The Real Medicine Foundation is a humanitarian organization with a creative approach. Rather than go in with preconceived answers, we approach each situation by asking, “How can we help?” In this way, we can respond effectively and appropriately with customized services designed to best meet the immediate and long-term needs of the specific individuals and communities we serve. Our global network of “Friends Helping Friends” enables us to directly connect with those in need, carefully access how to make the greatest impact, and cooperatively deliver the highest-quality support. Whether we are providing physical, emotional, social, or economic support, our goal is to empower with real solutions that heal, give hope, and rebuild lives, both now and in the future.
Providing care and treatment to HIV infected children is a priority for the Lwala Community Health Center and FACES, our partner in providing comprehensive HIV services to the community. HIV positive children often go undetected because parents are reluctant to bring their children in for testing. Using a family centered approach, Lwala’s staff has worked with FACES to counsel, test, and enroll children into care.
The Children’s Club for HIV positive children and families was developed to provide psychosocial support for HIV positive children and their families. One Saturday each month, children and families gather to enjoy games, sports, and educational activities and refreshments. The club’s activities are enriching, provide children with an avenue for self-expression, and promote well being. The monthly meeting provides an opportunity for HIV education and fostering of friendships to reduce stigma in the community. While children enjoy games, skits, story telling, and songs, parents of children meet separately to discuss issues relevant to caring for HIV positive children. Children of HIV positive parents are also invited to be counseled and tested at the Children’s Club. Read more
Touring of the Lwala Clinic in Western Kenya with John Badia, RMF Clinical Officer (video)
We are excited to announce that we have another PSA that will be running on Hulu.com this time raising awareness for the people of Turkana, Kenya.
The Turkana are an ancient tribal people of Northern Kenya who for generations have lived rural, pastoral lives that rely heavily on the rainy seasons and the 2 rivers that run through their land for water. In this arid region however, water can be very scarce and in 2009 a devastating drought swept across Kenya, killing livestock, crops and children.
Suddenly, families were forced to live off whatever they could find in the wild; children, dressed in little more than a sheet, were forced to walk 20 miles over hot sand for a gallon of water; fathers unable to bare the shame of watching their families perish, simply vanished into the desert.
With families torn apart, Real Medicine stepped in to help by immediately providing enough food and water for 4500 people for one month and has since begun a longer term initiative to help the people here receive aid on a more regular basis.
Visiting RMF programs, Jonathan White, RMF Director of International Relations, has traveled from Uganda to Southern Sudan, completing his marathon 3-week journey across Africa in Nigeria where he met staff and patients at the Gure Model Healthcare Clinic.
Nigeria has the 4th lowest survival rate of children under five out of 191 countries, a child mortality rate of 140 of 1000, and a maternal mortality rate accounting for 10% of the global burden of maternal deaths.
Real Medicine Foundation has partnered with the Kwara State Ministry of Health, The Nigerian Youth Service Corps and Gure Gwassoro Ward Development Committee to support the long abandoned Gure Model Health Center. Situated near the Nigerian/Benin Republic border, the clinic is the only access to healthcare for a population of 154,376 in the Baruteen Local Government area and its surrounding towns.
RMF has been funding facility upgrades, providing medicines, medical equipment, and local staff to increase and strengthen its capacity to deliver best practice western medicine and critical maternal child health care services. Read more about RMF: Nigeria
Thanks to the success of our 2010 team, we have been invited back as an Official Charity of the LA Marathon 2011.
2011 LA Marathon Details:
Los Angeles Marathon: Sunday, March 20st, 2010
New Performance Nutrition 5K: Saturday, March 19th, 2011
Sign up Register
*LA Marathon registration begins July 15th but it is never too early to join the team! Help us start the year with a bang by making a fundraisng page now and taking the pledge to register on July 15th!
About Athletes for Real Medicine: Change yourself, change lives
Athletes for Real Medicine are dedicated individuals and teams competing around the world, on all levels, in all arenas, to help those in need on a global level. Separated by distance but joined by cause, Athletes for Real Medicine are proving that when you dedicate your own personal challenge to overcoming greater challenges facing people around the world, you will never race alone.
No matter where you are in the world or on your course, Athletes for Real Medicine and the people we support are there too–and at mile 19, when things start to get really hard, that can make all the difference.
Making the Commitment to Save Lives
As an Athlete for Real Medicine you must make the commitment to raise funds for people in need. Below are suggested target amounts but the sky is the limit so dream big: the more you raise, the more we can do for people around the world. Additional target amounts and incentive prizes to come so aim high!
