• Ranked as one of the world´s poorest countries •
Large-scale destruction after nearly 25 years of war and civil unrest
• Lack of job possibilities (unemployment rate is almost 90 percent)
• Severe drought for the past few years has severely affected the
economy • Every forth woman is a widow • High infant
mortality rate; 14 out of 100 children die within their first year •
Average life expectancy at birth is 47 years • Literacy rate is
15 percent • Poor public transport and communication facilities
• No public health system, scarcity of skilled medical personel
• One third of the population (ca. 7 million people) has fled the
country; massive brain drain
2. The Hospital
• started in 1989 as a first aid centre; functions as a hospital
since 1993/94
• has catered to 500,000 patients since 1994, 70 percent of them
being women and children
• is the only hospital in the province of Wardak (c. 65 km southwest
of Kabul), providing health care to a population of 400,000 people
• functions as a regional vaccination centre of UNICEF; conducts
up to 80,000 vaccinations per year
• is equipped with 60 beds, 40 of them reserved for women and children
• has full technical equipment (surgery, x-ray, ultrasound, ECG,
physiotherapy)
• employs 5 general MD's plus 2 surgeons and 2 female gynacologists,
five nurses, three males nurses, fourteen medical assistants, thirty-four
otherstaff members
• has 25 percent women on its medical staff
• runs a Medical Training Centre for Women
• focuses on providing health care and medical relief to women and
children especially
• caters to up to 6,000 patients per month
• Focuses on preventive health education, hygiene, vaccination and
health instruction
• is run by Afghan staff who are deeply committed to the hospital´s
objectives
• is supervised by German Karla Schefter, a former operation theatre
nurse, who since 1989 spends nine months a year in Chak. She is the only
European staff member
• is a model institution of medical and humanitarian aid.
• small and efficient project • strict and accurate rendering
of accounts • effective control through the nearly continuous
presence of Karla Schefter • minimum administrative costs due
to the exclusively voluntary work of the supporting committee
•
financed through private donations (90 percent), and supported by the German
Ministery of the Exterior, the Embassy of Germany in Kabul, Päpstliches
Kindermissionswerk (Christmas Carol Singers), and various corporate enterprises
• very small budget (U$ 670,000 for a staff of 63 people)
5. The Comittee (CPHA)
• founded in 1993 at the initiative of Karla Schefter •
focuses on the Chak-e Wardak project only
• is registered as a nonprofit, tax exempt charitable organization
• seeks to provide humanitarian and medical aid to the Afghan population
irrespective of gender, ethnic origin and religious, ethical or political
affiliation.
6. Problems encountered
• economic chaos, security hazards • lack of instrastructure,
transport and communication • lack of trained medical personnel
• decline in official funding
• decline
in private donations after 2002
• no offical support from the
Afghan government • general poverty of the Afghan population
• hospital depends almost entirely on foreign financial assistance
7. Our Aims and Objectives
• to continue providing health care and relief to a destitute Afghan
population, especially women and children
• to train medical staff,
especially women
• to help in the repatriation of refugees
• to improve collaboration with government and nongovernmental organizations
as well as UN, WHO, UNICEF, WFP and ICRC
• to consolidate the
hospital's financial situation by raising more private donations and increasing
the number of sponsorships
• to supplement and improve the hospital's
medical facilities, to improve working conditions at and general access
to the hospital
• to hand over the hospital to Afghan management
in the long run
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