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The wide smiles of children showing their healthy teeth make the world a brighter place More
A Teacher who creates a PE Environment for All, Not Just for “Sport Elites” Hyein Kelly Cho, World Friends Korea Volunteer from KOICA in Rwanda More
The Science Teacher: Adding Creativity to Science Education and Leading Rwanda’s Vision 2020 Ms. Bae Kyung-mi, a World Friends Korea Volunteer from KOICA More
Where Teachers are Trained to Become Better Teachers Rwanda TVET Trainer Institute (RTTI) More

Practicing medicine in the frontier of Jordan, Kim Jong-ik, KOICA Global Doctor in Jordan

Practicing medicine in the frontier of Jordan, Kim Jong-ik, KOICA Global Doctor in Jordan

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Beautiple KOICAPracticing medicine in the frontier of JordanKim Jong-ik, KOICA Global Doctor in JordanA boy who used take refuge from the heat of summer in his father's air-conditioned office and grew up observing the warm care and concern that his father had for his patients. That boy, now a doctor with a warm heart himself, is currently spreading the warmth that he once learned from his father to every corner of the world.A boy who became a doctor with a good heartIn the boiling heat of summer, the only place where the boy could enjoy the cool breeze generated by an air-conditioner was his father's office, where he consulted patients as a doctor of traditional Korean medicine. Looking at my father listening to the patients' stories and giving them treatment, I thought to myself that being a doctor was good occupation, one that is about listening to the pain of other people, and helping them heal. After that, I did not really think about any other occupation. I naturally chose to become a doctor. After becoming a surgeon, KOICA Global Doctor Kim Jong-ik worked at the Busan Paik Hospital, the Cleveland Clinic in Florida, USA, and the department of surgery in a hospital located in Busan. From 2012, he also worked as a surgeon at the Korea Hospital located in the US air force base in Bagram, Afghanistan, for two years.The Bagram Korea Hospital is a medical institution founded as part of the health and medical project initiated by the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Afghanistan. It is supported directly by KOICA, and operated by the Inje University Academia-Industry Association in collaboration with Paik Hospital. For 7 years since 2008, Korean medical professionals, US volunteer medical professionals, and Afghanistan medical professionals jointly treated 230,000 Afghan residents, and performed around 2,000 surgeries. The team of medical professionals provided medical services of the highest quality in this country, whose medical infrastructure had collapsed. Although the project has been completed, KOICA Global Doctor Kim Jong-ik developed a personal interest in KOICA's projects and health and medical policies, which led him to providing his services as a KOICA Global Doctor.Becoming the family doctor of patients in every developing countryKOICA's Global Doctor program commenced in 2016 as one of KOICA's international development projects whose aim is to improve the health and medical conditions in developing countries. KOICA Global Doctor Kim Jong-ik, who was dispatched to Jordan in August 2017, is currently working at the Muath Ben Jabal Hospital, one of the two hospitals affiliated to the Department of Health, located in Israel's border area, North Shuna.In fact, Jordan belongs to a select group of countries with an advanced medical infrastructure, having the highest level of medical professionals in the Middle East. In addition, the rate of national health insurance coverage is very high, which means that a lot of people benefit from the medical services. However, most of the medical infrastructure is concentrated in the capital area in Amman. Furthermore, the majority of people covered by the national health insurance service is also known to be soldiers, the police, and public servants. For these reasons, it is hard for those who live in the border areas, where there is no established medical infrastructure, or those who are not covered by medical insurance services to get their feet in the door of the medical institutions in Jordan.In this regard, in 2007, KOICA established an outpatient clinic in the northern region of Shuna which used to be one of the medical service blind spots, and donated the clinic. This is the clinic where KOICA Global Doctor Kim Jong-ik is currently working. The hospital has a range of medical departments, including internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, and gynecology. It is a secondary medical care institution that can perform emergency surgeries as well as hospitalization services. The clinic is providing quality medical services to Joran residents who used to be excluded of healthcare services.Since his official designation, Doctor Kim Jong-ik has made efforts to improve the medical system, including medical environment, consultation behaviors, surgery systems, and so on, also improving the consultation environment through dialogue with the Joran medical professionals who were used to older system. In addition, the doctor is continuing his medical practice by changing his conventional consultation methods to suit the local situation of Jordan. He also launched a proctological surgery clinic and has been trying his best to enhance the abilities of the local medical professionals, participating in their patient consultations and surgeries to give advice. Magical collaborative medical consultation service in South Al-TwalIn last April, KOICA Global Doctor Kim Jong-ik participated in a large-scale collaborative medical consultation service in Jordan. Free medical consultations were offered to the local residents of South Al-Twal, an impoverished agricultural region 40km away from Dead Sea in Jordan. The collaborative medical project was designed to educate the local adult population on the severity of non-contagious diseases (NCD), such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and others, by measuring their blood pressures, blood sugar levels, and degrees of obesity.The medical consultation service was initiated as part of the collaborative medical consultation service organized by the South Al-Twal Health Center, which was recently expanded through the Project for the Construction of Health Centers in Three Jordan Regions.It was a meaningful event where the entirety of the volunteer workers operating under the support of the KOICA Office in Jordan joined forces together. During the consultation sessions, the prescription of antibiotics was minimized, and vitamins and iron supplements were distributed to the local residents for free.Educational flyers that can be easily understood even by local residents who cannot read were created to give practical help and improve their health condition. Global Doctor Kim Jong-ik recalled the day saying, It was a magical day when all of the KOICA workers turned into skilled nurses and pharmacists. He expressed his gratitude to everyone, commenting that the program would not have been possible without the proactive help and thorough preparation of the volunteers.When asked about the force that drives him to continue his work as a KOICA Global Doctor despite the poor working conditions in a country far away from home, the doctor said that there was a time when he had deep doubt about what he could do in Jordan. However, seeing patients who lived in medically marginalized environments travel a long way for a consultation, as well as the efforts of fellow KOICA volunteers who share the same motivation as him, reminded him of his role in the country. These days, I have been thinking that I should spend the short reminder of my surgeon life in a place where my presence is needed. That way, I will not have any regrets. Prayers and support from my mother in Korea and my family in Australia give me a lot of strength. Doctor Kim Jong-ik said that he is still holding firmly to the teachings of his father, who told him to help those who helped him. To this day, the doctor is saving lives in countries far away from home.Written by Nam Jiyeon ∥ Photos by Kim Jong-ik

