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| Malteser International Malteser International is the worldwide relief agency of the Sovereign Order of Malta for humanitarian aid. Malteser International provides humanitarian aid in all parts of the world without distinction of religion, race or political persuasion. Its mission is not only to provide emergency relief, but also to implement rehabilitation measures and to facilitate the link between emergency relief and sustainable development. Malteser International establishes and promotes primary health care services and seeks to reduce vulnerability and poverty. It has significant experience in the Caribbean, in particular being active in the relief efforts related to hurricane recovery such as in Honduras after Hurricane Mitches (1998 – 2000) and in the United States after Hurricane Katrina (2005). The Order’s Programs in Latin America The Order has a long history in the Americas and in particular the Caribbean. It was active in the Caribbean since the first half of the Seventeenth Century, having owned or controlled the islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe, San Cristobal, Santa Cruz and Tortuga, amongst others. As of today, over 40 percent of the members of the Order reside in the Western Hemisphere where the Order has 25 national associations operating in 21 countries and diplomatic relations with 25 nations. Through this structure, together with its international relief agencies such as Malteser International and CIOMAL, the Order delivers medical and humanitarian aid to those most in need throughout the hemisphere. XVI Century Church in Jila, Peru linked to the Order of Malta Two knights from the Peruvian Order of Malta recently found in Jila, Peru, a region near Lake Titicaca, 4000 mts in the Peruvian Andes, an old church, called San Juan de Letran, like its namesake in Rome, consecrated to Christ the Saver, St. John Baptist and St. John Evangelist. It is believed that the Church, built by the Jesuits, dates back to 1565, when the town was founded.
The Order in Peru- St. Juan de Letran Church
This is one of four churches that exist today, and its decorations have Malta Crosses in several parts of the building, as well as in the frames surrounding many pictures on its walls dating to the XVI Century artist Brother Bernardo Bitti, who arrived in Peru in 1575 from Camerino, Italy. The Jesuits decorated the church in a Baroque style, as shown in the gold wood frames of the Bitti paintings, which we can also see in the frames of a lateral door above, and in the ceiling of the church, which includes the Cross of Malta. Cuban Association In addition to its international relief agencies, the Order works through its “national associations,” associations of its members organized in their country of residence. The Cuban Association of the Order was established in 1952 in Cuba. After 1959 its members went into exile and today it operates from Miami, Florida. The Cuban Association has three basic areas of operation: (i) in Cuba, it funds and operates through entities of the Catholic Church on the islands feeding and welfare programs for the needy elderly, (ii) in Miami it operates a neighborhood assistance center which provides medical, legal and other social services to undocumented aliens and (iii) it operates medical missions to Latin America. The Cuban Association has extensive experience in operating medical missions, and in this regard has a decade long relationship with ILAC, the Order’s co-sponsor for the proposed program, where the Cuban Association operates not less than two missions each year. Typically, the team consisted of four to ten doctors, an equal number of nurses and physicians assistants, and several non-medical personnel that help to distribute materials and medicines. All medicines are given free of charge. A typical mission which is conducted over a three-day weekend will serve between 700 and 1,200 patients resulting in approximately 2,000 patient visits amongst the different specialties and the distribution of medications exceeding $125,000 in value. ILAC maintains the patient records for each of the visits, thus permitting follow-up and a continuum of care for the patients. Targeting Mother and Child In respect of programs which focus on the needs of a mother and child, the following are noteworthy:
PROGRAM NAME
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COUNTRY |
DESCRIPTION
| AMAPES (Ayuda Maltesa Argentina para Erradicar el Sida) | Argentina | Launched in 2002, AMAPES is a joint project between the Order of Malta and the Argentine Directorate of Public Health aimed at reducing the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. The main aspects of the program include general administration and patient follow-up, testing, counseling, M&E, the supply of infant milk, the provision of financial and logistic support to the women enrolled and their babies, as well as other human and material resources that the public health system does not provide. AMAPES works with 5 hospitals in Buenos Aires, Avellaneda and Quilmes and has treated over 1,000 HIV+ pregnant women since its inception, achieving a success rate of >97%. | Hospital Municipal de Niños de San Justo | Argentina | Free of charge post-natal medical care for premature babies and those with high risk conditions, including underweight, pneumonia, diarrhea and HIV. The hospital's intensive care unit treats approximately 350 babies per year. It is the only hospital of the sort in La Matanza, one of the poorest and most populated areas in Argentina. | House of Friendship | Honduras | Five shelters for street children in Honduras. General medical and dental care services are also provided. |
