Benguela – Three highly complex surgeries carried out by the Benguela General Hospital, responding to the increasingly growing waiting list of patients from various parts of the country, dominated the attention of Benguela society during the year ending today.
By José Honório, ANGOP journalist
The first surgery was to implant a silicone prosthesis in Angola for a 24-year-old patient who was born without a nose, due to a rare condition called arrhythmia, but who has now recovered respiratory function through the nose.
The surgical intervention, which involved 36 doctors, including Angolans and Cubans, was historic as it was also the first of its kind in the country, with just under 50 cases of arrhinia having been recorded worldwide to date.
The second procedure is related to the first partial hip prosthesis surgery, on a 42-year-old patient, who suffered from a sub-capital fracture of the femur, which had been in progress for more than three months, and which, according to medical sources, has already recovered his mobility.
The third, also unprecedented, was a Brachial Plexus surgery at the General Hospital of Benguela (HGB), to recover the movements of one of the upper limbs in a 26-year-old patient from Luanda, and now the patient will be able to recover movement of the right arm.
The General Hospital of Baía Farta was not left out, as it performed the first surgeries for patients with ileostomy and colostomy, with the aim of improving the quality of life of people facing specific health problems, such as intestinal diseases, cancer or trauma. abdominal.
During the year, the province of Benguela received from the Ministry of Health six new ambulances equipped with modern means to reinforce assistance to the population of the municipalities of Baía Farta, Benguela, Bocoio, Catumbela, Chongoroi and Lobito.
Another notable event was the first National Days of “Occupational Medicine”, promoted by Centralab - Clínica Dr. Hugo Azancote de Menezes, under the motto “Give a global view of the worker as a central element of an economic and productive unit”.
The event brought together, at the Centro Sócio-Pastoral Dom Amaral dos Santos, professionals in the field, public managers and government entities from the provinces of Benguela, Bié, Luanda, Huíla and Huambo, who discussed guidelines and recommendations for the implementation of policies public institutions in the occupational medicine segment, for a safer and healthier future for workers in Angola.
Regarding education, another priority sector on the Executive's agenda, the year was marked by the delivery of several new classrooms, with emphasis on those built in existing schools, in almost all municipalities, to reduce as much as possible the number of students studying in precarious conditions.
At issue is a “Strategic Education Plan”, focusing on the construction of new classrooms in school units, in the five-year period 2023-2027, at a time when 45 percent of the 12 thousand and 600 classrooms existing in the province of Benguela are improvised.
By the way, after the delivery of 10 new classrooms, built at the BG 1237 School, on the outskirts of the city of Benguela, to benefit at least 1,200 students, the provincial governor, Manuel Nunes Júnior, recognizing the problem, stated that the number of precarious classrooms is still very high.
“The diagnosis is that we still have many schools with classrooms in precarious conditions and we have to gradually resolve this type of difficulty”, he admitted, considering, for example, the delivery of these 10 new classrooms as an important step in this direction.
In the academic field, the Instituto Superior Politécnico de Benguela (ISPB) once again launched new staff for the job market, bringing more than four thousand graduates since 2011.
These are graduates in 14 courses taught by this private higher education institution, based in Benguela, including Nursing, Dentistry, Clinical Analysis, Physiotherapy, Telecommunications, Electronics, IT and Agricultural engineering, as well as Environmental Management and Primary Education.
In addition to Benguela, ISPB's training coverage covers students from 15 other provinces in the country, mainly Cabinda, Moxico, Lunda-Norte and Lunda-Sul, Cuanza-Sul and Huíla.
PGR with best services
In the justice sector, the province of Benguela has a new temporary building for the Coordination of the Central Judicial Region of the Attorney General's Office (PGR), to serve four provinces and 12 districts.
With a view to deconcentrating the PGR's central services, in order to bring justice closer to the community, the Central Judiciary Region encompasses the provinces of Benguela, Bié, Cuanza-Sul and Huambo. It was established on March 25, 2021.
In total, 157 active and 17 retired Public Prosecutor's Office magistrates and 354 justice technicians fill the organic framework of the Central Judicial Region, with the aim of providing greater speed in the treatment of citizens' complaints and concerns with the PGR's superior hierarchical structure.
He also echoed the appointment of the new presiding judge of the Benguela Court of Appeal (TRB), Baltazar da Costa, replacing judge Adelino Tupita.
In the last three years, the Court of Appeal of Benguela, which is part of the III Judicial Region, received 280 criminal cases, mostly related to cases of serious bodily harm and homicides.
Most valued former combatants
Another highlight of the year was the free granting of electronic passes to 496 former combatants for access to an unlimited number of trips on public buses, which run on urban roads along the coast - Benguela/Catumbela/Lobito and Benguela Baía/Farta and vice versa.
In this way, former combatants can use the public transport service free of charge, through electronic social passes “Gira Mais”, issued by the National Ticketing Company (ENBI), ANGOP found.