The assessment results of “Training program to Improve Maternal and Child Healthcare in Volta”

The assessment results of “Training program to Improve Maternal and Child Healthcare in Volta”

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KOICA InforgraphicsDeveloping countries are experiencing a lack of skilled health workers.Could unskilled health workers really save children s lives? The assessment results of Training program to Improve Maternal and Child Healthcare in Volta Handwashing is the most basic and effective way to prevent diarrhea. Simply installing mosquito nets treated with an insecticide can prevent malaria.Following the smallest health rules, such as participating in educational programs for health management could prevent diarrhea and malaria, saving precious lives of children in developing countries. For this purpose, the unskilled health workers known as Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) visited each household in the region to educate the local population about this information. But how effective was the CHV program?First of all, we investigated the impact that the Health and hygiene education and programs for the local community had on the general health-related practices and behavior of the local community, such as the handwashing habits of mothers and carers, and the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets.The CHVs visited each family in their homes to educate them on handwashing, the use of mosquito nets when sleeping, and participation in educational programs. Then, it was recorded how well the families practiced the instructions given out by the CHVs.※ Sources: Ma Y, Sudfeld CR, Kim H, Lee J, Cho Y, Awoonor-Williams JK, et al. (2019) Evaluating the impact of community health volunteer home visits on child diarrhea and fever in the Volta Region, Ghana: A cluster-randomized controlled trial. PLoS Med 16(6): e1002830. https://doi.org/10.1371/ journal.pmed.1002830

