A Quebec partnership to strengthen our international programmes
As part of an international effort to combat poverty and social exclusion, the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie du Québec (MRIF) has signed a partnership with Terre Sans Frontières (TSF) for the three-year (2021-2024) Nouveau Québec Sans Frontières programme.
This funding has enabled TSF to support key partners in Bolivia, Senegal and the Republic of Congo, mainly in the fields of health and food security. As a result, TSF has been able to provide numerous training courses and medical equipment, and to raise awareness among partners and beneficiaries about a number of issues.
It is with great pride that TSF looks back on three years of positive results. To illustrate this support, here is a timeline of the programme.
May our partners, beneficiaries and MRIF find in these words the expression of our deep gratitude for working together for an equitable sharing of wealth, here and elsewhere.
2021
First year
Senegal
The mission of the Association Nationale des Postes de Santé Catholiques du Sénégal (ANPSCS), our local partner, is to coordinate functional health posts with a preventive, educational and curative vocation. During the first year, we provided training and purchased equipment to equip 70 health posts in the following regions: Dakar, Diourbel, Fatick, Kaffrine, Sédhiou, Tambacounda, Thiès and Ziguinchor.
Testimonial
Senegal
‘We usually treat our patients with injections of salbutamo, a drug that dilates the bronchial tubes. But thanks to the nebulisers we’ve received, which transform a liquid medicine into an aerosol, i.e. into very fine droplets, we’re able to relieve them much more quickly. I can see the results straight away. This equipment makes a major contribution to improving the quality of care.’
Sister Marie-Hélène Coly
Head of the Ndiaganiao health post, ANPSCS
Senegal
First year
Republic of Congo
Due to the changing humanitarian context, the project began with an analysis of the needs to be met in the locality of Bétou, in the north of the country. It was agreed that the purchase of an ultrasound machine would be the most beneficial action for the local population.
First year
Bolivia
Whether by setting up two nutrition clinics, providing food processing equipment or raising awareness in schools, our actions have helped to improve the health of the Bolivian people.
In addition, medical equipment has been given a second life. All these actions took place in Viacha and Pucarani, two municipalities in the Altiplano where we work.
2022
Second year
Senegal
Our partner ANPSCS promotes information sharing among its staff. With this in mind, two North-South volunteer cooperation mandates have been funded to create a bridge between professionals in Quebec and Senegal.
Second year
Republic of Congo
Thanks to the installation of an ultrasound machine in the Bétou Medical and Social Centre, diagnosis and monitoring of pregnancies in the region have been improved. In addition, accelerated training in ultrasound and obstetric gynaecology has been provided. Since then, hundreds of women have benefited from the new services offered by the two doctors working at the centre with the machine.
Testimonial
Republic of Congo
It’s a huge relief for us health workers, because we’ll now be able to make diagnoses [with] certainty. It’s also a relief for patients to be able to carry out ultrasound examinations on site in Bétou and no longer have to travel long distances to distant health centres. What’s more, this equipment will help us to predict the prognosis of deliveries […] and it will help to reduce the number of avoidable maternal deaths in the Bétou district.
Salabanzi Baudouin
Senior nurse at the Medical and Social Center in Bétou
Republic of Congo
Second year
Bolivia
The relationship between health and agriculture has been taught to local communities through, among other things, the refurbishment of an educational fruit and vegetable greenhouse and through awareness-raising. This work has been essential in the six municipalities where TSF is present (Pucarani, Viacha, Ayata, Aucapata, Puerto Perez and Jesus de Machaca).
Testimonial
Bolivia
I’m pregnant and the doctor sent me [to the clinic opened by TSF] so that they could help me with my diet. The doctor told me what I had to eat for my son to be born healthy. I was thinking of giving birth at home, but my husband says it’s dangerous. At the hospital, they’ll help me and the doctor will teach me how to feed my son.
Juana Mamani
Beneficiary of the program
Bolivie
Second year
Cooperation
In Senegal, initial support in accounting led to the development of a financial management system adapted to facilitate the ANPSCS’s financial monitoring and audits. Then, a mandate in pharmacy management enabled the creation of a system for managing stocks and the expiry of medicines and other pharmaceutical products.
In Bolivia, a physiotherapy development worker helped us to strengthen local professionals. This experience fuelled the development worker’s interest in international solidarity. She continued her commitment to us at the end of her mandate.
2023
Third year
Senegal
In order to continue strengthening maternal and child health, 19 health posts have been equipped with cots, delivery tables and boxes.
This was complemented by a voluntary cooperation mandate to create a children’s flour.
Third year
Volunteer cooperation
The aim of the nutrition and paediatrics mandate in Senegal was to contribute to the creation of a harmonised infant flour for the health posts of our partner ANPSCS. Theoretical and practical training courses on nutrition, malnutrition-related illnesses and paediatric emergencies helped to raise awareness among Senegalese mothers-to-be.
Third year
Republic of Congo
Having equipped the Bétou Center with an ultrasound machine and training, the next step was to purchase essential medicines and laboratory inputs for diagnosing HIV-AIDS (mother-to-child transmission) and malaria. In addition, mosquito nets were purchased to combat malaria, mainly among pregnant women and young children.
Third year
Bolivia
Health support for the various municipalities continued with screening campaigns for visual diseases and the provision of equipment. Two physiotherapy and nutrition clinics were also set up.
In agriculture, our support focused on the installation of an irrigation system for a greenhouse, management of greenhouse production and practical workshops.
In 3 years, TSF’s support has focused on achieving the following results:
3
countries
742 202
indirect beneficiaries reached
225 000$
of invested budget
5
volunteers
662
health professionals
trained
80
establishments benefited from the program
Senegal
‘ANPSCS has benefited from MRIF support over the past three years, which has enabled the acquisition of medical equipment and the integration of volunteers specialising in pharmacy, management and nutrition. These volunteers have provided training to ANPSCS providers, helping to improve the quality of patient care and strengthen ANPSCS as a network supporting and representing health facilities.’
David Koly NDIOR
Programme Manager, Association Nationale des Postes de Santé Catholiques du Sénégal (ANPSCS)
Congo
‘The performance of the probes and the clarity of the images attracted many pregnant women and their husbands to the centre, as they were curious to know the sex of the foetus. The device has been very useful in improving diagnosis and patient referrals. We have also been able to build the capacity of general practitioners in medical imaging so that they can make better use of the ultrasound machine and its accessories. Access to essential medicines for the population of the Bétou health district has been directly improved. The project has significantly reduced the maternal and infant mortality rate in the rural commune of Betou.’
Benoît Ngadjole
Regional director for TSF, Central Africa
Bolivia
‘The processing unit is ideal, I now have enough room to work! My job is not just to talk, but also to get my hands dirty. I’m supporting a little girl who’s already 6 months old and I have to teach her mother how to introduce her to a balanced diet. Because from the age of 6 months, this child starts to eat. If we practise with the mother how to give her food properly, then she will learn and put it into practice at home.’
Elizabeth Maidana Ticona
Nutritionist, Ayata partner health centre