$503.10 *receive race fee reimbursement (5K and marathon) $1026.20 *receive race fee reimbursement and Road Runner training reimbursement (5K and marathon)
About The Los Angeles Marathon:
The Los Angeles Marathon (LA Marathon) is run through the streets of the City of Angels every year in the spring. This first LA Marathon in 1986 had more than 10,000 entrants making it the largest inaugural marathon in the world—now, the race sells out with 25,000 runners and walkers.
The course has changed a number of times with the latest change in 2010 with the “Stadium to the Sea” course, beginning at Dodger Stadium and finishing at the Santa Monica beach. Despite these course changes however, the Los Angeles Marathon has held a strong tradition of linking the community with the event by encouraging course support and entertainment and by providing personalized runners bibs that encourage spectators to cheer on racers by name. Learn more at lamarathon.com; Marathon Course Map
Recorded and photographed by Jake Price. Produced by Jake Price and Phil Coomes (bbc.com)
In January an earthquake in Haiti killed up to 230,000 people and left more than one million homeless.
As the rainy season began, photographer Jake Price travelled to a number of the many camps that house some of those left homeless and presents his impressions of those struggling to rebuild their lives.
“There is an undercurrent of vibrant life in Haiti that the waters cannot wash away. After hurricanes, floods, years of domestic and foreign misrule, and the devastating earthquake, a sense of life still runs through peoples veins”
As the aid effort continues in Port-au-Prince, Andrise, a nine-year-old Haitian, describes family life since the disaster (guardian.co.uk)
This video, posted in January, could have been posted yesterday with families still living in the same make-shift tents as they were weeks following the quake.
In the past few months we have completely redone our website to help streamline existing information and to add new features, such as our new video section.
Now, you can watch videos of all types straight from our website: some that explain our programs in more detail, some that express the needs of different communities, and some that are sent directly from our teams on the ground.
1. Friends helping Friends
Friends made it possible to start our work in the tsunami relief efforts in Sri Lanka in the beginning of 2005, and this concept is one of our mainstays: we are friends helping friends by creating a global network of friends. This means, i.e. that we take the ethics of being a friend seriously, treating each other with respect and dignity, acknowledging that everyone has something different to contribute to create the big vision, and also that we are one human family and friends are everywhere. It also includes the way we treat the people in need we are supporting, treating them as friends, with the dignity and respect they deserve.
2. Keeping it personal
We know the people we are working with, here in the U.S. and internationally. And we know the children and their families we are supporting. We follow up with updates, photos and reports very frequently. Real Medicine Foundation grows with its members, we grow “from the inside out”; building the structures of our work around people we trust and allowing them to introduce new people they trust. That’s how our global network of “Friends helping Friends” keeps growing.
We also always connect with other established organizations on the ground where we have our projects to make sure our work gets implemented and followed up on. We hire local personnel and work with local volunteers; and have our U.S. team members visit our projects as well to learn about the needs and successes first hand, to train, to supervise and to give support.
3. No pre-conceived notions, listening to what is needed
We are using a creative approach: rather than go in with preconceived notions, we approach each situation by asking, “How can we help?” In this way, we can respond effectively and appropriately with customized services designed to best meet the immediate and long-term needs of the specific individuals and communities we serve, and with the resources we have available.
Our global network of “Friends Helping Friends” enables us to directly connect with those in need, carefully access how to make the greatest impact, and cooperatively deliver the highest-quality support. Whether we are providing medical/physical, emotional, social, or economic support, our goal is to empower with real solutions that heal, give hope, and rebuild lives, both now and in the future.
4. “Real” Medicine
We provide humanitarian support to people living in disaster, post-war, and poverty stricken areas. We believe that “real” medicine is focused on the person as a whole by providing not just the medical/physical, but also emotional, economic, and social support, in a culturally sensitive way, embedded in the community of the people we are helping.
5. Comprehensive, Integrative Healthcare Projects
Reviewing our work of the last four years, the best way to describe it is that our projects have grown into “Comprehensive, Integrative Healthcare Projects”. We often start out with a primary healthcare clinic, which often serves as a hub for our activities. We add maternal-child healthcare; we add HIV/AIDS care where needed; we always focus on prevention and healthcare education to empower our patients to be partners in their care. We provide food where the poverty is so extreme that people don’t have enough to eat. We help to put children back into school where we can. We add microfinance projects if we have the funding. And, based on today’s Best Practices Modern Medicine, we also include proven effective holistic methods such as Acupuncture, Plant Based Nutrition, Therapeutic Bodywork, Homeopathy and Yoga.
Programs addressing some of the developing world’s most important issues, such as Maternal and Infant Mortality, Malaria, HIV/AIDS, Malnutrition and Literacy are part of Real Medicine’s commitment to treating the whole person and providing sustainable integrated solutions.