Healthcare Improvement Project for Mothers and Children in Volta, Ghana

Healthcare Improvement Project for Mothers and Children in Volta, Ghana

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about KOICADiscovering a clue to saving precious lives of children across the worldHealthcare Improvement Project for Mothers and Children in Volta, GhanaAccording to a report published by The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Bank, approximately 5.6 million children under five passed away in 2016 alone. While the most common cause of child death was complications associated with premature delivery, it is worth noting that contagious diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria accounted for a large proportion of the deaths. In addition, malnutrition was also estimated to be an indirect cause of more than half of child deaths. A large gap in the distribution of child death was observed across different regions. According to last year's WHO report, more than half of the deaths of children under five occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa and one third occurred in Southern Asia. In addition, child mortality in agricultural areas was 50% higher than in urban areas. The report pointed out that the situation that children are currently facing can be changed by simple acts that do not require a significant investment, such as exclusive breast-feeding, and washing hands at appropriate times, among others.According to Cha Seung-man (affiliated with the London School of Hygiene Tropical Medicine), who conducted the research as KOICA's health specialist at the time, more than 95% of the cases of child mortality in the world are concentrated in 81 countries, and the main causes of death are the diseases that can be easily prevented or cured, such as the previously mentioned pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria. The same pattern appears for maternal death. Maternal death refers to deaths related to pregnancy or conditions before or after childbirth. Providing a sufficient number of health workers such as doctors, nurses, and maternity nurses is one of the most effective ways of reducing child mortality and maternal mortality. However, this particular group of workers, classified as top-quality health workers, is in shortage globally by more than 700,000.Although the vast majority of child and maternal mortality occurs in underdeveloped agricultural areas, top-quality health workers, commonly represented by doctors, nurses, and maternity nurses, mainly prefer to work in urban areas. Even in the cases where the governments dispatch health workers to underdeveloped apicultural areas, the short operation period is being increasingly recognized as a major problem. Most of all, training and developing this group of highly skilled health workers requires a lot of time and a tremendous amount of money. However, developing specialized medical and health workers is not the only solution to the problem. Even general hospitals at the level of cities or boroughs experience a lack of high-level medical workers who can provide specialized medical services for serious illnesses whose treatment presents a high level of difficulty. However, diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria, that often cause the death of children can be cured through simple methods.The program introduced to solve this problem is the Community Health Volunteer (CHV) program. It involves selecting members of the community to receive training on basic health knowledge and practice for several of months. This would enable them to act as the first point of reference for the health issues of local residents.For example, a fast diagnostic kit for malaria could be given to the volunteers so that they can use it on the local residents, especially on children, whenever they have a fever. This would help them identify malaria infections promptly, so that the patient can go to the local health center (health center branch) for further diagnosis and treatment.The idea caused a huge uproar. There was an intense debate between the side which saw it as an innovative solution to the child mortality rate, and the side that worried that this would cause deterioration in the quality of medical service. In the situation, the Ghana government, which was concerned with the severe child mortality rate, decided to do a large-scale experiment in collaboration with KOICA.The government decided to introduce the CHV program in the area that had the highest rate of child mortality to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program. Scientific assessment methods were applied to verify the effectiveness of the program and so began the Healthcare Improvement Project for Mothers and Children in Volta, jointly led by KOICA and the Health Protection Agency in Ghana in 2013.First of all, local residents who could read and write and are willing to volunteer in the program were selected. The Community Volunteer Vitalization Program was run by allocating 40 households for each volunteer to visit. The volunteers were instructed to run the fast malaria diagnostic kit if a child under five was observed to have a fever. If the result was positive, the volunteers were to refer the child to the local health center where the diagnosis could be confirmed and chemical treatments could be provided. In addition, the volunteers were instructed to visit the allocated families at least once a month to deliver Ten Key Messages that contain educational information related to health and hygiene practices, such as disease prevention and treatment methods. The key messages regard very basic health and hygiene practices such as washing hands, breast-feeding, installing mosquito nets before sleeping, and so on. Although they are relatively simple, the instructions were crucial enough that simply following them would save children's lives.In addition to these activities, medical and sanitary aids, as well as other necessary supplies, were provided to the local health center to reinforce the local healthcare capacity. An educational program to enhance maternal and child healthcare was provided as well. Furthermore, a maternal nurse training school and a maternal nurse training course were founded to develop maternal nurses, who are classified as high-quality medical workers.The program led to very interesting outcomes. According to the assessment of the effectiveness of the CHV program, the local residents who lived in the area where the volunteers operated washed their hands 39% more than other areas where the volunteers did not operate, and used insecticide-treated mosquito nets 6% more. In the pilot area, the frequency of diarrhea in children under five decreased significantly from 17.8% to 7.1%. In particular, if a program volunteer visited more than 70% of the families with a child under five, and stayed with the families for more than 30 minutes on average to give consultation, the rate of diarrhea, and the rate of malaria were lower than that of the control group by 77% and 31%, respectively.This project led by KOICA has a greater implication than a simple health and medical activity in a developing country, as the project was designed to provide evidence on the effectiveness of this project in a scientific way. It is also meaningful that the research data was analyzed and presented. The research outcome can provide an important basis to judge the significance of the project, based on which, a policy recommendation could be made.The project offers positive evidence for the preventive effects that unskilled health workers can have on child health in a scientific way. It is meaningful in that it suggests the possibility of improving child health in developing countries that are experiencing a severe lack of specialized medical and health workers, without large-scale investments. The assessment of the project shows that utilizing unskilled health workers based on the local community to alleviate the lack of health professionals in a developing country can have a positive effect on improving the health of the beneficiaries. The outcome of this project was also introduced in the international journal PLOS Medicine, and the result will be used as an important supporting document for similar projects in the international community.More than 95% of the global deaths of children under five are concentrated in 81 countries, caused by diseases that can be easily prevented and cured through the implementation of basic health and hygiene practices, along with simple diagnosis and treatments techniques. A giant step toward saving previous lives that should see the world with an innocent smile, without any pain, is being taken in Ghana, Africa.Written by Nam Jiyeon ∥ Photos by KOICA

