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India Malnutrition Program: Community Mapping Pilot

May 9, 2011 in Caitlin McQuilling, General, India, Providing Medical Support, Rebuilding Communities, Voices from the Field by Jonathan White | Comments closed

by Caitlin McQuilling

Community Mapping

The month of April was RMF’s Community Mapping Month in Barwani district as part of our Community Mobilization Pilot with the Department of Women and Child Development. The team started this community mobilization activity by having a two day training on the method for Community Nutrition Educators (CNEs). This was to ensure that all CNEs used similar, participatory methods in doing the mappings.

The first day was at the office in conjunction with the weekly team meeting where mapping techniques, use of symbols, and methods to involve community stakeholders were discussed. The second day of training, Anjana split the CNEs into two groups and took them out to a village near Barwani to do a practical mapping exercise as a group. This hands-on mapping training turned out to be the most effective, with the feedback from many CNEs saying that this gave them the most clarity and confidence.

CNEs started the mapping exercise by meeting with the village Patwari wherever possible to discuss the village layout, ensure his/her participation in the mapping exercise and to obtain a village map. They made an appointment with key community stakeholders, including anganwadis, Sarpanches, patwaris, and active mothers, to do the community mapping exercise on their next visit.

In each village, we ask the community to lead this exercise, with the CNEs prompting the community members to dive deeper and deeper into the mapping exercise. CNEs were instructed to ask community members to map out both the things there were proud of in their communities and the things they thought were bad for health. Good things included schools, new latrines, and village meeting places. Bad places included liquor shops and open defecation sites. In each instance, CNEs were instructed not to pass any judgment or not to make any suggestions, but to let communities do this analysis on their own.

Community mapping covers:

- Households in the community (some villages got down to the level of detail of the names of the family members in each house, other just mapped out the homes)

- Location of SAM kids

- Water sources, streams, rivers, damns, ponds

- Hand-pumps

- Public buildings: AWCs, schools, panchayats, PDS shops, AWW homes, temples

- Shops (general stores, PDS shops, liquor stores)

- Local doctors, health centers, medicine men

One of the best examples of this method leading to community realization and behavior change was in Badgaon with CNE Saroj. At the beginning of her mapping session, a handful of women sat around the poster paper, with their heads and faces covered and didn’t say much. As the anganwadi and ASHA led the mapping and did most of the work the women started to contribute more and more, peeking out from behind their veils and laughing and arguing as they discussed various aspects of the community. In the beginning, a few men stood around the outside of the circle, attempting to look as disinterested as possible. As the mapping progressed, they too couldn’t help themselves with participating more and more.

During her mapping exercise she asked community members to map out the positive and negative things in their village. The women listed newly constructed latrines (under TSC) as positive things in their village. Then Saroj asked them if they were being used. The community members laughed nervously and admitted that no one used these newly constructed latrines and still continued to defecate out in the open. Saroj asked where the open defecation sites were. The anganwadi worker plotted these right next to a stream. Without passing any judgment Saroj asked the community what they used the water for. They all said bathing. Then as Saroj remained silent, women in the group all started to giggle at the same time. They were making the connection between the open defecation and the proximity to the stream they used as a water source. And in this moment, this simple mapping activity may have had the largest Behavior Change result of any of the activities RMF has undertaken in this village thus far. Community members started to chatter amongst themselves and comment that they should start using the new latrines right away and started speculating that this contaminated water may be why children are getting sick. It’s too early to see if this has made a true change in the community, but this kind of self-realization is bound to be much stronger than any lecture or training session.

This was the most dramatic example of the effects of community mapping observed so far by RMF Managers (Caitlin was present during this session), but the community mapping seems to be a very effective and well-received activity. It’s a chance for local communities to show off their knowledge for a change and makes them feel proud of their knowledge. RMF CNEs have reported enthusiastic participation of community members in each session. Anganwadi workers have told us that this is “a very simple activity” and fun.

The key to making these mapping exercises work is to make sure the CNE understands that this is not just about drawing a map, but that it’s a community mobilization activity. CNEs can facilitate the map making process, being the illustrator or scribe, but the actual process must be conducted by community members.

