Orpahanage Health Day, Second Edition! – Lebanon (LeMSIC)

Name of the activity: Orpahanage Health Day, Second Edition!

Country/NMO: Lebanon (LeMSIC)

Program: Children Health & Rights

Contact information: [email protected]

Type of the activity: Education

General description:

Yes, 21,000 out of 23,458 children are placed in care institutions because their families simply cannot support them in Lebanon, and yes, most of then aren’t true orphans living sometimes in about 4.8 squares of meters under the supervision of unqualified tutors and caregivers, as indicated by a study done by the CRI in collaboration with UNICEF in 2006.
depending on the latter and the fact that we are aspiring public health leaders belonging to a committee that honors prevention and health promotion in all its aspects, we decided to tackle this vulnerable sector of our society through a one day event of 9 hours in duration on the grounds of “AL MABARRAT” orphanage association.
the activity is addressed to 370 orphans from 3 till 18 years of age through awareness sessions and full medical checkups comprising ENT, CHEST, ABDOMEN examinations and Growth plotting.
the awareness topics were decided based on the needs declared by the orphans and director itself, and they are AMR, smoking, mental health and self confidence among other life skills for the adolescents ages (11 till 18 years of age), and diet, hygiene and “keep on dreaming” session for the younger children (3 to 10 years of age).
the template of the event is set in a rotation pattern:
the orphans are divided into groups of 12 persons and the 370 are divided into 2 major groups.
the first would undergo the physical checkup while the second half would attend the awareness topics fashioned in a training methodology using entertaining and appealing activities.
the sessions as well as the physical exam were delivered in their designated classes under the supervision of doctors and employees from the institution itself.
Of-course, the whole event is preceded by several training directed towards the notion of “how to deal with an orphan” as well as delivering the topics and the medical screening as well and given a thorough survival kit.
It is true that we won 3rd prize in the RCA for this event last year but that only incited us to keep on carrying our mission as SCOPHeroes and improve the overall realization of this immense project.
the orphanage has been more than welcoming to our ideas and were honored to host us for a second time which doesn’t only prove our sustainability as work but also our commitment and motivation towards the persons we touch, we deeply care about and we serve from our heart.

Focus area:

Children’s mental health, Children & the dangers of substance abuse, Children & healthy habits (physical activity, healthy eating, hygiene, etc), Early childhood vaccines and preventable diseases, Children’s rights with emphasis on the right to education

Problem statement:

the recent studies on the Lebanese population suggest that 90 percent of kids placed in care institutions, including those contracted by the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs, are not orphans but rather unprivileged poor children of mothers and fathers who are unable to support them.
This is not the only alarming rate reflecting the harsh reality of orphans, 21,000 out of 23,458 children are placed in care institutions because their families simply cannot care for them and they are categorized as “social cases.”
The Consultation and Research Institute (CRI), in collaboration with UNICEF in 2006, obtained the above figures from statistics and published them in a study, that revealed many other “surprises”:
13 percent of the children were found to be sharing the same clothes, including 6.2 percent who shared underwear. In addition, there is the issue of sleeping space;each child has about 4.8 square meters, with 40 children sometimes sleeping in one room.
the study also mentioned that most employees are working part-time, and a significant segment of them are not trained to deal with children, and not adequately qualified.
Regarding education, the study shows that the success rate for those learning in care institutions (83 percent) is less than the average success rate elsewhere (87 percent), unlike the failure and dropout rates which are higher than the average.
the latter startling facts have driven us immensely last year and continue to do so for this year as well, it is evident that orphans do lack proper care, efficient medical attention and sufficient education.
Our current activity is complementary to the previous one that we won the 3rd place in the RCA FOR, as a one day event taking place in an orphanage and aiming at tackling its lackings and demands by offering thorough medical checkups and a variety of specific required awareness topics to the young ages and adolescents of this association.
we, as future public health leaders belonging to a committee honoring prevention and promotion of health, should direct our efforts, knowledge and shape our skills to serve the deprived sectors of our society, ameliorate their healthcare access, decrease their chances of suffering from Communicable/non-communicable diseases and induce their implementation of healthier lifestyle mentally and physically.
we do aspire this time to tackle 2 orphanages to expand our approach and reach a bigger population in need of our services.