Cows that grow up never knowing hunger, become the happiness of the people of Bolivia

Cows that grow up never knowing hunger, become the happiness of the people of Bolivia

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KOICA Photo-essayGrass that grows each and every day, even during the dry season when not a drop of rain fallsAnd cows that grow up never knowing hunger, become the happiness of the people of Bolivia South of the Amazon River near the border of Brazil, Bolivia s northeastern department, Beni, spans an area twice as large as South Korea, however the living conditions in Beni are poor with insufficient electricity, poor water supply systems, dodgy road ways, and generally weak infrastructure outside the urban areas.The primary industries, such as livestock, agriculture, and fishing industries, are the main industries in Beni, with 55% of the territory being used for agriculture and livestock. Among these industries, livestock takes up the largest portion.The department of Beni is the second largest livestock producer in Bolivia, and around 30% of the cows raised in Bolivia, based on the head count, come from here. Since the cows are put out to pasture, the industry is influenced significantly by the natural climate.The most dangerous period is the dry season from April to June. Around 75% of Beni is influenced by tropical rain forest climates with an average annual temperature of over 35 degrees. During the wet season which starts in January and ends in March, there is abundant water thanks to overflowing rivers and so on. During the dry season, on the other hand, there is a lack of water for agriculture, preventing traditional species of flora from growing at a normal pace. There are also other problems such as poor irrigation facilities for water supply, sewage, and draining systems. Due to these conditions, it has been necessary to produce a new strain of plant, different from the indigenous species, which can grow well even during the dry season in order to produce feed at a high volume.Accordingly, starting in 2017, Park In-sun, a World Friends Korea Volunteer from Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) was dispatched to a livestock research facility affiliated with a university in Beni to develop a new strain of feed that can be grown in the dry seasons. Over a period of four months starting in January, Park executed an on-site project entitled, Efficiency and Stability Improvement of Operations of Livestock Feed Component Analysis Laboratory. In Beni, laboratory facilities, and human resources specialized in analysis of livestock feed were established through the project. Later, training and consulting were offered to locals working in the livestock industry to improve their evaluation of the quality of feed, its preservation, methods for growing indigenous feeds, and analysis of the feed quality and nutritional value through the utilization of the results of laboratory nutritional analysis.In addition, a practice field of 2,000 square meters was created. Currently, 40 species of meadow plants, 30 species of rice crops, 3 species of beans, and 5 species of imported plants are growing in the field.As a result, the number of laboratory visitors increased to 50 people per month, and the area is becoming the hub for livestock research facilities in Beni.In the future, Korean researchers specialized in the field will be dispatched to Bolivia in order to continue the effort to cultivate local human resources through further training. Not only that, the team will continue to help improve the quality of education at Bolivian universities in the fields of agriculture and livestock, continuing research in the development of a new strain of crop and agricultural machinery that can contribute to improving food security in Bolivia.Written by Nam Jiyeon ∥ Photos by KOICA

How Are Natural Environments of the World Being Used and Conserved?

How Are Natural Environments of the World Being Used and Conserved?

KOICA InforgraphicsHow Are Natural Environments of the World Being Used and Conserved?Industry and The World s Environments Through StatisticsClean and pristine environments, such as forests overgrowing with lush verdant trees and green prairies are an invaluable gift from nature that humans need to protect and preserve. By using the natural environment in appropriate ways, we can enrich our lives; however, many countries have taken advantage of the natural environment recklessly in order to achieve urbanization.What kind of effort should we put forth to coexist with nature? Let us first look at statistics showing current uses of the environment around the world.※ Source: The World Bank, 2018※ Source: Statistics Korea, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, The World Bank, 2018※ Note: These statistics do not include the countries with a national urbanization rate of 100%(Hong Kong, Kuwait, Macao, Singapore, Bermuda, Anguilla, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Vatican City, and Monaco).※ Source: UN, 2018※ Source: Statistics Korea FAO, 2018※ Source: The World Bank, 2018

Sustainable Development through Quality Education

Sustainable Development through Quality Education

KOICA InforgraphicsTeaching How to Fish Rather Than Giving a FishSustainable Development through Quality Education Education is about teaching and learning everything a human has to know to live their life. We make decisions in life based on what we have learned. Education is responsible for developing not only individuals but the society as a whole.This is why KOICA is making efforts to enhance the right to education by improving education systems in developing countries with an aim to achieve Inclusive Development through Quality Education. KOICA is supporting various programs to ensure quality education for better learning outcomes, inclusive education for the vulnerable group, and vocational education for fostering future talents. Major Projects in EducationThe proportion of Education Projects out of the All Projects of KOICAThe Top 10 Countries with the largest support in Education Education Projects by Type(Unit: KRW 1 million)