In total, 496 of just over 500 “Gira Mais” electronic passes initially planned were issued for the free use of public transport by this social class, as part of a memorandum between the Ministry of National Defense and Veterans of the Homeland (MINDENVP). and the National Ticket Company.
Evangelistic crusades and IECA’s historic milestone
In the religious aspect, the re-inauguration on the shore of Morena beach of the important historical landmark of the foundation, in 1880, of the Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola (IECA) was highlighted. This religious denomination has more than three million believers, of which 70 thousand are in the province of Benguela, distributed across 12 missions and 2,620 congregations.
It was November 11, 1880, when three American missionaries from Portugal, namely Bagster, William Henry Sanders and Samuel Taylor Miller arrived in Angola, disembarking on the old pier at Morena beach, now in ruins, and founded IECA.
Another most notable Christian event in 2024 has to do with the evangelistic crusades held in the cities of Benguela, Huambo and Lobito, which reached more than 422,000 people, of which 171,000 and 770 converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Led by American evangelist Randy Roberts, the Great Miracle Evangelistic Crusade of Christ of all Nations/CfAN, an evangelistic organization created in 1974 by the late German missionary Reinhard Bonnke, attracted believers from various Christian denominations in Angola.
Culture and sport
The year 2024 was marked by visual arts exhibitions, book launches, musical shows, cultural farms, stand up comedy, theater, poetry recitals, motorcycle competitions, football tournaments, international Jiu Jitsu championship, outdoor shooting dishes, athletics racing, cycling, horses and karting.
Highlight is the solo exhibition entitled “Impressions”, with 16 works in the abstract style, by French-Brazilian artist Ana Quirin, held in the gallery of the National Museum of Archeology of Benguela (MNAB).
The works, exhibited in May, range from two to six meters in length and, instead of the usual classic style – hoops and stretched canvases – Ana Quirin gave free rein to her artistic creativity by painting on samakaka cloth of Angolan origin.
The 'Walale Benguela' music festival, which was once again in full swing, to celebrate the 407 years since the city of Benguela was founded, drew thousands of fans to the Ombaka Stadium, the usual venue for the event.
Renowned voices passed through the stage, with emphasis on singer Chelsea Dinorath, hip-hop musician NGA, from the group Força Suprema, Angolan music diva Yola Semedo and musician Matias Damásio.
Another milestone in 2024 was the National Culture and Arts Award, and the Theater category, for the first time, was awarded to the Ombaka Arts Collective for its entire body of work and uninterrupted artistic trajectory 19 years later.
Founded on March 5, 2005 in Benguela, Colectivo de Artes Ombaka is committed to internationalization and has already held shows in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Maputo (Mozambique) and Aveiro (Portugal).
The Ombaka Arts Collective has already exhibited more than two dozen theatrical plays, including “The true life of Domingos Xavier”, “Meu amor da rua 11”, “Baixa de Cassanje”, “Mulher em 3D”, “Macumba”, “When reality hits” and “I dreamed of Manguxi”.
The visual artist Joaquim Teixeira “Tchombé” was also distinguished as winner of the Plastic Arts category of the 2024 National Culture and Arts Award.
When it comes to sport, Benguela is in the spotlight, particularly in the first division National Football Championship, Girabola, where it occupies second place. The merit goes to Wiliete's team, with 32 points, behind only Petro de Luanda.
Seismic shock surprises Benguela
Another event that marked the lives of Benguela’s residents in the year 2024 was the record of two seismic shocks between the months of June and July.
The first, measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale, occurred on June 5th, while the second, 4.4 on the Richter scale, occurred on July 3rd, whose epicenter was approximately 31 kilometers from the municipality of Caluquembe, in Huíla.
Although they did not cause any victims or material damage, the slight seismic shock, felt at night for a few seconds in several municipalities in the province of Benguela, caused some fear among the population.
An example of this was the first earthquake, on the morning of June 5th, which, although moderate, slightly shook several buildings in the city of Benguela and prompted dozens of calls to the National Institute of Medical Emergencies of Angola, which mobilized eight ambulances to respond. the citizens.
At the time, the scare generated by the natural phenomenon, which took the people of Benguel by surprise, led dozens of students from the Wiliete Private Polytechnic Medium Institute to leave the building in panic, causing some to faint.
Nature's fury
This year, Benguela faced excessive rainfall - more than six thousand and 200 millimeters of water against the predicted thousand and 600 mm, which devastated more than 37 thousand and 800 tons of agricultural products, including cereals, fruits, legumes and vegetables, destroying nine one thousand and 347 hectares cultivated.
The intense rains recorded until May 2024 also revealed the recurring problems of atmospheric electrical discharges, which caused the death of 62 people and 57 heads of cattle, mainly in the interior municipalities: Ganda, Chongoroi and Balombo.
The discharges and floods destroyed two thousand family infrastructures, leaving 10,000 peasant families in a state of vulnerability, with the municipality of Balombo being most affected, where 13 people who were struck by lightning died. JH/CRB/SR/DOJ