We found that the mapping exercise is better with a small group of 5-10 individuals, otherwise it gets too crowded and confusing and leads to less participation. To be able to include more individuals in the process, CNEs did the mapping in 2-4 sections per village, depending on the village size and number of anganwadis. One map was made for each village, but the CNE drew the map in various stages depending on how many anganwadi centers there were in the village, so that each section of the community could participate meaningfully. The final complete village map was then copied and given to each anganwadi center to hang on the wall so that each anganwadi center has a full map. Another important pointer the CNEs found was to begin the mapping process by drawing the village boundaries instead of just diving into mapping locations. This was scale could be developed.

To date mapping has been completed in 114 villages in Barwani district. Given the success of this activity it will be scaled up to all RMF villages in the 4 other districts this quarter.

For more information about RMF’s Malnutrition Eradication Program in India, click here

We can use any financial help you are able to provide on this project to continue our Education, Treatment and Outreach and help towards our goal of Malnutrition Eradication in this region of India.

To contribute to this initiative, please click Donate button or visit our website at realmedicinefoundation.org.

Voices from the field: We shall name her Anandini, Anandini is Joy!

April 20, 2011 in Helping Children, India, Naiara Tejados, Providing Medical Support, Rebuilding Communities, Voices from the Field by Jonathan White | Comments closed

Naiara with Anandini

By Naira Tejados

I still rememer vividly those days, long ago in terms of time, but mentally like it was yesterday.

After two days in shock, unable to sleep or eat after finding Gila (5 year old girl with tuberculosis meningitis and hydrocephalus) in her home on January 27th, I recieved a call from Caitlin informing me that the poor little girl had died despite all the efforts of the doctors in Ahmedabad. Honestly I must admit that I felt a slight relief, as I believe if she had survived her quality of life would not have been what a little girl who had gone through so many traumas so young deserved. The events around Gila’s death were reported in this blog by Caitlin McQuilling here.

Anandini's grandfather

It was obvious that someone in the family must have transmitted the deadly tuberculosis bacterium to Gila. So, after questioning and observing, it wasn’t difficult to identify the most critical patient in the family: the grandfather, the patriarch of the home, who had spent a long period bedridden, the last few days with fever and bleeding when spitting. My biggest fear was of the possible transmission of bacteria to the other 5 children in the home.

After two days immersed in the hospital we came to know that, while the grandfather clearly was suffering from tuberculosis, nearly all family members were anemic. With the help of our star native worker, Sumitra, I asked what their diet consisted of. It took me a few words to know that the conditions in which the family lived were deplorable: they had some land with dhal, a very typical lentil in India, had a few crops with peas and corn from which they made flour to cook roti, cakes of bread. They had nothing else. It was a great pleasure to provide the family food and other everyday items that they could not acquire. It was obvious that the family had spent all their savings in the treatment of Gila and was now ruined…

The second day, two hours after we dropped the family off at home, already very late at night, I got a call from Sumitra saying that Gila’s mother, who was in its final stages of pregnancy, had begun to feel the pains of childbirth. A new life was on the way! The next morning, impatient, I went to the hospital to see the new baby, when to my surprise, I learned that Dhana had not yet given birth. A nurse warned us that Dhana was very anemia Dhana and her life was in danger. I could not believe it! I thought again and again how unfair life was being with this family. Of course this hospital had no blood bank. Suddenly, a lot of ideas my mind was: what was the blood group of Dhana? Could I donate my blood? I begged the staff to analyze my blood type and they told me that it was not possible at the hospital. We had no choice but to go for help to a private hospital run by Catholics located in the same town, the same hospital that just 2 weeks before had stolen Gila’s life by not providing her the necessary drugs because of the family’s inability to pay. Maybe we could beg this hospital in this case to save the life of her mother and her brother/sister. We asked the midwife permission to take her to the other hospital, where we thought everything would be better under their supervision, but the midwife and the nurses told us that the baby would be born in the vehicle if we did. There was no time for anything, only wait.

