Running 780km(500M) to fund a medical van in the Philipinnes

Elena Lopez, medical doctor and ultra runner, (known as @elenainthealps) who has several records to her name including the Fastest Known time for the Via Alpina in Switzerland 404km, is going to be running el Camino de Santiago , 780 km +12.000m, trying to beat the female self supported world record and raise funds for NGITI biggest project so far: a medical van.

About Ngiti:

Ngiti is a non-profit organization founded in 2017 by Noemie Schiever to improve children’s access to health and education in the city of Bogo and the surrounding rural areas, on the island of Cebu in the Philippines. Over the years, we’ve built 17 classrooms, provided school supplies, and supported pediatric health initiatives — always with one focus in mind: giving every child a fair chance to thrive. You can learn more about our work at www.ngiti.org.

Today, we are reaching out to seek support for our latest and most ambitious project yet: a mobile medical clinic that will bring essential healthcare directly to more than 12,000 children living in isolated villages around Bogo. While these children are enrolled in school, most do not have access to basic medical or dental care due to the absence of nearby facilities and the prohibitive cost of transportation to the city hospital.

NGITI seeks to achieve quality, respectful and equitable care for every child in the Bogo region, as many children can’t afford to go to the regular checkups at hospital, the regional hospital unit or other medical clinic. We plan to purchase a medical vehicle which will be used to regularly go to each remote village in the Bogo region. We will conduct a health program with the department of public health of Bogo and department of education to provide direct medical and dental checkups to the children in the different baranguays of Bogo.

Objectives:

1. Reach children with low income and from far away villages with no means of transport to primary medical provider

2. Reduce Dental/Medical Health Issues: Address common dental/medical problems through preventive measures and treatments, focusing especially on malnutrition

3. Increase Access to Dental/Medical Care: Deliver mobile dental/medical services to help ensure that students receive timely dental/medical check-ups and treatments

4. Enhance Oral Health Education: Promote awareness of oral hygiene practices among students.

The region of Bogo, located on the island of Cebu in the Philippines has a single large city, named Bogo City, where the main hospital of the region is located. However, there are many smaller towns and villages (around 25), many of which do not have adequate medical facilities especially for young children. There are approximately 12.000 children in the rural region around Bogo, with little or no access to even basic healthcare, out of which 20% suffer from malnutrition, including 5% from severe malnutrition; and 15% with small height for their age. In addition to the issues caused by malnutrition, many of these children suffer from easily preventable diseases, such as common skin infection or dental cavities. Such diseases are unfortunately often only treated when the child’s condition has worsened severely, which leads to serious consequences.

Description of the project:

Our aim is to go directly to the different villages with an underserved population to provide medical checkups for the children. We aim to create a mobile medical clinic (more precisely it consists of a four-wheels vehicle with medical equipment & electricity supply) that will be loaded with the necessary equipment to provide primary care checkups and dental checkups. The medical vehicle will be initially used 2 times a week; and we aim to reach 23 schools in the Bogo region in total; therefore going approximately to each school 4 times per year.

An estimation of the cost of the project was done by our local partners in Bogo. We estimate that the vehicle purchase and its customization to fit our medical purpose will cost approximately 50.000 €. In addition, the cost of the dental equipment will be roughly 10.000 € and the other medical equipment 8000 €. Therefore, the total cost of this project is estimated to be 68.000 €. We have already raised 40 000 for this project.

We plan to finish our search for funding by September 2025. The purchase of the vehicle and its customization (including installation of the dental & medical equipment) is expected to take roughly 2 months. Once it is done, the medical team will be able to start working. Therefore, we expect the project to effectively start by November 2025.

Agreement with the DePed department:

Ngiti will only purchase the vehicle and long lasting medical equipment.

The department of education and public health will provide the doctors, nurses & dentist (and

their salaries). They will purchase the consumable medical and dental material and pay for the gas for the vehicle.

Impact measurement of the project

Every week, the doctors and nurses will provide the details of the number of children that were checked-up, the diseases we addressed, the children we need to follow-up and those included in the malnutrition program.

The children affected with malnutrition will be included in the 200 days feeding program and

follow up regularly 4 times/ year in coordination with the teacher. We will then compare the % of

malnutrition in children two years after the beginning of the program against the current situation.

Future extension of the project and sustainability on long term

The diseases we will focus on addressing may change over time depending on the current

health situation of the children and the assessment of the health team.

Ngiti will provide the medical material needed, and the department of education ensures that they will provide the doctors and consumable material.

Impact

- Number of schools that the van will go to: 23 schools

- 2 schools per week -> 4 times/ year per school

- Number of pediatric checkups: 50-100 per day

- Number of dental checkups: 20-40 per day

- T arget grade level = grade 1-6 (5 to 12 years old children)

People responsible of this project :

- Dr Noemie Schiever (Paediatrician and President of Ngiti)

- Arnaud Delamare (Director of projects of Ngiti)

- Recto T oring (Responsible of project in Bogo for Ngiti)

- Dr Renegalo Palay (City Health Officer (CHO)

- Deped and health center: Doctor, nurse and dentist

- Nidhi Rao (Pediatrician in the UK advising on the project)