Photo: Dr. Martina C. Fuchs, RMF Founder/CEO, making new friends at the Lwala, Kenya Community Hospital, October 1, 2011
We are so grateful to all our friends, supporters and teams around the world and wish everyone a fantastic 2012!
Having wrapped up another successful we want to pause and say a huge THANK YOU to all of you who supported our work in 2011. You have helped us achieve so much, and we give our deep thanks to everyone for your generosity and support!
In 2011 we..
In Japan, post-earthquake and tsunami, RMF reached over 33,000 people in Ishinomaki City with supplies, debris/sludge cleanup, and community center support.
In India, in RMF’s Malnutrition Eradication Program, our field staff of 75 Community Nutrition Educators diagnosed and treated 85,016 cases of Acute Malnutrition in more than 600 villages since our program started in 2010.
In South Sudan, 40 Nurses and Midwives at the RMF sponsored first-ever accredited Nursing and Midwifery College in Juba, are beginning their 2nd year of training.
In Haiti, our free clinic at Hôpital Lambert Santé provided public access to 24-hour emergency and general healthcare to a community that is home to more than 100,000 displaced persons.
In Kenya, we upgraded the only hospital for 1,000,000 people in Lodwar, Turkana, starting with the pediatric ward and also continued to provide medical support, food and water to thousands through mobile and stationary clinics in the poorest and most drought ravaged regions in Kenya.
Closer to home, in South Los Angeles, RMF provided 70 children with new backpacks filled with school supplies and personal products, and just threw a Holiday Party for these children on December 17th.
From all of us at RMF: Have a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2012!
If you were considering donating to a worthy cause in 2010 and taking advantage of the tax benefits of charitable donations, now is your last chance to contribute!
As we look towards new efforts and projects in 2011 it is only through your generous funding that we will be able to continue our long term development projects in some of the poorest areas on this planet.
As you know, we have set the goal of raising $100,000 by December 31st, and would greatly appreciate if you consider Real Medicine for your year-end donation.
In the spirit of Real Medicine Foundation’s concept of “Friends helping Friends helping Friends” so much is possible when we do it together.
From all of us here at Real Medicine: Thank you for your support!
Almost 6 years after the last Tsunami in Indonesia and the founding of Real Medicine in Sri Lanka, another Tsunami has struck the area, this one resulting with at least 272 dead and so far another 400 missing. Officials are saying there were faults with an early warning system designed to alert locals to the 3m-high (10ft) wave.
Full article from BBC news here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11632982
To read about our continuing relief efforts in Sri Lanka click here.
Our Tangalle Children Relay Preschool had operated with our suppport from 2006 until the end of 2009. During this time, Real Medicine covered the teacher’s, the children were provided with uniforms, stationary, playing instruments, school materials, cultural and educational tours, a daily meal, and medical treatments all free of charge. In an great example of our long term goals of self-sustainability, over the past few years the community we have been serving has been able to slowly recover from the Tsunami and return to their previous lifestyle. This also means the community is now in a position to be able to afford to send their children to a paying preschool and support their family’s needs without our outside help.
For 2010, the management of the school has decided to move the project to a new location, the village of Palathuduwa, to provide the same services to a much needed community. Our group is very well known in the area for its charitable activities, and a preschool in Palathuduwa had approached our team for possible support to help fund and manage their preschool. This other school had been operating successfully for many years, but had recently run into financial difficulties and was in danger of closing down without further help.
Background of the new location
Palathuduwais about 2 km further inland from our old location in Tangalle. There are around 200 families in the area, mainly low income, and making their living in rice farming, animal husbandry, brick making and other labor work. The temple and school is in the middle of the village, Palathuduwa templehas become the community centre for all the village activities and the chief monk is the leader of the village and guides the villagers.
Background of the existing preschool at Palathuduwa temple
The first preschool activity at the temple location started in year 1989, with some very basic facilities and untrained teachers. The Tsunami didn’t do much damage to the temple and school buildings, but the impact to the village community of Palathuduwa was very high. After the Tsunami, aid agencies and other projects were set up in the area. During this time, the attendance at the preschool was very high, as many of the area’s parents did not want to send their children to the preschools closer to town and the coast, because of continued fears of another tsunami. In 2006, with the support of the locally established “Janasuwaya Foundation” and donation of foreign funds the community was able to build a larger and more suitable school building.