Suddenly, from the hubbub of the hospital, we heard the cry of a newborn baby. It couldn’t be anyone else other than Gila’s new sibling. Taking advantage of a nurse on her way out of the delivery room, I rushed over to ask if the one crying was the one we were expecting. She nodded and let us know that everything had gone well, both the mother and daughter were fine, and there was no need for a blood transfusion to the mother. It was a girl! I could not contain my tears of joy. It was inevitable to think about reincarnation, so present in the lives of these people. Is that what you call it?

Anandini

To my surprise and joy, the next day, I learned that the Gila’s parents had asked us, the Real Medicine Foundation staff, to choose a name for the girl. What an honor! Thus, we chose the name Anandini for her, which means “joyful.” Anandini never cries. It was without a doubt, the best gift I received in India.

About a week after the birth, Caitlin, Jaimie and I went to the home for a visit. The family welcomed us with open arms. Concerned about their economic condition and their future, we asked how much their debt from Gila’s treatment totaled. They reported that to treat Gila they had borrowed € 1,000 to be returned with a 25% interest from a local lender, an insignificant amount in Western society, but which converts a family like this into a debtor for many years, perhaps also to the next generation.

I received a lot of money after writing a personal email the night Gila died to all my family and friends: It was an email asking them, each within their desires and possibilities, to donate money to use with the various groups I work with in India. Therefore, I immediately thought that I would love to help this family to get rid of this horrible debt. Thanks to the generosity of Jaimie, who was also present, and because she has raised a lot of money of her own (http://www.realmedicineblog.com/2011/03/18/voices-from-the-field- one-birthday-wish-granting-wishes-for-many-by-Jaimie-shaff) we decided that we would pay equally between the two of us. A few days later we returned to the home with the money, allowing the family to be free of at least of this burden. We did this knowing that this was something outside of our organization, because the organization focuses on providing medical resources but not providing cash. We saw the first smile yet on Dhana’s face. Many thanks to everyone who made this possible!

Anandini's father, Chhatra

We could not resist asking Anandini’s parents what work they would do from now on. Their response was unanimous: when she was a few weeks older the family would migrate along with other farmers having to abandon their homes, greatly increasing risk of several diseases in appalling conditions to which they have to submit, and leaving the older children in the care of grandparents. This response left us all broken hearted. Already familiar with the good work and infinite human quality of this family, Caitlin and Jaimie did not hesitate to offer a job to Anandini’s father, Chhatra, as a Community Nutrition Educator (CNE) with our organization. Chhatra, now works joyfully in his own village and neighboring ones, going from house to house, making sure that other children do not become victims of malnutrition and other medical conditions that are so easily preventable but that steal the lives of many in these villages.

For more information about RMF’s Malnutrition Eradication Program in India, click here and for more on our HIV/AIDS click here.

To contribute to this initiative, please click Donate button or visit our website at realmedicinefoundation.org.

Haiti Health Cluster Bulletin Update

April 18, 2011 in Disaster Relief, Haiti, Helping Children, Providing Medical Support by Jonathan White | Comments closed

Haiti Health Cluster Bulletin:

Cholera and Post-Earthquake Response in Haiti: April 15^th, 2011

The following report was compiled by the The Ministère de la Santé Publique et de la Population (MSPP) and PAHO, the Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the Americas,coordinate the Health Cluster. MSPP Cluster Contacts: Dr. Claude Surena; Dr. Jean Hugues Henrys; PAHO/WHO Contacts: Dr. Juan Carlos Gustavo Alonso and Dr. Josep Vargas.

Highlights

The number of cholera cases nationwide continues to decrease. The number of cases in Northeast, Centre, Port-au-Prince, North, Northwest, Artibonite, West (except Leogane-Gressier), South, Grande Anse and Southeast departments are stable or decreasing. However, cases in Nippes and West (Leogane-Gressier) are increasing (although only slightly in the West).
The continued decrease of cholera cases together with the phasing out of health actors from cholera treatment facilities has raised concerns about the capacity to cope with a potential increase in cases during the upcoming rainy season. The impact on the health sector is important given that the management of the cholera outbreak has been highly dependent on the support of foreign health organizations. A gap analysis is underway to identify potential risk areas and to sensitize donors to maintain their support to the cholera response.
An independent evaluation mission has arrived in Haiti to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the coordinated national and international response to cholera, both in terms of immediate and medium term impact. The results will assist the MSPP and its international and national partners to draw lessons from successes and shortcomings, and improve the joint response in case of a possible recurrence of the epidemic especially due to the upcoming rainy season.