Target groups and beneficiaries:

our target groups are the following:
-the 370 orphans addressed in this event through the screening medical checkup and the awareness sessions.
-the volunteering medical students (more than 100) that acquired the necessary skills when it comes to dealing with orphans and applying their medical knowledge in the checkups through attending the training and the practical part of the event.

the beneficiaries are:
-the orphanages tackled this year will also be tackled for future terms and maybe a few can be added since we aspire for this activity to become an annual one.
– the equipped medical students shall participate in initiating similar events depending on the skills they acquired through our activity so we are tackling capacity building in this event as you will see in the stated goals section.

Objectives and indicators of success:

our objectives are the following:
1- offer 400 orphans full medical checkup from history taking, ENT exam and growth chart plotting to full abdominal and chest examinations to be performed by the registered members and supervised by doctors during the day of the event.
2- offer 170 children aged from 3 till 10 years of age exclusive entertaining games for specific awareness topics from hygiene,diet to mental health during the day of the event
3- offer the 260 kids and adolescents aged from 11 till 18 years of age 4 sessions regarding topics that were found insufficient in last year’s event concerning AMR, mental health,smoking and self confidence and personal skills.
4- equip the registered members (minimum of 80 in number) with the necessary communication and medical skills that will enable them to deal properly with orphans and provide them with the care and medical attention they need.
5-teach the OC members (a minimum of 10) with skills for project management and impact measurement to be implemented on the event through proper planning, evaluations and general satisfaction of the institution as well as the member
6- enroll the activity again under IFMSA programs.
7-implement this activity annually and to an additional orphanage to ground the concept of sustainability and continuous impact in the work of SCOPH.

Indicators of Success:
1- this collaboration is very strong since it is continuous from last year which provided us with better sponsorship, logistics and media coverage
2- the members are fully on board since this is the second time such an event is being executed.
3- the OC members are qualified to cover all the objectives set for this event due to previous experience since they were chosen based on selective criteria.

Methodology:

the methodology occurred as the following and it started 1 month and a half ago, the event will occur on the 24th of January from 9 till 6 PM in the Orphanage’s classes and halls:
1- the orphanage has been contacted and the director expressed the topics she would like us to tackle and present in this event as well as their need for a medical checkup so the approval has been obtained
2- 2 other meetings happened during which the date, duration, logistics, reflections and general expectations were discussed
3- a call for an OC was open nationally this time to the general member to encourage them to manage projects and learn the dynamics of SCOPH work and the members were divided according to the following tasks: (a total of 16 with the head of OC)
–[AWARENESS]: gathering the information that will be delivered + the way of delivering it (games, show…)
1) Age 3-4 (4 spots)
2) Adolescents (4 spots)
[PHYSICAL EXAM]: forming a checklist for the history, the items to be examined, growth charts…
3) Age 3-4: physical examination (2 spots)
4) Adolescents (3 spots)
[CONTACTS]
5) Contacting sponsors (printing, material for examination…) or doctors/residents for supervision (2 spots)

4- 3 meetings to discuss the progress of OC have already occurred and a google drive was created to share all the documents for the awareness topic as well as medical screening checklist
5- the OC member responsible for sponsorship already started contacting doctors and secure equipment and logistics
6- a call for registration has been open and med students depending on their year would be divided into the medical checkup and the awareness sections.
9-a training will be offered to the registered members for the medical checkup, the topics of awareness as well as “how to deal with an orphan” training 2 days ahead of the event.
10- ensure a good media coverage on the day of the event.
11- the orphanage has already been revisited to set up the template for the whole event.
12- a survival kit will be offered to the members ahead of the event.
12- an online evaluation will be to the members for the whole event

Plans for evaluation:

we have 2 forms of evaluation directed at the 2 beneficiaries of this event:
– verbal/written evaluations during all the awareness sessions will be adopted to make sure that the objectives of each topic have been reached.
– a written evaluation will be delivered to the orphanage for the orphans to fill and express their thoughts and reflections on the whole activity.
-a meeting with the orphanage’s director afterwards will be set to receive their feedback and critic on the whole event.
– an online evaluation will be sent to the registered members for the whole event.
-an evaluation meeting for the OC members will be scheduled at the end of the event as well