The real story isn't about "us."
It belongs to Omni Med and the volunteer Village Health Trainers (VHTs) with whom Omni Med works who are committed to empowering their communities to live healthy lives!
The 3 most common killers of children under 5 in Uganda are diarrhea, malaria, and pneumonia.
Omni Med (www.omnimed.org) collaborates with VHTs in Mukono District, Uganda to address key areas of health by means of increasing household medical knowledge, upgrading hygiene practices (including latrine construction), obtaining safe drinking water (through well construction), partnering with the Cookstove Project in training VHTs in ventilated stove construction, and more.
Each of these initiatives have ripple effects. For example, the ventilated stoves not only reduce respiratory illnesses including pneumonia, the reduction in firewood used also translates into less time collecting wood and more time for women to engage in income generating activities and children to focus on school. Reduced firewood collection also yields ecological benefits.
Research reveals that investments in community based interventions have the greatest impact and "return on investment" as communities are equipped with the knowledge and means to have agency over their own well being. Omni Med partners with the Uganda Ministry of Health (strengthening local institutions) and is committed to evaluating impact via formal research.
What will we do?
Our team (Todd Davis, Shana Davis, & Savannah Zemanovic) will spend a week with the Ugandan-led Omni Med office to learn about culturally appropriate community development practices and assist in ongoing operations.
We'll learn about the community organization process involved in establishing a water committee in charge of constructing their own well.
We'll see the cultural dynamics involved in the adaptation of a new stove which is built from local materials such as ant hill sand and vegetation-based reinforcement.
We'll see the importance of "buy in," whether in well construction or cook stove use.
We'll make home visits with VHTs and attend quarterly VHT meetings which are crucial to long-term retention of VHTs and program effectiveness. We'll see first-hand the long-term impact in the lives of those living in rural villages.
As engineers/engineering students, the correlation is clear between Omni Med's health focus and the engineering fields of water and sanitation.
How to engage with those of limited resources, however, is less obvious. First, there is the issue of technology. It must be appropriate and sustainable - using locally available materials of minimal cost which result in a product/system which can be maintained in terms of time and cost by the household or community who will "own" the solution - whether that be a water well, cook stove, or latrine.
Second, and of equal (if not more) importance, there are cultural dynamics. We'll learn about the value of solutions which are devised with the local community, with their voice guiding the process to ensure any initiative is culturally appropriate and will be embraced. As humans, we all have the capacity to creatively problem solve. In its essence, partnering with a community is esteeming their own humanity.
So the three of us will be spending a week in an office of Ugandans and one American staff member, enjoying a new culture, learning about the process as well as the product of grassroots development.
We each bring a different set of eyes - a structural engineering professor about to create the curriculum for a humanitarian engineering class; an international development graduate (who was a civil engineer once upon a time) who is exceedingly eager to see the nuts and bolts of true community development; and a civil engineering student who has been actively involved in MSOE's Servant Leadership Department in the office and on the ground and is taking her first steps in global service and considering how her vocation and the world's current pressing challenges may align.
Lastly, there is a possibility that this could turn into an ongoing relationship between MSOE and Omni Med. Omni Med currently has partnerships with various universities and is committed to equipping the next generation of professionals to comprehensively understand and address challenges facing those of limited resources around the globe in a holistic manner.
Our fundraising goal is $950. This will cover the costs of Savannah's time with Omni Med. (Savannah is self-funding all other expenses such as passport, visa, vaccinations, and other in-country costs related to lodging and transportation.) MSOE's Department of Servant Leadership covers airfare. Todd and Shana will cover their own expenses for the week at Omni Med.
Would you like to partner with us as we learn from and assist Omni Med? Your generosity will have a tangible impact on those in Uganda who are striving for a healthy life so they can fulfill their true potential!