6. Accounting transparency
Mentored by a Senior Advisor of GTZ (www.gtz.de/en), Real Medicine Foundation’s accounting follows the rules of this globally highly regarded, successful and effective organization, and is completely transparent. We receive the originals or scans of every single receipt, invoice, and expense. (GTZ is an international cooperation for sustainable development, operating worldwide. GTZ provides viable, forward-looking solutions for political, economic, ecological and social development in a globalized world. Currently, they are implementing some 2,300 development projects and programs in 126 countries, having their own offices in 67 of these countries.) 7. Long-term support – We Don’t Leave
Real Medicine Foundation was founded in May 2005 inspired by lessons we learned after working for months in the tsunami relief efforts in Sri Lanka. We established a children’s clinic in an area devastated by the tsunami. While in Sri Lanka we realized that most organizations going into crisis areas to provide aid for immediate need, tend to ignore that people’s lives remain shattered long after physical trauma is no longer an issue. Real Medicine Foundation was created to provide longer term, sustained support in disaster, war-torn and poverty ravaged areas in addition to immediate physical aid. This long-term support addresses physical, emotional, economic and social needs, helping heal the ‘whole person’ and the ‘whole community’.
ALL Proceeds Benefit the Real Medicine: Armenia (watch RMF Video on Armenia)
All funds yielded from this event will directly support Real Medicine Foundation’s Primary Healthcare Project in an Armenian village, providing free healthcare services to a population in need. ANY additional contributions are embraced. Simply donate by clicking here.
Even though there have been some notable economic improvements in Armenia, the country is still facing high inflation and frequent increases in costs for basic products and services. Social polarization reflects a highly uneven distribution of economic growth. Based on the World Bank’s statistics, over half of the population in the country is living under poverty level.
The Ministry of Health is implementing health reforms, and it is struggling to provide quality medicines, supplies, and laboratory equipment to keep up basic medical services in many rural hospitals and small health facilities, including our clinic in Shinuhayr. There is especially a serious need for pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and supplies among vulnerable groups in the country.
With the newly formed partnership between Real Medicine Foundation (RMF) and the Armenian Relief Society (ARS), the Primary Healthcare Project in Shinuhayr, Armenia is moving forward with its first implementation phase. The goal of the first phase of the project is to provide the primary healthcare clinic with the necessary medicines and supplies and to carry out a needs assessment for the purchase of an ambulance. Read more…
Join us Sunday, June 27th and help support the people of Shinuhayr.
Please note: Tickets must be purchased in advance exclusively though ItsMySeat and are subject to availability as limited spaces are filled. Purchase early as Dionicess sells fast!
Proud New Nursing & Midwifery Students and Principal
May 2010
After leaving Uganda, Jonathan heads to Southern Sudan to visit our Nursing & Midwifery College and to meet the new students who have recently begun classes on May 10th, 2010.
Southern Sudan hold ones of the the highest rates of infant and maternal mortality in the world. When Real Medicine landed in the new country to address this issue we realized that, more than anything, they needed trained staff to fill the facilities already in place throughout the country.
This is the first school of it’s kind and marks a decisive step toward curbing the infant and maternal mortality now plaguing Southern Sudan. Once the 3 year course is complete, our select students will go on to staff the now vacant clinics that dot the countryside and become the front line of care for mothers and children in need.
Here are just a few photos sent from the field with a full report to follow.
New Student Orientation Class
Southern Sudan’s maternal mortality remains the fifth highest in the world, at 1,700 deaths per 100,000. High levels of maternal mortality are linked to poor access to quality reproductive health services, including family planning. Fewer than 20 certified midwives and even fewer registered nurses exist in all of Southern Sudan.
Bilha Achieng (left), RMF Project Coordinator Southern Sudan, and Petronella (right), Principal of the College
Real Medicine Foundation, in collaboration with the Government of South Sudan, the UNFPA, the WHO, St. Mary’s Hospital, Isle of Wight, and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and in partnership with and with financial support from World Children’s Fund, is establishing the first College of Nursing and Midwifery. The consortium aims to provide a scalable working model for this college that will offer a 3 year diploma for Registered Nursing and Midwifery and may be extended to other strategic locations within the country.
After the clinic and our support of the Nursery, Primary and Secondary Schools make up the next biggest component of our program in the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement. The students we support are mostly Kenyan refugees, but there is also a small group of Sudanese students and one Congolese that receive full support for school fees and supplies as well.