Situation Overview

4 April 2011, the cumulative number of reported cholera cases was 274,418, including 4,787 deaths. The observed cumulative incidence of cholera cases since the beginning of the outbreak was of 26.2 per 1,000 inhabitants, ranging from 4.9 per 1,000 in the Department of South-East to 40.3 per 1,000 in the Department of Artibonite.
Overall, the number of medical staff from health partners has been reduced in most CTCs and CTUs. Medical staff has been trained and is currently employed in the CTUs established in health centers. NGOs are mostly phasing out due to the decrease in cholera cases or due to the lack of funding. However, health partners continue to provide support to maintain regular training and refreshment courses for local medical staff, and maintain a surveillance system to monitor the evolution and assessment of the potential need to reactivate their response.
Apart from the essential work of the NGOs, it is important to mention the role of the Cuban Medical Brigade (CMB) as well. The CMB treated a high percentage of cholera and diarrhea cases during the epidemics through a network of CTCs and CTUs. They built up belts of community workers around each CTC and CTU, thus ensuring prevention and health promotion activities that accompanied the efforts to save lives at the treatment centers. The CMB also deployed active research brigades, who go to the difficult to reach sub-communes to investigate and treat cholera cases, thereby diminishing the “silent zones”.
The criteria for closing down cholera facilities and for phasing out NGOs from cholera facilities are well established, and there is an effort to maintain sufficient supplies and medical materials at the cholera centers. Nevertheless, lack of sufficient supervision and irregular payment of salaries to local health staff represent major risks that can jeopardize the response capacity at local and departmental level in case of sudden increase in the number of cholera cases, or any other major outbreak.
The WASH sector remains of paramount importance. The chlorination of water systems and water trucks delivering water to the metropolitan areas has been a huge progress, despite the challenges that this method still faces. Attention needs to be paid to the private companies and the alternative treatment systems being used so as not to have resurgence within the urban areas. In rural areas, the treatment of water remains a difficult challenge

Wash (Environmental Health)

PAHO/WHO continues to support the MSPP in identifying needs and priorities for the improvement of sanitary conditions of the health centers in several departments through water sanitation networks and

waste management. Environmental health is an essential part of the long term fight against the spread of cholera and other diseases related to water and sanitation management. The financial resources of numerous NGOs that ensured drinking water distribution and removal of excrement from latrines and septic tanks in Port-au-Prince are running out or have been exhausted. Transition strategies offer only a limited solution, and serious concerns exist with regard to access to drinking water and adequate public health conditions.

Mental Health

The working group that formulates the Mental Health Policy and the National Plan continues to be dynamic. This group consists of the MSPP, PAHO/WHO, national and international mental health actors and several experts from universities (Toronto, and Montreal). The drafting of the national policy document is currently being finalized.

The list of essential psychotropic drugs for the country is in its final stages of development and the proposal will be submitted to the MSPP by mid-April. The WHO-AIMS is in its final phase, consisting of the compilation of data and development of the evaluation report.

Health Promotion

The final version of The Ways of Working (WOW) document on hygiene promotion will be circulated starting 6 April. It systemizes the lessons learned formulated during the Hygiene and Sanitation Promotion Workshop (Haiti 2010) held at Moulin Sur Mer on 11-12 March.

Nutrition

To continue to reinforce MSPP capacity, PAHO/WHO has provided support for the development and reproduction of 500 copies of the Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) management protocols that were provided to the MSPP in September 2010. With the cholera outbreak, PAHO/WHO has provided support to the MSPP to update the Protocol, taking into account the care of malnourished children suffering from

cholera.

New growth standards: In May 2010, PAHO/WHO took the lead in MSPP adopting new growth standards, and later by professional associations and partners. Based on these new standards, PAHO/WHO has supported the MSPP in the review of the “chemen lasante” map, thereby creating the opportunity to dispose of a draft of a child nutrition and health booklet since February 2011.