By 2010, the financial situation of the school and lack of funding to pay the teachers had come to a crisis point, and the school put out an appeal for help to the few NGOs or aid agencies that are still in the area. Our group at the Tangale Preschool was presented with the appeal and due to the fortunate timing of the closure of our other project, they were happy to look into the school’s viability
Soon after our staff decided to take over the administration of the preschool on February 2010 with the support of RMF, the situation returned to normal. The teachers are very happy again, the chief monk is very proud to see the preschool is back in normal operation and the children are running here and there again. The villagers are also happy that they can again send their children to the preschool without any additional cost. Presently, there are 15 children attending the preschool with 3 preschool teachers. A freshly prepared mid day meal is provided each day. The stationary and working materials are provided free of charge to each child and teachers. The children’s health is also regularly checked.
Our goal is again to create a sustainable solution for these villagers, and enable them to eventually take over the funding and management of the school.
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
The clinic that started it all off for RMF, more than 5 years ago in Tangalle, Sri Lanka, continues to thrive and provide, community outreach and health education programs to Yayawatta Village and the surrounding areas. These areas have still barely gotten back on their feet after the complete destruction of many surrounding villages and infrastructure 5 years ago by the Tsunami. The clinic’s main beneficiaries include the population of Seenimodara, Kadurupokuna and Palapotha.
Having this convenient access to free healthcare is especially important for the areas young mothers, children, and the elderly. During the last 3 month period of March, April and May a total of 642 patients were evaluated and treated at our free clinic. The diseases we see most frequently here are upper and lower respiratory tract infections, viral fevers, gastrointestinal tract infections, heart disease, hypertensive disorders, skin diseases and different forms of arthritis.
Our staff also periodically conducts field visits of the Nursing Officer from the Government Health Authority which continues to provide important information for mothers about proper methods of family planning.
In addition to medical treatment provided we also periodically conduct community outreach programs and are preparing to throw a Health is Wealth program during the upcoming traditional festival season. We are hoping to have all the communities participate in this event with Drama, Art, and Essay competitions for both children and adults.
Some of our recent patients treated at the clinic:
Amila
Amila is a regular visitor to our clinic. He comes often and usually spends his time watching the activities at the clinic. He is featured in the photo above, wearing a red shirt. After the Tsunami he started suffering from depression and had changed completely from his old self. He also started engaging in destructive behaviors and was going out with friends who were abusing alcohol and smoking. After drinking he would frequently get into fights and quarrels with neighbors and family. After being alerted to Amila’s changing personality, RMF’s Medical Consultant, Dr. Chamal, spent hours with him, counseling him and giving him necessary treatments and now, according to Amila and his family, he has finally gained some normalcy and direction in his life.
Nuwan Kumara
This is 3-year-old Nuwan Kumara from Kadurupokuna. His mother had come to the clinic to have him treated for an allergic reaction, including a red rash on his face, hands and body. His mother complained that he had been scratching his face and hands after eating fish for dinner. Dr. Chamal subscribed a medical ointment to treat Nuwan’s allergy and after 3 weeks of treatment the allergy has gradually subsided and the rash has disappeared.
Hasini Malisha
Hasini Malisha is the 14-year-old daughter of Mrs. Samanthie who works at our Clinic. She had been suffering from an enlargement of her thyroid glands. She started having fainting attacks and was rushed to the Real Medicine Clinic at Yayawatta to be consulted by Medical Consultant, Dr. Chamal. He prescribed treatment to control the attacks and made arrangements to consult the Senior Surgeon, Medical Consultant Dr. Percy Dias immediately.
Two blood samples were sent to Colombo to check her TSH and T4 levels. Medication was prescribed following the tests with the advice to continue the treatment and after 1½ months to return to the clinic for follow up blood samples and reports. Hasini Malisha is feeling much better with the treatment.
Miss K.G. Maggie
Miss. K. G. Maggie is an elderly woman from Kadurupokuna. She has been a regular patient at the Real Medicine Clinic. She has great difficulty walking ever since a tragic fall many years ago that dislocated her hip bone. Recently she was very sick and could not make the journey to the Clinic and had pleaded with Dr. Chamal to come see her at her home. When Dr Chamal visited her he found her in very bad condition with severe swelling and redness in the lower part of her legs. Dr. Chamal diagnosed her with cellulitis and treated Maggie with strong antibiotics, continued observation. She could be cured without admission to the local hospital, which Maggie was very grateful for.
Approaching our 5th birthday August 16th, 2010 and look back to remember who we go to where we are now, here is a voice from those early days: the second update sent from the ground after opening our first clinic in Sri Lanka writen by Dr. Martina herself.
In it Dr. Martina Fuchs gives grateful thanks to those tho helped her, speaking as a friend to her network of friends who came together to make it possible.
February 20, 2005
From Martina Fuchs in Mawella, Sri Lanka
Hi everybody, here I am again, with the next chapter from Sri Lanka. So much has happened, it almost feels like a lifetime in itself.
