The Amoddou medical caravan

The project involves travelling to different villages to provide consultations, care and training to isolated populations. The approach is based on a light infrastructure that is easily transportable and adaptable to different environments, enabling it to be set up quickly. The teams have all the medical and logistical equipment they need to be autonomous throughout each mission.

The first travelling medical caravan organised by Amoddou took place in Morocco in 2017. It travelled through the Dades Valley, in the heart of the Atlas Mountains, with a team of nine carers, treating more than 860 people in 10 days.

©Amoddou - The Amoddou team in Morocco

A second project in guinea

The second medical caravan took place from 6 to 21 May 2022 in Guinea, in the isolated regions of Sabadou Baranama and Boula. The 730km West-East crossing of Guinea was particularly demanding for the Amoddou team, as the roads were in particularly poor condition, necessitating an initial stopover in the town of Dabola.

La seconde caravane médicale a eu lieu du 6 au 21 mai 2022 en Guinée dans les régions isolées de Sabadou Baranama et Boula. La traversée Ouest-Est de la Guinée sur plus de 730km a été particulièrement éprouvante pour l’équipe d’Amoddou en raison d’un état particulièrement détérioré des routes empruntées, nécessitant une première escale dans la ville de Dabola.

The operational equipment for this mission weighed a total of 380kg. It included all the medical and logistical equipment, as well as provisions, medicines and an ORISA® water purifier donated as part of our Karito programme. For every 100 ORISA® purifiers purchased, a purifier is donated to a humanitarian association.

  • Amoddou - Route of the medical caravan in Guinea

  • Amoddou - The project team in Guinea

Medical consultations and awareness.

Throughout the mission, a large number of consultations were carried out at an intense pace. In total, more than 58 hours of consultations were carried out in the four villages visited by the team. More than 850 patients received free medical care. The medical team consisted of five nurses, two doctors specialising in paediatrics, two general practitioners, a midwife and a dentist.

On the ground, the health workers have gradually implemented various training programmes aimed at raising children's awareness of the importance of good oral hygiene. In general, the local population has been made aware of the importance of regular hand washing, particularly at key times of the day.

At the end of the mission, the remaining medical equipment was redistributed in the form of donations to the health centres encountered on the return journey. The logistical equipment was taken back to Switzerland to be used in another mission.

©Amoddou - The Amoddou medical caravan in Guinea

The use of ORISA®

To ensure a supply of drinking water in the camp and enable the team to stay hydrated without health risks, the ORISA® purifier was used to filter the water, particularly from wells. With temperatures reaching 38°C, water consumption was high. This lightweight, manual system made it possible to filter more than 1,000 litres of water in a fortnight, while significantly reducing the plastic waste that would have been generated by buying bottled water. What's more, ORISA® had a lower carbon footprint than transporting this quantity of water.

This water was essential for various uses during the mission: hydration, preparing meals, hand and body hygiene, and washing up. The device proved invaluable to the Amoddou team, helping to prevent water-borne diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea. Although the filter broke down during the mission, the problem was quickly resolved remotely thanks to the responsiveness of our team.

  • Amoddou - Simon Lagban Haba, mission logistician

  • ©Amoddou - Water filtration in Guinea

  • Amoddou - Night-time water filtration

The use of ORISA®

Simon Lagban Haba, logistician on the Guinea mission, shared his experience of using the ORISA® water purifier. In this interview, he discusses the challenges of access to water in Guinea, the water-borne diseases that affect the population, and the importance of the ORISA® filter during the Amoddou mission.

  • Testimonial Amoddou association - 1 ORISA® deployed in Guinea

‘Access to water remains a major problem. We provide autonomy to people whether they are in emergency or humanitarian development situations’.

David Monnier, former humanitarian, Chairman and co-founder of Fonto de vivo, your point of contact for humanitarian programmes dedicated to access to clean water.

‘Adapting filtration technologies to individual needs and making them affordable, to meet the social and environmental challenges of our time’.

Anthony Cailleau, French representative for projects in Colombia, Managing Director and co-founder of Fonto de vivo, contact for development aid and international cooperation.