It’s been a busy month for us at MSP, with our clinical and awareness programs reaching over 644 clients – a third of which were under 24 years old.
Below is a snapshot of some of our activities, but first a big thanks to the Corona club for donating children’s books for our reception area – as you can see they have already been put to good use – and to BSP for a donation of sulus and tee shirts for our clients and clinical team.
On the right track!
MSP was recently audited by Ernst & Young (engaged by the Delegation of the European Union for the Pacific) and passed with flying colours.
The assessment was designed to determine the strengths and weaknesses of MSP’s financial management and reporting system as a beneficiary of European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) in Fiji funding, and the audit report deemed MSP to be low risk.
Effective outreach
Introducing dental hygiene awareness
Our lovely Community Awareness Officer, Ima, has been working with a giant set of dentures! She has been incorporating dental hygiene awareness into MSP’s community outreach health sessions, following specialist in-house training by Colgate Palmolive who is also providing courtesy toothbrush gift packs to benefit our clients.
Serving our Muslim community
Following International Women’s Day, the Fiji Muslim Women’s League scheduled our clinical team to visit their branches to provide health care services to women in the Central Division. These sessions have included reproductive health care, family planning, gender based violence and human rights, and oral health for women from 19 up to 81 years old. The League has shown appreciation of the services delivered and one client told the team: “We are lucky that we have the chance to come in and take part in this. It is indeed a good program.”
Youth Outreach
We were invited to set up an information booth at a Community Sports Day organized by Homes of Hope (HOH) at the Latter Day Saints School in Wailoku, Tamavua. MSP’s awareness session informed approximately 200 young people on how to access MSP’s services, and was also an opportunity to strengthen partnership working with HOH.
Caring for the elderly
MSP was invited by the Director of Fiji Council of Social Services to carry out awareness related to blood pressure and the health of the elderly at Father Law Home, Wailekutu.
The team gave a presentation that included the importance of healthy living and exercise, and also trained the care givers on how to check the residents’ blood pressure.
Registration now open for youth workshop on 6 & 7 June
And finally, in partnership with Aspire Network, we are busy organizing the second workshop in the series ‘Engaging Youth in Child Protection & Women’s Empowerment to End Violence against Women & Girls.’
Aimed at Western Division young people, this 1.5 day participatory workshop will take place at the Tanoa Hotel in Lautoka on 6 & 7 June 2013, following the success of the first workshop held at the Tanoa Plaza, Suva, in March, opened by the Minister of Health, Dr Neil Sharma.
The workshops are sponsored by the British High Commission and the European Union to engage and empower youth around key issues such as child protection, human rights and universal access to reproductive health care.
The Lautoka workshop will cover a variety of topics and interactive sessions related to child protection and ending violence against women and girls (VAWG), to stimulate discussion and empower young people to play a major role in recognising and responding to children and youth at risk in Fiji.
For further details or to register, contact Ms Kaajal Kumar, Executive Director of Aspire Network, at [email protected]
