Recent publications, announcements and updates from Network Learning.
This piece is about female condoms. I bring them up for discussion because they are currently out of the limelight. When they first appeared, they seemed full of promise – a method of protection against pregnancy and HIV which could be used and controlled by women. In practice they pose problems – including the fact that they are a bit of a joke. So this is a reminder of the key facts and issues.
You may have noticed that here at Networklearning we are very keen on newsletters. A recent HATIP Newsletter for health workers has a really positive message:
We recently made a manual Finding Mental Health after Conflict , which focused on Developing Countries. Then we were contacted by a new colleague originally from Sudan, who was interested in working with us. Mubarak has gone through thirty years of asylum-seeking, living in camps, then adapting to life in the Netherlands. In consequence, he had already started on a manual for asylum seekers and refugees in Northern Europe. It contains information about the legislation that affects them and the issues – practical, psychological and cultural – with which they may have to deal. Primarily intended for people like himself from MENA, it is hoped it will be useful for refugees from other areas. Now in both English and Arabic: Refugees from MENA to Northern Europe: Pressures & Solutions As a side-product, Mubarak would like to put together a list of doctors and psychologists in Northern Europe who have the skills and knowledge really to help refugees. Do you know anybody good? If so, let us know .
Many of you now have smart mobile phones with apps. For health workers, these technologies are very promising; faced with a client with a problem they can send and get important information. Hesperian (brilliant organisation) is developing this area and now offer a Safe Pregnancy and Childbirth mobile app for iPhones.
Fifteen years ago I read an evaluation of programmes to help victims of sexual violence in the wars in Bosnia Herzegovina. I was struck by the number of responses from refugees who said that the intervention that helped them most was this – a designated tent in the camp which was physically safe and where they could meet other women, relax, talk and help each other.
How many of you are involved in the care of people at the end of their lives? They may be 80 or 18. They may have cancer or AIDS or pneumonia. You want to help them, and their carers, to make the last months easier. You want them to have a good standard of physical, mental and spiritual care, with pain relief and medication. The name for all of this is Palliative Care . There is a World Association for Palliative Care ( thewpca.org ). Now they are making their resources more available in more languages.
We have received a paper on silicosis from Aung Ko Ko, now with UNDP in Myanmar (Burma) and with a background in Public Health. He reminds us of all the occupational diseases which continue to cripple and kill in the Developing Countries. The West had silicosis and other killers of the Industrial Revolution, illnesses like mill fever and phossy jaw that went away with Trades Unions and forward-thinking legislation, with laws and inspections and owners (occasionally) imprisoned. But for the workers of Myanmar still it goes on. > Poverty & occupational health: Silicosis
Networklearning invites all its friends and colleagues to take a little time to think about their country and its children under the age of five. Why? Because these little kids are the future of the nation. If they are not reaching their full potential, the whole country loses out. » Read Maeve Moynihan’s article: Early Childhood Development: the critical factors What is Advocacy and why is it important for such issues? » Find out the 10 steps to success – in just 3 handy pages. Download Nicolien Wassenaar’s new K ey I nformation S heet, KIS 4: Advocacy » Also new in the Library : Finding Mental Health after Conflict: This useful manual for anyone planning to help people who have been displaced or repressed is now available in Arabic , thanks to Elmubarak Eldaw (47 pages). » Plus two new guest publications: We have the newest edition for job-seekers of A Guide to Voluntary and Humanitarian Work (164 pages), generously donated by Bryan Walker. And Bryan has also made available the 271-page heavyweight Structures for the Displaced: Service and Identity in Refugee Settlements by James Kennedy.
You may have seen the design for a slow cooker which cooks beans in 12 hours, using thick insulation and the sun’s heat? Now an NGO in Sudan has developed a refrigerating “zeer” pot which stores 10 kg of food for up to 20 days! Go to practicalaction.org – you will also find a video on the donkey cart ambulance, which has helped women in child births that have gone wrong to get to where they can be helped.