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Since when we began to carry out the first actions
to make better the way of life of people in Marovoay, where is the
Discalced Carmelites' Mission, the main efforts were about educational
and healthcare projects, and we succeeded in carrying off more and more
demanding projects, so that we were able to create the “Edith Stein”
High School, and the Health Center in Ambovomavo, along with the medical
dispensary “Nino Baglieri” and the maternity ward “Geppo Di Martino”
that is almost completed but already operating.
It's just in the same line that in 2011 we started
up a new project: the creation of a true
hospital. It will be located in Mahajanga, the seat of the diocese of which Marovoay
is part, it will be entitled to
Jean Paul II..
To the building up of the hospital, that will
provide to 3 dioceses, for a 1700 |
Km2 area, will contribute several
organizations and associations besides ours one, although the project
will be safely leaded by father Bruno who is also the Mahajanga diocese
manciple.
We report here an
interview given by the same father
Bruno to the Vatican Radio.
In the picture on the right is the hospital
rendering |
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Location of the hospital building site: |
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2012: we start...
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In 2012, after a stalemate period, the project
gets a decisive boost. So f.Bruno says.
"We had been meeting for months with some
doctors of the city, to assess the healthcare situation, and we
decided that we as the Church had to build up a hospital. We had
tried to find out an expert to draw up a plan, but we couldn't and
times were getting longer, and finally it was just a matter of
money. |
"So I searched for an expert in Italy, for someone
that knew the Madagascar situation.
In January, after a first e-mail contact, along
with the surveyor Andrea Piubeni, I met Francesco Cimino in Modena, who
is an orthopedic surgeon that has been working in Madagascar for 15
years, going to Fianarantsoa twice a year with a volunteers team, to
operate crooked feet
children, and he made miracles.
He gave his full availability along with his staff
of the “Alfeo Corassori The life for you” Association."
We needed just doctor Cimino's charismatic figure
and experience to start up...
In the above and side pictures the first works
They begin by carrying some stones for the first
foundations and by making a well to ensure the water resources, required
for the erecting yard before and for the hospital then.
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We have already planned the location of the
various rooms: the different surgeries and services, the hospitalization
rooms (surgery, medical and pediatric wards with maternity for a total
120 beds), the housing rooms for doctors, nurses and volunteers, and for
the sisters community that will attend the hospital, the house for the
patients family members, especially for the ones that come from afar.
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The
project includes also a chapel next to the sisters' house and other
services related to the hospital such as a kitchen, a canteen, a laundry
and an incinerator.
In the
above and side pictures are the works for the building up of the
foundations, here just at the beginning. Below are the works for the
building up of the surrounding wall. |
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The effort is a colossal one for Madagascar,
because besides the making up of the structures with their systems, we
will have to provide the many health equipments, to recruit and train
the staff to be employed without any help from the malagasy government.
We will need the generous collaboration of many
subjects. Meanwhile we must remember the decisive support of the
Costantino Conte's family thanks to which we were able to buy the land. |
Also the Italian Bishops' Conference should
partake: Mons. Gandolfo, the president of the 8 per 1000 Commitee, who
has recently visited Madagascar, actually promised an economic aid.
We want to finish with some words by f. Bruno
about the choice to entitle the new hospital to the unforgotten Pope
Woityla. “The name of the hospital has already been chosen:
“Jean Paul II”
such a colossus of humanity and holiness will protect us so that we too
can move with the fiery faith that changes the world.” |
Some more pictures of the the erecting yard.
We show here beside and below several photos of
the ongoing works that are proceeding quite quickly...
they begin by building up the the premises of the
polyclinic. |
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Like in the other yards for the edification of the
high school, of the surgery or of the maternity ward, everything or
nearly is handmade. |
The
foundation plinths are almost completed. |
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And everything by force of arms... |
…shovel
and elbow grease |
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You help as you can!