ADM Feeding Program | Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haití, Honduras and Nicaragua | Food distribution program for poor communities in six Central American/Caribbean countries. Most of the food (donated by Archer Daniel Midland) is destined to mothers and children, as well as the elderly. 10-12 shipments (40' containers @ 80,000 pounds each) every year. The recipients are the Missionaries of Charity, and the official consignees and handlers of the food in country are local members of the Order of Malta. | Programas de Reencuentro Madre e Hijo | Chile | This program, which is currently managed at four hospitals in Santiago, aims at treating children with severe pulmonary diseases. Santiago is today the 8th most polluted city in the world and chronic respiratory problems currently represent 70% of all pediatric consultations. About 100 children who are critically dependant on oxygen are treated at any given time. The program provides a range of medical treatments for acute and chronic cases, and supplies mobile equipment enabling the children to live a normal live at home. It also provides transportation to and fro the hospitals for regular check-ups and treatment. | Barrio Palermo Sur & Barrio Lisboa | Colombia | In 2006, the Order of Malta started the construction and operation of two health centers in two of the most marginalized areas of Bogotá with a combined population of 80,000. The facilities offer family healthcare, as well as pediatrics, orthodontics, psychology and occupational therapy specially aimed at children. | Clínica de Familia MIR | Dominican Republic | Started in 1999 and located in La Romana, the clinic started the country's first program for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. The program currently serves all five provinces in the Eastern region of the Dom. Rep. and has been able to reduce the transmission rate of women enrolled to <3% (vs 15.1% for the country as a whole). | La Romana Family AIDS Clinic | Dominican Republic | Country's second largest center specializing in antiretroviral therapy for children and adults. The center is part of the Clínica MIR and provides free comprehensive care for over 1,000 HIV+ adults and children, including testing, ARV treatment, and ancillary services such as counseling, nutrition and micro-credits. |
Centro San Juan de Jerusalén | Ecuador | School and rehabilitation centre for handicapped children in Cuenca. The center cares for children with temporary and permanent disabilities. It provides therapy and comprehensive support to enable their full integration in society. 110 of the 350 children have varying types and degrees of disabilities. The center’s Annick Macqueron department has 54 professional staff (mostly psychologists and physical, occupational and language therapists) and is dedicated to detecting and correcting early disabilities. | Salva a un Niño del SIDA | Mexico | Launched in 2000, this program tackles the prevention of mother-child transmission of HIV/AIDS in partnership with three hospitals in Mexico City, Guadalajara and San Luis Potosí. It focuses on providing an integral package of care and treatment for mother and child that goes well beyond ARV medicines, and includes general health care, counseling, infant milk and financial support. 256 women have been treated to date (99% success rate), and 64 women currently enrolled. | Relief Program for Children with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) | Mexico | Treatment for children with ESRD. The program enables the children to continue their treatment once they are released from Mexico’s Hospital Infantil. Based on its regulations, the hospital cannot provide the bags of solution to continue the required peritoneal dialysis at home. 100 to 120 children per year are diagnosed with ESRD, 80% of which cannot enter a rehabilitation program due to their family’s limited financial resources. Consequently, the children die at home. The ESRD Program assures that these children receive the necessary treatment once they leave the hospital. The cost of the treatment amounts to US$ 950 per month per child. | Internado San Juan Bosco | Mexico | This school, in one of the poorest and most high-risk areas near Mexico City, provides primary education to 300 children At present, 90 students are boarded, 45 half-boarded and 165 day pupils; most of them come from difficult family situations or are orphans. To date, 2,000 children have graduated from the school, many of them to pursue secondary and academic studies. In addition to the requirements stipulated by the Mexican Education Ministry, the curriculum offers courses in English and computer science, among other technical classes. |