First: A million thank you’s! Thank you for all your e-mails and contributions and thank you for being so incredibly supportive and encouraging! It means the world to me since the need and despair here sometimes do get overwhelming. I am so grateful to have this amazing network of wonderful people in Europe and the US, of people who are so unbelievably generous. Please know that everything you contribute gets right to where it is needed the most and you do make a huge difference in the lives of innumerable people!
Today, Sunday, we just came back from a big event in Tangalle, the nearest town to our camp. Several optometrists had come from Colombo with a total of 500 glasses to examine people who had lost their glasses in the tsunami. Will had organized two vans and we shuttled about 50 of our villagers to Tangalle. The optometrists had set up camp in a Buddhist temple, the Wajiragiriya temple, and there were huge lines as we arrived. But almost everybody left happy and a lot of our villagers with new glasses.
Waiting in line with our villagers, we caught glimpses of the Buddhist Sunday school:
The Buddhist monks here in Sri Lanka have initiated celebrations to mourn the people who died in the tsunami and to celebrate their lives, the Peritha celebrations. One of these celebrations was held in our camp on Saturday night. All the villagers did their best to dress up, and many of the kids were actually proudly wearing their new clothes that had come in from donation packages within the last few weeks. We were invited to be part of the celebration. It never ceases to amaze me how generous they are with the little they have. I was sitting on mats with a whole bunch of mothers with their kids and there were small packages of peanuts. They took pride in making sure that I was never without supply. The children fell asleep one after the other, and the celebration, the chanting and praying continued throughout the night.
My little clinic is up and running, and I couldn’t be more proud.
I am proud to present two of my patients :
The Sri Lankan Navy helped us to install electricity, we have light, we have two fans (thank you, Commander Jagath Mutubandara, for making it all possible!).
Jonathan and Orrin built our examination table and all the furniture:
Wasana, a woman from the camp, sewed curtains for us:
We will get a sink, a water tower is already prepared in a nearby tree. Patients are lining up as soon as our clinic opens, and it is everybody, infants and children and their parents of course, but also adults of all ages, pregnant women, I believe there were about 70 patients in two days. Right now, we have an infection going around in our camp, a lot of children are suffering from really high fever. And what I am seeing a lot, too, are patients who had swallowed water when the tsunami happened and need reassurance that they are okay. At this point, I want to thank the pediatric surgery division of the Kinderkrankenhaus St. Marien in Landshut, Germany, and their chief, my brother, Dr. Oliver Fuchs, from the bottom of my heart. The seven large boxes of medical supplies that you have provided and sent to us are absolutely invaluable. We would not be able to work without them. We are absolutely impressed by your generosity.
A few days ago, I met with psychologists from Galle, who had organized a day of psychological evaluation for 250 children from 4 schools in the area who still showed signs of extreme emotional distress after the tsunami. They had arranged a day of singing, playing at the beach, etc. while they observed the children and their reactions in order to help them specifically. We connected with them to provide psychological support for the children in our camp, too, and are very proud that a psychiatrist now is specifically looking after our villagers.
Children paint the tsunami:
Father Surangika Fernando took me aside and told me about an inter-religious nursery he had organized in a Methodist church, including Muslim children, Buddhist children, Christian children, etc. It is a total of 60 children under 5 years of age who have lost one or both parents in the tsunami, or children coming from families who have lost everything in the tsunami. In addition to the kids in our camp, this is where the toys and children’s clothes are going to go that are coming out of the beautiful toy drives in Germany and the US. Words cannot express my gratitude, Mutti, Papa, Gloria, Christiana, Familie Sigl, all the children and parents of the Kindergarten Hersel, Uschi, Loren, and everybody else who is part of it and who’s contribution is invaluable. Because of your support and generosity, I can keep my promises to these children, I would be helpless without you.
As promised, here a quick update on the Tangalle Hospital project, that RealMedicine supports. For the complete proposal, please go to: www.realmedicine.tv/foundation/TengalleTrustIn the following are some impressions. As I had mentioned before, this hospital is in dire need, and we are committed to supporting Nick Buckingham’s efforts to renovate and upgrade it.
Hospital main entrance
Nick Buckingham
Men’s ward
Children’s ward
Children’s ward
Minor Surgery:
Hospital kitchen:
Burning of toxic waste:
Nurses and nurses’ room:
Hospital supplies:
Operating room:
Nick’s team at work:
I will update here on our website again in about a week, stay tuned…
Thank you for following up on our suggestion to take on sponsorships for specific families. We are choosing families right now and will keep you posted. Any suggestions or ideas are always welcome!
Last, but not least, I would like to thank all the travelers here in Sri Lanka who spontaneously decided to support our work, Kumar Fernando, Solange, Wim & Adri Hendrik, Jaques & Francoise Mourrieras.
Your generosity is highly appreciated.
