community volunteer group, the hospital has planned and carried out massive tree planting on an area provided by the hospital administration.
 
2009 1518 page53A team from the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, who visited the hospital for an on-site inspection, participated in the tree-planting event officially launched in November 2008. The team included Allan Handysides, Peter Landless, Ken Dee Hart, J. Hart, Fesaha Tsegaye, and Dan Weber. Mr. and Mrs. Butler donated T-shirts that were given to the community volunteers to encourage them in their efforts and to recognize the major role that the volunteers play. The Forest Department of the Government of Kenya donated the seedlings.
 
This activity is meant not only to conserve the environment but also to use the trees for firewood for the hospital, thereby saving the cost of purchasing firewood elsewhere. The concept of the program, called “Harambe,” has been popular where community members team up with hospital staffs to carry out join hospital cleaning activities and other needed chores. It has also helped to create good relationships between the hospital and the community.
 
Kundu Adventist Hospital believes in love for God’s people and love for God’s world. We’re evangelical, we’re environmentally friendly—and yes, we think we can be both.
 
Tsegaye Fesaha is director of the East Central Africa Division Health Ministries Department
 

ESD: A Diverse Focus in Euro-Asia 
BY STAFF, Euro-Asia Division
 
Moldova
October 14 is a special day for Kishinev, the capital of Moldova. On this day residents of and visitors to the capital celebrate the Day of the City. School children bring crafts they have made to present in unique exhibits. The adults display and sell baked goods, embroidery, carvings, and so forth. This creates a colorful exhibition throughout the downtown area.
 
Adventist youth use this opportunity to share information on healthful living. They participate in a march to raise awareness of the harmful effects of smoking tobacco. They distribute booklets that share information about the harm of smoking. Passersby are encouraged to exchange their cigarettes for toothbrushes, fruit, pens, or other items the Adventist youth carry with them.
 
Church members hope that many people will quit smoking as a result of this program. They also are praying that Moldova will soon enact a law to prohibit smoking in public places.
 
Russia--North Caucasus Mission
Medical missionaries from Rostov, Russia, traveled to the village of Dminist in August 2008 to help those suffering as a result of the Georgian-Ossetic conflict.
 
Under the auspices of ADRA, four people went to the village of Dminist for two weeks, taking with them a massage table, a microwave, poultices, herbs, and books about God and health.
 
2009 1518 page53From the first day people began to come, bringing the sick children and old people. From 9:00 in the morning until 9:00 at night they team worked not only in the house where they were staying but also personally visited the patients who couldn’t come to them. The group treated about 25 to 50 patients each day. Some came just to have a rest, to talk, to share their pain, and to tell of the horrors of war and how they have gotten used to them. (The conflict has gone on for almost 20 years.) The war has resulted in very poor health for many people in that region.
 
The stress caused by constant fear for themselves and for their children has resulted in many people developing chronic diseases. One mother told her daughter, “As soon as Georgians enter our house I will kill you with my own hands before I will allow them to abuse you.” This kind of fear is destroying the people both physically and emotionally.
 
Some of those who came to see the missionaries required medical aid. One person had been injured by a wall that fell. Another had been held captive and beaten. Still others had gunshot wounds, hypertension, paralyzed arms and legs, and countless other physical ailments. But they had not been able to find help and were surviving as best they could until the Adventist missionaries arrived at their village.
 
News of the missionaries traveled quickly by word of mouth, and people from throughout the region started showing up. The missionaries treated them with hydrotherapy and massage, educated them in healthful nutrition, and taught them how to treat colds and flu without medicines.
 
Every procedure began with prayer, and lifestyle changes quickly became evident. Many quit smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol and began eating less fatty foods. But spiritual and emotional healing took place as well. People began forgiving one another for wrongs committed against them and turn to God for help and healing. Many bowed before God in gratitude for His many blessings.
 
As a result of this work, village administrators now are ready to support us and to cooperate in other projects. Thank God!

Russia--Vladivostok
The Adventist Church in Russia has been working with the Pension Fund of Vladivostok city since 2006 to promote healthful living. During the first year Adventists helping with the program held regular meetings in the Pension Fund building, and the following years in the assembly hall of the city administration building. The program is called “Factory of Health,” and it promotes basic, step-by-step ways older people can keep or restore good health.
 