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With
buckets and even with sacks... |
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Heating iron for working by a manual fan... |
The
cement mixer:
here
they work this way! |
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March 16th
2013
the foundation plinths of the polyclinic are
completed! |
After completing the plinths they fill the voids
by some ground, over which they will lay the beaten for the floor. |
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A stock of bricks waiting to be used to build up
the first hospital walls |
And here the first hospital pavilion, designed to
house the polyclinic, takes shape. The walls are built up! |
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Some more photos of the next polyclinic... |
Along the perimeter of the building we can notice
the foundations of the porch, which is indispensable for the burning sun
or for the unending rainy days during the rainy season. |
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After rising up the polyclinic walls (on the
background) they proceed preparing the foundations of a wing of the
hospital. |
By a “procession” of wheelbarrows they carry the
mixture of cement where they need it
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The workers make the mixture of cement and sand |
Many works are manually made, without any machine
aid... |
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..but not always: an electric mixer simplifies the
work! |
April 18th
2014
The basement for the ground floor of the first
hospital wing is now completed |
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April 18th
2014
Meanwhile we go on with the building up of the
next to the hospital polyclinic. |
April 18th
2014
On one side of the building that is going to house
the polyclinic, we have already raised the pillars supporting the porch
cover |
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May 20th
2014
They work on the carpentry to keep the concrete
casting of the first floor |
May 20th
2014
The same structure … from below.
The pavilion is the one that is going to house the
polyclinic |
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June 2nd
2014
The beams, cement support girders that will be the
basement of the first floor ground, precast on site, are waiting to be
located |
June 2nd
2014
Two workers carry, on their shoulders, a girder,
acceding to the first floor level by a provisional ramp, very suitable
for the purpose, in the absence of cranes … |
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June 17th
2014
The floor of the polyclinic first floor is now
ready for the concrete casting |
June 17th
2014
They begin to spread the concrete that is going to
weld into a single structure the iron, the bricks and the beams. In
order to make a firm floor the concrete casting must be made all at
once. All this is expected to require even four days … |
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…working
even in the night! |
July 30th
2014
We work also to the second part of the polyclinic
floor |
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Everything is ready for the concrete casting ... |
…
also the usual ramp to carry on all the materials
needed. |
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July 30th
2014
Meanwhile they plaster the ceiling of the first
part of the polyclinic |
Everything go on quite quickly |
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August 9th
2014
The first floor ground of the pavilion intended to
the polyclinic is now finished... |
…
and they can already raise on it the first floor
walls. |
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Human … conveyor belt |
August 11th
2014
the
raising up of the polyclinic upper floor goes on speedily |
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The wall in the picture on the right is almost
completed |
The prospectus of the "Jean Paul II" hospital
begins to take shape! |
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October 12th
2014
The elevation of the first floor of the polyclinic
is almost completed: just missing the roof! |
October 27th
2014
They
prepare the carpentry to make the curb of the roof
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November 10th
2014
They plaster the vaults of the outside porch. |
December 26th
2014
Also
the roof curb is completed. Practically only the roof is missing and the
building will be ready.
Then we
will have to tackle the difficult job of making the electrical and
plumbing systems, etc,
the finishes (floors, fixtures and all the rest...) |
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March the 12th
2015
The hallway of the
polyclinic ground floor has already been plastered |
March the 20th
2015
everything is ready
for the roof edification by now. Meanwhile
on the ground floor
they've completed the porch and the arches. |
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May 30th,
2015
The workers have completed the curb, which will
support the roof.
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June
20th, 2015
The arches of the upper floor have also been
completed.
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.JPG) |
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April 18th, 2016
The structure that will support the roof has been
prepared. |
April 30th 2016
Here is the roof, seen from insided |
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November 9th 2016
While the prospect of the building that will host
the general outpatients’clinic has almost been completed... |
November 9th 2016
...a new pavilion has begun to take shape.
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This new wing will host the operating rooms, the
delivery room and related services on the ground floor, while the stay
in hospital is on the upper floor. |
View of the general outpatients’clinic, southwest
side
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November 9th
2016
Work also advances inside. |
A large group of volunteer tilers of San Donà,
with the collaboration of the local workers, is engaged in the laying of
the floor. |
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November 26th, 2016
Meanwhile, other electrician volunteers provide
for the construction of the electric installation.
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The size and specific
needs of a hospital require the installation of an adequate electric
system, by making use of "industrial" technologies.
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Obviously, a current generator with diesel
engine could not miss, so as to make the hospital self-sufficient and
working even during long blackouts. |
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While the building of "Jean
Paul II" Hospital is going on, we are also engaged in looking for the
staff that will have to work into the structure. As a matter of fact, if
it is possible and desirable that Western doctors come to Madagascar for
a period of volunteer work, as appropriate accommodation has been
planned to offer hospitality, it will be indispensable to rely on
stable, trained, professional, motivated local staff.