Revision of the IMCI: In order to make the necessary adjustments based on new WHO

recommendations and on the new national protocol for GAM management, PAHO/WHO is offering support for the review of current IMCI standards. The review of the national nutrition policy is underway.

Fortification: In order to prevent micronutrient deficiencies, the technical nutrition committee that support to the MSPP is currently conducting discussions on fortification of wheat flour with micronutrients.

Post Earthquake Health Surveillance

World TB Day, which took place on March 24th 2011, is designed to build public awareness that tuberculosis remains an epidemic, causing several million deaths each year, mostly in developing countries.

This year, Haiti’s National TB Program of the Ministry of Health commemorated the World TB Day by organizing a Ceremony to launch the Reconstruction of the TB Hospital of Leogane, which was totally destroyed by the 2010 Earthquake. The Leogane center received the most significant number of TB cases in the country, and its loss resulted in an enormous challenge for TB services.

The meeting was aired on Haitian National Television and was attended by all national and international TB partners. The reconstruction will be done by Italian NGO INTERSOS, with technical support by PAHO/WHO and additional support by the Japanese Embassy.

To contribute more information about our Haiti Earthquake Relief Efforts,

To contribute to this initiative, please click Donate button or visit our website at realmedicinefoundation.org.

Tags: Haiti, haiti cholera, haiti donations, haiti earthquake, haiti healthcare, haiti hospital, haiti news, haiti relief, ngo haiti, non profit haiti, Port-au-Prince, UN Haiti

RMF Japan Relief Partner update: Tales from Ishinomaki by Keiko Kiyama, JEN Secretary General

April 11, 2011 in Disaster Relief, Helping Children, Japan, Providing Medical Support by Jonathan White | Comments closed

by Keiko Kiyama, JEN Secretary General

I returned from Ishinomaki on early morning yesterday. Being faced with the familiar outlooks of my hometown after getting off a highway, I was surprised. While devastating conditions in the Tohoku region go on, everything seems to have been back to normal here in Tokyo except for sporadic power supply cuts.

Coordination meeting in Ishinomaki City, 7am every day (Photo copyright JEN)

What surprised me most was that there was neither mud nor trash on the roads. Regardless of the fact that people must live in extremely inconvenient circumstances, silently remove sludge with terrible odor around, spend night in freezing emergency shelters even today.

We have been assisting and surveying the region from 20th March to 4th April from our base in Sendai and Ishinomaki. I always feel beaten down when visiting the areas most devastated by the tsunami such as Ishinomaki, Higashi Matsushima, Minami Sanriku, and Ogatsu in Ishinomaki. Whenever I visit Ishinomaki Municipal Center, hard feelings repeatedly come up to my mind. But, it is not even comparable to the hardships experienced by those affected by the disaster.

There are parents who have lost all 3 of their children at once, people that cannot forget the voices calling out for help from the roof tops of the houses being swept away, those that that have lost both sisters and mothers at once; days start and end with numerous feelings of sorrow hidden inside peoples` hearts.
I wish to improve the conditions of the people affected by this disaster as soon as possible! As if someone scorns my jittery feelings, every day passes slowly; Our volunteer fellows are going around the community, removing sludge from each house, and providing soup kitchens.
We can only step forward one step at a time, so we go forward step by step.

Although the life in the emergency shelters is hard, it is better than the life of affected people staying in their own houses. This is because supplies are being distributed to shelters. Why don’t the supplies reach the hands of needy people despite the overflow of relief supplies in the warehouses? Because of no gasoline, no trucks, no sufficient manpower, no information… Stop making excuses and keep working on our relief efforts. Next time, my report will cover updates on the situation up to the point where the relief supplies reach affected people.

If you are interesting in donating to the earthquake/tsunami relief efforts with our partner JEN in Japan, click on Donate below.