Pension Fund administrators said they had expected the program wouldn’t continue beyond a couple of meetings, because this had been their experience with other similar organizations; their enthusiasm has died quickly. Three years have passed, however, since that first meeting, and Factory of Health continues to hold regular meetings and promote good health for pensioners. City administrators say they are grateful for the helpful and important work the Adventist Church is doing.
 
About 40 pensioners regularly attend each meeting, viewing slide presentations and listening to health lectures—and most are putting the healthful living suggestions into practice.
 
Recently, about 50 guests, including Pension Fund administrators, attended a special meeting on healthful food, responding to word-of-mouth advertising. They said they were very impressed by what they saw, and a week later the local newspaper printed a positive article about the event.—Staff, Euro-Asia Division.
 
 
NSD: A Presence in Northern Korea
Humanitarian Aid and Training

BY BARBARA CHOI
 
The Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD) runs a variety of health ministries’ initiatives, including the following:
 
2009 1518 page53K-Project sponsors medical facility in North Korea
On June 12, 2006, the NSD contracted an agreement with Kim Man Yu Hospital in Pyungyang, North Korea, to support its medical facilities by sending necessary supplies. During the last three years, three such shipments have been sent. Kim Man Yu Hospital has a 20-year history, so most of its facilities are 20 to 30 years old, and therefore the hospital provides treatment using very old medical equipment. The Northern Asia-Pacific Division, in cooperation with NSD Adventist-Laymen’s Services and Industries (ASI), sponsored the following items: gowns for doctors, nurses and workers; ambulances; stomach endoscope; ultrasound; blood analysis machine; electrocardiogram machine; CT-W 450 (HITACHI); resectoscope for urinary organs (resectoscopes, working element, working bridge, etc.); supplies for surgical operations; hundreds of medical supplies; and 60,000 tetra packs of Sahmyook Soy milk. The NSD handles this project as part of its humanitarian aid and visits Pyungyang once or twice a year, each time providing medical equipment. The NSD anticipates that this project will be successful and someday receive the help and medical training techniques from Loma Linda Hospital. If Adventist hospitals in the United States would be willing to donate their old equipment when they are replaced with newer models, the NSD would be glad to deliver these to Kim Man Yu Hospital by covering the delivery expenses.
 
His Heart and Our Hands
This is NSD’s Health Ministries motto, and its goal is to set up 30 pilot churches for the Unorganized Territories (UT) by the end of 2009, with one mother church for each province in mainland China. The NSD Health Ministries director, in consultation with the Chinese Union Mission Health Department, is in the process of preparing three training manuals for the UT churches. Training is scheduled to begin near the end of 2009. The training manuals cover diet and nutrition. Each church is a place that offers training for simple plant-based cooking for the members and the community. Members teach about simple nutrition, do cooking demonstrations using healthful cooking techniques and set-up guidelines, and provide recipes. The module on natural remediescovers hydrotherapy and massage, the use of charcoal, and the benefits of stretching. The final course, Disease Prevention, discusses health management for obesity and high blood pressure. If people are encouraged to look out for their health and manage their lives in these two areas, much chronic disease can be prevented. As the adage goes, prevention is better than cure.  
 
Barbara Choi is director of the Northern Asia-Pacific Division Health Ministries Department.
 
 
SPD: Clinics Dot the South Pacific

BY CHESTER KUMA AND KEVIN PRICE
 
The territory of the South Pacific Division comprises Australia, New Zealand, and smaller South Pacific Island nations. Ninety percent of the population of some of these smaller countries never see a doctor. Their only contact with health care is at an isolated rural health clinic.
 
Today, the clinics run by the Adventist Church continue to provide basic health services to thousands of people every year. What they all had in common was the poor state of their buildings and lack of basic equipment.
 
In response to this need, the “Adopt-a-Clinic” initiative was expanded by the South Pacific Division Adventist Health team. Local Adventist churches in Australia and New Zealand were invited to adopt a clinic of their choice by making a contribution toward improving and maintaining the clinic facilities and equipment. More than 70 local churches and families have contributed much needed financial and practical reconstruction assistance.
 
Already many island clinics have been totally refurbished and most now have received much needed supplies of medical equipment, instruments, linens, mattresses, and beds. The local nurses and residents living in these isolated areas are most thankful for the improvements. Government leaders have also expressed their appreciation. Previously unentered areas are now opening their doors to the gospel message and requesting an Adventist clinic for their area.
 