I was really hoping while I was here to observe the schools in action, and see the classrooms filled with students, but sadly I had arrived right in between first and second semester and they were off school for the whole week. I hadn’t really thought to ask, but the logistics of my trip made this week the only one I could manage, so I’ll have to leave that for the next visit.
I was,fortunately, able to see one small group of 6th grade students at the “Can Rom” Primary school in a classroom cramming for their big exams that were coming up at the end of the year. This was a really nice treat after seeing all the quiet, empty school buildings. The principal of the Primary School made a short presentation,introduced me to the class, and had our Kenyan students raise their hands–more than half the class was supported by Real Medicine.
Charles Naku, RMF Project Coordinator Uganda,then made a short speech to them about the importance of education and how proud we were to see them working so hard during their holidays. It boggles the mind to even try imagining a group of 6th grade students in the U.S. voluntarily coming to school in the middle of their vacation? Now try and imagine them doing that on an empty stomach.
I met with each principal of the 5 schools we support: two nursery schools, two primary schools (elementary) and one secondary school (high school). Each was deeply thankful for the number of students we supported and each had a “wish list” to present to me in the hope that, should our budgethave anything left or we find additional funding, the students might benefit.
The wish lists were as follows:
BethColeNursery School:Funds are needed to repair the roof structure as the existing roof is in danger of collapsing. Classes have been moved to a very small cabin but with 100 children it is hard to imagine that they can all fit inside.
DaystarNursery School: Though this school building is in good shape, there are no desks, chairs, or furniture of any kind, forcing the students to sit on floor. Funds for chairs, benches or desks, and some toys are needed.
Can RomPrimary School:RMF supports the school fees and supplies for 223 of the 534students here, but there are still many more in the settlement that should be attending but aren’t. The buildings constructed by the UNHCR and the Ugandangovernment were all in decent shape and large enough to house the students but the principal, who had just started two months ago, said there were still many things they needed to make this a good learning environment. The things he wanted to do most for his students were: plant trees in the school yard for shade and buy musical instruments, games, soccer balls, and costumes as they have no extra-curricular activities at all.
ArnoldPrimary School: RMF supports 201 of the students here, and like the other schools, there are always other things that can be funded beyond the school fees. Teachers at this school travel quite far to get here, and their lunches aren’t covered, so most wait all day until they return home to eat supper. The complete lack of extra-curricular activities was also mentioned.
VocationalTrainingCenter: a path forward?
After all the meetings with everyone over the course of three days, the one thing the communitydecided it needed the most, for both graduated students and adults, was a Vocational Training Center. After putting it to a community vote, the idea of reinstating a long since defunct Vocational Training program was presented to me as a wish for the rest of the year.
Many vocations were mentioned but the three that would have the most impact for actually finding work were: carpentry, tailoring, and hairdressing. There exists enough demand within the settlement to put people to work in these trades, but training would also present the opportunity to eventually leave the settlement and support themselves.
Particularly important is giving the recently graduated teenagers something productive to learn so that they have a real chance at finding a job. I met one of the top students, a very engaging kid with great spirit and obvious intellect, and he couldn’t find work anywhere. Like bored teenagers or young adults anywhere, they are turning to alcohol to pass the time and numb their frustrations.
I was shown the space where the old VocationalCenter was run, and it still had all the training lists on the wall, and a few odds and ends of rusting carpentry tools. The idea had obvious merit, and fits in with RMF’s idea of helping people rebuild lives with the aim of getting off the aid as soon as possible.
I had agreed strongly that this was a good idea for the community as a whole, but once again wasn’t sure how we’d manage it with our budget. I told them to carefully study exactly how much it would take to get this program up and running, at least with one of the programs, not all three. We will revisit this idea once I have heard back from them, but it would be fantastic to start a program, however small, that gives people the ability to start paying their children’s school fees themselves and be self sufficient. This is after all one of the driving ideas behind Real Medicine.
If you’d like to donate to this or any of Real Medicine’s causes, you can click the donate button on this page or through our website at realmedicinefoundation.org
School project funding:
$50: toys for Nursery or Primary School
$100 or more: Tree planting, Sports equipment, or Musical Instruments for Primary School
$500 or more pays for furniture at the DaystarNursery School or can go towards fixing the roof of BethColeNursery School.
Providing care and treatment to HIV infected children is a priority for the Lwala Community Health Center and FACES, our partner in providing comprehensive HIV services to the community. HIV positive children often go undetected because parents are reluctant to bring their children in for testing. Using a family centered approach, Lwala’s staff has worked with FACES to counsel, test, and enroll children into care.
3. No pre-conceived notions, listening to what is needed
7. Long-term support – We Don’t Leave
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