Santa Agatha Promoting Health and Saving Lives on the Momon River
By Oscar Olavarria Saldaña
One hour up the Momon River is the Santa Agatha Clinic which is a modern medical centre set up for the inhabitants of this isolated jungle area. A german
N.G.O. called the Peruvian German Company (P.G.C.) financed and built the clinic for the promotion, development of good health and medical support.
In February of this year P.G.C. carried out fumigation of all the houses in an aggressive fight against malaria in the communities along the Momon River. Also a scheme was inaugurated, in colaboration with the Ministry of Health offering rural children summer courses in mathematics and spanish. Another scheme sends handicapped children to a rehabilitation center in the city of Lima.
In April 2007 a programme started to train health advisers to spread the word throughout the area about hygene. The clinic also assisted a 16 year old pregnant girl called Jenny Andrea Lopez who comes from the community of Puerto Gen She was assisted by Dr. Francisco Cervantes Bello, General Practitioner in charge of this clinic. Several other childbirth cases have been successfully carried out in the same clinic avoiding risky complications and maternal deaths from homebirths .All the residents in the Momon River area have sincere gratitude to the german doctor Gisela Dahl, President of the NGO for her unconditional support of native communities like the Boras, Yahuas, Jibaros and other riverside people that inhabit the basin of Momon River.The population of this area is approximately 5,000.
If you would like to help the Santa Agatha Clinic please contact Dr Gisela Dahl by email:
gisela.dahl@dgn.de This article is used with the kind permission of La Region Newspaper.