The Adopt-a-Clinic program is just one of the many Adventist Health initiatives in the South Pacific.
 
Chester Kuma is associate director of the South Pacific Division Health Ministries Department. Kevin Price is director of Adventist Health for the South Pacific Division.
 

TED: A 60-Year Witness in Pakistan  
Karachi Adventist Hospital

BY DONALD JACOB
 
Karachi Adventist Hospital (KAH), located in Karachi, Pakistan, has been in operation for the last 60 years. It began as a very small clinic during the same time when Pakistan received its independence. KAH also enjoys being the pioneer in the medical industry in Karachi; therefore, it is well known by the people living in the city. Though many other hospitals have sprung up since that time, KAH is well known for its quality care for its patients.
 
2009 1518 page53The hospital houses 138 beds and is serving the community with all specialties. It boasts very dedicated consultants, physicians, surgeons, and other staff members. The members of the team make sure that the best quality care is provided for all the patients, without any discrimination. The school of nursing is graduating nearly 45 nurses (male and female) every year, preparing the Christian youth for their careers. Currently, there are 154 students enrolled for nursing. Many nurses who graduated from the KAH School of Nursing are serving around the globe. KAH is the only Adventist hospital in the Trans-European Division, and it strives to uphold Seventh-day Adventist standards.
 
Though KAH is facing the present challenges of an insecure world, the hospital is very much committed to spreading the Seventh-day Adventist message of healthful living. Each day begins with singing and praises to the Lord in wards and other various areas of the facility. Also, a special prayer is offered before any surgery is performed on any patient. Even the Muslim doctors have learned to pray for the patients.
 
KAH serves its patients only vegetarian meals and no coffee or tea, and many patients appreciate this gesture.
 
The KAH Health Promotion Department continues to provide basic health education to patients in overcoming bad habits and living a healthy life. It also provides health lectures to the rural areas of Sindh, where life is difficult and most of the population is illiterate. It is a great blessing to work with these communities. KAH, along with ADRA Pakistan, and local governments, is also working in remote areas where water and sanitation projects are ongoing.
 
Donald G. Jacob is administrator of Karachi Adventist Hospital.
 

WCD: Medical Education Flourishes
Ile-Ife Nigeria Adventist Hospital

BY STAFF, West-Central Africa Division
 
The Postgraduate Medical Education (PME) Program of the West-Central Africa Division consists of a rotating internship and a family medicine residency and is based at the Seventh-day Adventist Hospital, Ile-Ife, in Nigeria. A special opportunity arose when a local television station, which has a potential audience of up to 4 million viewers, requested health programming for the community. The hospital staff started using the Abundant Living health programs for a weekly half-hour series titled “Health and Family Life,” on which the hospital’s personnel director, SesanAsekun-Olarinmoye, presented the topic, illustrated with colorful slides. After the presentation, Asekun-Olarinmoye then interviewed one of the hospital’s doctors on air to add clarification and additional relevant information to the topic for viewers.
Shortly thereafter, Adventist professor Sherman Nagel returned to Nigeria to officiate at a funeral and conduct a Coronary Health Improvement Project (CHIP) program, again using Ile-Ife Hospital physicians and other staff in the training program. Nagel, who had spent 23 years working in Nigeria, led a second weekly health program on which he focused on how to add years to our life and life to our years.
Soon a children’s program was requested and developed, using the character-building lessons from “Truth 4 Youth”; the program was well received.
 
Because Ile-Ife doesn’t yet have a media center, all the recordings are done at the TV station, using a live audience of 15-30 children for the “Truth 4 Youth” programs. While these programs were being recorded, Dr. Belen Lohr, a family medicine specialist, and her family joined the team at the training program and the hospital. Under her leadership, a weekly children’s musical program called “African Kids 4 Christ,” using a 60 to 80 member children’s choir, was organized. The choir has sung for numerous functions and has been active in the community. So far, the group has produced two video CDs with profits used to help pay the hospital bills of children unable to afford life-saving medical care.
The community very much appreciates these programs, and our hospital workers are grateful for the chance to be involved with outreach and health education through the media. This opportunity has been a blessing for all.

Addendum:  When the managing director for our local television station was promoted, priorities of the new management changed and our programs stopped. Recently, however, we have been invited to come back and again provide health and children’s programming. Dr. Asekun-Olarinmoye is now a professor and head of the Mass Communication Department at Babcock University.

 

 

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