There was an article published today by the Associated Press about childrens artwork from Haiti, paintings and drawings made children after the earthquake that are now on exhibit by the Smithsonian Institution. It reminded me of a story that our Founder, Dr. Martina Fuchs once told me about emotional care and one box of donated crayons.
The enormity of something as devastating as an earthquake like Haiti has a tendency to shut children off and they can become dangerously emotive, they bottle up. Sometimes art is the only way a child can express what they have seen.
Dr. Martina met a a four year old boy like this in her first month of tsunami relief in Sri Lanka, 2004. His mother had brought him in worried, not knowing what was wrong with her son. It had been three weeks since the tsunami and he had not made a sound, he had not smiled.
When the tsunami hit she was out in the open walking with her son and his 2yr old sister. With nowhere nowhere to go she raced for a palm tree and started to climb, hoisting her son above her. They climbed as fast as they could but when the water hit she was hit and the force shook her little girl out of her arms. Now, weeks later, she was loosing her son.
Dr. Fuchs was not sure what to do, so after an hour examining the boy, finding nothing physically wrong, she did the only thing she could do and sent him home with a peice of paper and a small box of donated crayons.
The very next day he was back, this time with a picture and as Dr. Fuchs looked it over and pinned it on the wall he smiled. Then, he started talking about the picture. He talked about the water and how there were people in it, and then he mentioned his sister and stopped. When he started again, he said was scared that he caused his sisters death because he did not climb fast enough. He was afriad that his mother hated him because it was all his fault. Finally, it was out and suddenly his mother knew what to do, she knew what to do to make him feel better, she knew what to say, she had her son back and they could mourn the loss of his sister together.
From this lesson in Sri Lanka, Real Medicine has made emotional care a component of what we believe to be medicine because we understand the powerful damage emotional distress can do and how sometimes, just a simple box of crayons and a comfortable space can save a life.
Help us to continue providing life saving care. When Dr. Martina Fuchs was providing relief in Sri Lanka, everything hidged on a network of friends who were able to help and who came through. Today our work is still dependant on the help of generous friends, giving what they can, together.
Worldwide, Cancer is on an exponential rise. The WHO says that 80% of deaths related to disease of affluence occur in developing countries, roughly 28 million a year, and that this number is expected to quadruple over the next decade.
In ten short years, it is predicted that cancer will kill more people around the world than all infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS, Malnutrition, and Maternal Deaths Combined.
There are many schools of thought on the subject but for our part what we have chosen to do is start with nutrition as a preventative measure.
“Our goal is to provide education in such cost effective, natural treatment interventions and preventive strategies to all of our clinics worldwide.” Michael Lear, Real Medicine Director of International Relations and Country Director for Sri Lanka and Southern Sudan.
In May 2009, in collaboration with Dr. T. Colin Campbell’s Foundation and Cornell University, we launched the initiative in Sri Lanka where staff at Sri Lanka’s Cancer Institute were given access to Dr. Campbells plant based diet online nutrition course so that they can implement what they learn into their treatment methods for their patients.
With cancer rates already on the rise and cancer medication both expensive and with limited availability, treatment will come too late for many affected families in developing parts of the world. Our hope is that by giving people the information they need to take care of their bodies now, they might not need more complex care down the road.
As a side effect, we have found that by promoting locally grown produce, local farmers and businesses are also better supported, allowing the local economy to thrive in line with it’s people.
Learn more:
“Every country must make cancer a priority. There are too many people dying. It is too often, and that is wrong,” said Nancy Brinker, World Health Organization (WHO) Goodwill Ambassador for Cancer Control in the article, Cancer’s Global March for IAEA.org
“The key recommendation of a recently released global report on diet and cancer prevention — that individuals should choose a predominantly plant-based diet that includes a variety of vegetables, fruits, and grains — is consistent with the American Cancer Society’s guidelines on diet, nutrition and cancer prevention, and adds to the evidence supporting a link between diet and cancer.”–American Cancer Society Guidelines on Diet and Cancer Prevention
What do you feel about R.M.F.? With this unfortunate destruction Lord Buddha had granted me a Real Blessing. Meeting Kind hearted and understanding persons. I am very thankful to Madam Martina. She is kind of a God for me. And I never forget Mr.Michael. I always love Real Medicine Foundation. Thank you all. I love all of you. My Parents too love all of you. Thank you.
Hospital main entrance
Nick Buckingham
Men’s ward
Children’s ward
Children’s ward
Worldwide, Cancer is on an exponential rise. The WHO says that 80% of deaths related to disease of affluence occur in developing countries, roughly 28 million a year, and that this number is expected to quadruple over the next decade.
“I am happy. The treatment I get from the R.M.F. gives me some hope and vision to my future life. Now I am 15 Years Old. “
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