Nutritional and Social Welfare Program | Mexico | Nutritional program for marginalized communities. One of its main objectives is to help correct and prevent malnutrition in infants and children. This program, partially supported by the Federal Government, provides basic food packages at reduced prices to more than 54,000 families living in extreme poverty across seven states. The program also provides counseling and facilitates access to basic healthcare. Families contribute to the program by committing themselves to two hours of service per week, through self-improvement programs or community service. | CRUDEM | Haiti | Special feeding program for malnourished children at the Mission Sacre Coeur Hospital in Milot. Program also provides education in infant care for mothers and is instrumental in helping reduce Haiti's infant and maternal mortality rate. Operated in partnership with Project Hope. | Project Pierre Toussaint | Haiti | Program for street children of Cap Haitian. Includes a school and a residence. | Project Lifeline | Haiti | Medicine supply program in Cite Soleil, on the outskirts of Port Au Prince. Provides medicines for the children at the center run by the Daughters of Charity. The medicines will treat respiratory diseases, measles, diarrheal disease, malaria and malnutrition. 15,000 children are treated each year. In addition, the center provides job training for the children's mothers, and means of bettering their lives. | Clinica Divino Niño Jesus | Peru | Mother and child healthcare program servicing the poor communities living in and around the country's capital. The hospital is located in Lima and provides a wide range of basic gynecologic and pediatric care, caesarean sections and minor surgeries, laboratory services, nutrition advice, as well as nursery and other ancillary support services for women and their children. | Cristo Sana Medical Mission | Nicaragua | This annual medical mission from members of the Order of Malta in the US provides has been running for over 10 years and provides specialized medical care to poor communities in across the country. |
La presencia territorial de la Orden en América presenta diversos y diferentes ejemplos. El más interesante, por ser aquel que más afecta a la faceta soberana de la Orden, va ligado al nombre del Caballero francés De Poincy, quien había ingresado en las filas sanjuanistas en minoría de edad y se había distinguido por su efectividad como Recaudador del Priorato de Francia. Fue él quien en definitiva sentó las bases y en cierto modo aseguró el desarrollo de la presencia militense en el Caribe.
Parece conveniente ir por partes en la narración de lo acontecido. A partir de 1639 lo encontramos ya en las Antillas, donde actúa en nombre del Rey de Francia, en un momento en que la propia Francia, Inglaterra y Holanda trataban de instalar sus areas de influencia en aquella parte del Continente americano. En 1642, De Poincy había ya fundado diversos establecimientos bajo control francés en las islas de Santa Cruz, Martinica, Guadalupe y María Galante e incluso había consequido someter el foco bucanero de la isla Tortuga.
En conjunto, De Poincy llega a crear un pequeño sistema económico cuya viabilidad se ve negada por la falta de capital y por cuanto las deudas se acumulan hasta el punto de que es imposible hacer frente a los acreedores u obtener de ellos más moratorias. La compañía de «merchant adventurers» que lo había enviado se vió forzada a presentar solicitud de quiebra y es entonces cuando De Poincy consideró oportuno dirigirse a la Orden.
El momento en que el De Poincy escribe al Gran Maestre Lascaris proponiéndole que la Orden se establezca con las Indias Occidentales es precisamente cuando en éstas tiene lugar una minirevolución agrícola, econónica y social. Los portugueses han perdido sus factorías de esclavos en la costa de Africa en favor de los holandeses, y éstos deben enfrentarse al hecho de que no pueden vender su mercancía humana ni en Brasil ni en el Imperio español, lo que les fuerza a tratar de abrir nuevos mercados. Las Antillas se convierten en consecuencia en un adecuado punto de destino, si bien para crear la necesidad de mano de obra es oportuno reconvertir los cultivos en favor de la caña de azúcar y a su vez, para que esto sea posible, los tratantes de esclavos no dudan en financiar la reconversión agrícola.
La idea de establecerse en América no desagradó a la Orden, influyendo en su decisión la buena fama de la cual De Poincy venía gozando así como sus poderosos parentescos. El tema es estudiado por el tesorero de la lengua de Francia, Charles Hualt De Montmagni, quien debe desplazarse a la isla de San Cristóbal.
Como resultado de los informes de unos y otros, la Orden gestiona ante el Rey de Francia la cesión de las islas de Martinica y Guadalupe, objetivo excesivamente ambicioso que deberá ser rectificado. Así, el acuerdo que se firma en 1653 comprende «todos los derechos de señorío,
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