For this reason, and also due to the numberless health needs that arise
in this region, it has been decided to activate a training school for
nurses and midwives of university character. |
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On 12th of November 2015, Father Bruno wrote to us from
Madagascar:
My dear ones,
I want to inform you about the latest developments regarding the
University for nurses and midwives.
Last week we received the visit of the Commission of the Ministry of
Higher Education and Health so that we could qualify the university.
They were very satisfied with all that was done and told us that we can
consider it already approved ...
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...Last Monday and last
Tuesday, the university entrance examination was held, the number of
students was limited to 70: even if, there were 85 requests of
registrations, despite the opening at the last moment.
It is foreseeable that there will be many more applications for entry,
in the future.
The aim is to train well prepared and overscrupulous young people, due
to many painful situations and, at the same time, prepare qualified and
motivated staff for the Hospital that’s being built...
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...We
did not think that we would have already been able to open this year the
University Course for nurses and midwives, as we had only decided to
activate the course in the month of July, but the commitment of some
very motivated and the competence of those who already work in these
commissions, gave us the possibility to start.
Several schools open their courses without having the legal licence and
who pays the consequences are the students who receive diplomas that
aren’t recognized.
F.Bruno
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In the above photos, one can see
the phases of the selection, that regarded a written test and an
interview with the examining Commission. On the side, the members of the
Ministerial Commission for Higher Education and Health are visiting the
structure that will host the course. |
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November 11th
2016 The
training school for nurses and midwives is already in its second year!
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In order to have available staff
already trained at the time of the hospital opening, it has been
necessary to receive temporary hospitality elsewhere. The premises of
the Salesian mission have been put at disposal, while we are awaiting
for the construction of the definitive site that is within the hospital
complex, as highlighted in the rendering. |
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March 24th, 2017
The building of the pavilion that permanently will
host the university course has begun. |
The works go on fast... |
.JPG) |
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...in fact, in July
2017 the ground floor of the building was completed |
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November 21st
2017
As soon as the first floor has been completed, the
works have gone on the second floor |
November 23rd, 2017
In a few days, the skilled workers are already
ready for casting the ceiling of the second floor |
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March 8th,
2018
The structure has practically been completed.
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Glance! |
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The classrooms have
also been furnished with what was necessary. |
Father Bruno writes on April 7th 2018:
Last Wednesday, April 4th, we have opened the school of paramedics
with all that was necessary done, and ,above all, we have finished the
work.
The inauguration saw the participation of a lot of people who were
greatly satisfied and congratulated us for the ending of the works. |
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April 4th,
2018
Group photo with some of the students |
October 25Th
2012: Laying the foundation stone
And here are some pictures of the laying of the
foundation stone, that took place on October 25Th
2012. Somehow this day marks the official birth date of “Jean Paul II”
hospital. What is going to be built is very important, as well as
challenging. That's why the Nuncio Martin Nuget, the Bishop Roger
Victor, the president of the region Boeny Meur Cristophe, the mayor, the
prefect and some more civil and military authorities take part in the
ceremony. |
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The Apostolic Nuncio is blessing the foundation
stone |
In the side picture father Bruno with doctor
Francesco Cimino. |
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The participating authorities in a group photo,
with some members of the “Alfeo Corassori The life for you” Association,
who are going to cooperate, attending, among other things, to the
planning, along with the surveyor Roberto Leoni and his staff. |
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If you want to contribute, here you are our current
banking accounts.
banking c/c (IBAN)
IT40I0503616900CC0451290926
BIC/SWIFT POPRIT31045
at Banca Agricola Popolare
di Ragusa
branch in Catania, Viale XX
Settembre, 47
payable to "Associazione
Progetto Missione Madagascar Onlus"
c/o Carmelitani Scalzi
Piazza Carmine, 2 - 97100 Ragusa
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click here to download printable
coordinates
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Last updated
February 22, 2020 |
Associazione Progetto Missione Madagascar
Onlus, Piazza Carmine 2 c/o Carmelitani Scalzi - 97100 Ragusa - CF 01438780890 |