TRANO NY RENY (the mother’s house) - Integrated social and health program for young women in need in the city of Ambanja

Improve the living conditions of women and newborn babies in vulnerable situations through integrated social and health services with quality medical exams pre and post birth, a listening center with psychological and legal support, social inclusion, cultural activities, computer literacy courses and academic remedial courses.

The project is implemented in Ambanja, a city in the north of Madagascar, a country where 70% of the population lives below the poverty line. Ambanja has slightly higher economic indicators than the rest of the country thanks to the cultivation of cocoa, spices and especially vanilla, an activity that attracts workers from the south of the country. This migration is responsible for the strong demographic increase that has subverted the social structure of the region. The family, which used to be predominantly patriarchal, is increasingly made up of mother and children. There is a high school drop-out rate, with increasing child labour and prostitution. This is reflected in maternal and child health, which is in a very critical situation, as shown by the data obtained from the PANDA telemedicine project (prenatal visits), active in the region since 2015. The data collected highlight the need to complement the health service with post-natal visits and integrate it with social services to support certain particularly vulnerable conditions. The project is funded by the Waldensian Church of Italy (Otto per Mille).

The PANDA telemedicine programme was activated at the dispensary of the public hospital in Ambanja. A training course on maternal health was offered to doctors, midwives and nurses. The course included training on the use of the PANDA system. 
1.050 Pre- and post-natal visits to the Ambanja public hospital dispensary using the PANDA telemedicine system. Three courses have been activated:
The first course provides psychiatric support for clinical staff, the general theme of the course is mental distress. Among the topics covered:

• Epidemiological data on mental illness, both general and specifically Malagasy;
• Main psychiatric pathologies (Psychosis, Depression and Bipolar Disorders, Epilepsy, Alcoholism and drug use disorders).

The second course concerns the training of psycho-educational staff, the main topic is Psychological-Socio-educational Support in the Care of Women and Children Victims of Violence. A strong interaction with the trainees is foreseen in order to adapt the topics to the Malagasy culture and tradition of care.

Third course is a  computer literacy course.