Archive for category Kosovo
In Kosovo, with the Italian Peacekeeping Force
Posted by Eugenio La Mesa in Kosovo, Leukemia, Projects on November 17th, 2009
By Lawrence Faulkner
I returned to Kosovo after more than three months. This time I’m with Roberto Valerio, a Cure2Children board member, Miriam Davidovich-Befani, President SOS Infanzia in the World, and Veronica Brandinu, a professional nurse from the Pediatric Onco-Haematology Department of the Gemelli Hospital in Rome.
Miriam organized for us to stay at the Villaggio Italia, were we arrived on Saturday 24th October on a civilian flight which made a stopover in Tirana, the Italian CIMIC (Civilian-Military Cooperation) kindly came to pick us up at Prishtina airport and took us to the Villaggio Italia, near Pec. A little over an hour on a road under construction, by 2014 Pristina and Pec should be linked by a 4 lane highway.
Sunday we rested. On Monday morning Dr. Ergyl Gafur, Department of Paediatrics of the Pec Hospital, joins us and we arrive in Prishtina around 9:30am. Waiting for us there are 20 or so families as well as our local coordinator Leonora Bajraktari and our data manager Gresa Abrashi.
We were very happy to see all the children with leukemia that we have followed since their diagnosis, the first children ever treated solely in Kosovo, they are doing well and their mothers seem serene. Leonora has done a great job following all these families and making sure that they lacked none of the necessities. We even saw some of the children with onco-haematologic problems which were initially treated in neighbouring countries such as Albania or Macedonia, others have been referred by the Italian peace-keeping force.
At the end of the day we discussed future programs with the medical department and the local associations. We explored the possibility of supporting CMIC to set up a core laboratory that would make Kosovo independent in the diagnosis of leukemia and other diseases with their responsible, Lieutenant Colonel Tedeschi.
We’d like to thank everyone and in particular Lieutenant Carmelo Chiolo for his kindness and availability.
My journey in Kosovo
Posted by Luigi Clemente in Kosovo, Leukemia, Testimonials on May 26th, 2009
by Veronica Brandinu
It was proposed to me by Professor Riccardi, the Director of our Department, to take a couple of days leave and head for Pristina in Kosovo, and to go to the city hospital and get to know and help the nurses in the pediatric onco-hematology department.
I accepted with great enthusiasm, and having already had an experience abroad I know that these opportunities are enriching both professionally and personally.
On our first day, before going to hospital I had the pleasure to meet Leonora, the mother of a young patient treated in Italy in my department, who in the local association has several responsibilities, one of which is cultural mediator between us and the staff. A woman with great patience, during our few days stay in Pristina, she was dedicated to us, even in her free time taking us around the city.
The hospital is divided into pavilions, the impact of pediatics is destabilizing, moving from the 1st floor of the department of general pediatrics, which is dilapidated, to the 4th floor of pediatric onco-hematology which has been completely renovated, thanks to a donation. You have the impression of not being in the same place, however, as you are separated from each reality only by the stairs.
When I entered the ward, I was greeted by some of my ex patients from Kosovo treated in our division in Italy, who are now out of therapy, and who go to Pristina for routine checks. This is a further assurance that our work can and should work. Read the rest of this entry »
Kosovo: the new agenda
Posted by Luigi Clemente in Kosovo, Photos on May 8th, 2009
Stefania Peppicelli (member Cure2Children), Veronica Brandinu (paediatric nurse onco-haematology Policlinico Gemelli, Rome) and I, arrived in Pristina on the evening of April 22. We left from Fiumicino airport in Rome and arrived in Tirana, Albania. The next morning we met with Leonora (local coordinator of the support program for families), and were given an update on each of the patients, as we walked from the Hotel Baci to the Pristina Hospital, as it was not so far away.
Bardhyl and the rest of the staff welcomed us very warmly and we prepared an agenda for the next two days. There were many issues to be addressed: drug delivery and customs clearance, meeting with the local parents association, planning future actions, meeting with nurses to debate on central venous catheters, meeting with medical staff to discuss the management of possible relapses and the role of bone marrow transplants in leukemia. Then there are the procedures to be done and patients to discuss. Read the rest of this entry »
Kosovo: Targeted Assistance
Posted by Luigi Clemente in Kosovo, Leukemia on February 9th, 2009
C2C is supporting the cure of four children with leukemia at the recently renovated pediatric onco-hematology unit of Prishtina. Mrs Leonora Bajraktari our local coordinator, herself the mother of a girl with leukemia treated in Italy at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome, is providing logistic and financial help to these families as well as precious advice and psychological support in coordination with pediatric onco-hematologists following the children in Prishtina. All children are doing well so far, the forth one was just diagnosed and should start treatment this week.
Drugs and other medical supplies covering the needs of these children are being provided by C2C with the support of the Italian peace-keeping civilian-military cooperation task force (CI.MI.C)
The inauguration of the new pediatric onco-hematology ward at Prishtina University Hospital on Friday December 5, is a lucky coincidence that further increases the potential of this cooperation.