Global Basecamps launches matching donation challenge for RMF Japan Relief

April 5, 2011 in Disaster Relief, General, Japan, Providing Medical Support, Rebuilding Communities by Jonathan White | Comments closed

We are excited to announce that the kind folks over at Global Basecamps (www.globalbasecamps.com) have reached out to their supporters and fans for a matching donation challenge. They will be matching donations dollar for dollar for our Japan Relief Efforts for the first $2,500 of donations received through the Real Medicine website. (www.realmedicinefoundation.org/donors)

Global Basecamps is a specialty travel resource designed to simplify the process of researching and booking sustainable hotels, lodges and private tours worldwide. Travel at your own pace with a custom itinerary or simply find accommodation and excursions so that your trip priorities are met and you have maximum flexibility while on the road.

Beneficiaries helping out at JEN sponsored soup kitchen (Photo copyright JEN)

RMF’s Japan Relief efforts are currently focused on supporting our partner on the ground in Japan, the Japanese Emergency NGO (JEN), who are distributing vital food, clothing, and other supplies to those at evacuation centers or in the most damaged areas around Northeastern Japan.

We are continuing to update our website and blog with reports sent to us by JEN and will be closely monitoring the situation over the next few weeks.

If you are interesting in donating to the earthquake/tsunami relief efforts in Japan now, click on Donate below and be sure to mention Global Basecamps Japan Relief Efforts as the donation purpose.

Tags: global basecamps, japan, Japan Fundraiser, japan relief

Japan Relief Fundraiser at Space 15 Twenty a Success

April 4, 2011 in Asia, Disaster Relief, Events, Helping Children, Japan, Providing Medical Support by Jonathan White | Comments closed

Rachel (TOM's shoes), Tania (Space 15 Twenty), Vy (Rudy's Barbershop)

We would like to thank everyone involved at the Japan Relief Fundraiser held at Space 15 Twenty on Saturday for their support, it was an amazing day filled with fun, music and charity!

As this event was sponsored by the kind folks over at Rudy’s Barber Shop www.RudysBarbershop.com, Ace Hotel www.acehotel.com, Cha Cha Lounge www.chachalounge.com and Bimbos Cantina www.bimboscantina.com, this group agreed to match donations to our Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief raised at both this event and on our website.

We brought in $1,246 for the Japan Relief Effort through this event, and 100% of these funds will go directly to providing the evacuation camps with food, water and supplies for which they are in dire need.

Many thanks again for helping with the recovery process for the people of Japan, and be sure to check our website for updates on how you have made a difference- www.realmedicinefoundation.org

Enclosed are more photos from the event.

If you are interesting in donating to the earthquake/tsunami relief efforts in Japan, click on Donate below and be sure to mention Japan as the donation purpose and we will continue to organize funding to JEN’s relief efforts.

: Rachel (TOM’s shoes), Tania (Space 15 Twenty), Vy (Rudy’s Barbershop)

: DJ’s Stone’s Throw Records

: Rudy’s Barbershop giving cuts

: Stone’s Throw Records

: Rudy’s Barbershop

Tags: japan, Japan Fundraiser, japan relief, japan tsunami, Space 15 Twenty

RMF Japan Update with our partner JEN: Out in the field providing relief

March 25, 2011 in Disaster Relief, General, In the news, Japan, Providing Medical Support, Rebuilding Communities by Jonathan White | Comments closed

Our partners at JEN (Japanese Emergency NGO) have teams busy on the ground in the northern tsunami affected areas providing food, shelter, water and other basic survival items to the thousands of people stranded in shelters.

JEN staff prepare food for emergency shelter residents

Thanks to everyone’s donations, JEN is able to provide far more care than would have been previously possible.

JEN has been updating us with photos and updates from the field, and also posting regularly to their blog.

Most recent update from JEN of this week’s relief work:

JEN staff preparing food for emergency shelter residents

On March 23rd, JEN dispatched its third team (members: Kenta Ohno and Hiroyuki Kobayashi) to the area affected by the Tohoku Earthquake. They joined the second team currently on an assessment mission in Ishinomaki City, in the north of Miyagi Prefecture. In addition to the material and hot food distribution in the evacuation centers in Sendai City, JEN will expand its activities starting from the towns of Minamisanriku, Higashimatsushima, Onagawa and Ishimaki. These are towns which have been receiving the least external support despite the massive damage and loss they have been suffering.

JEN also received information that Iwaki City in Fukushima Prefecture was not receiving emergency items due to radiation scares caused by the nuclear plant accident, and consequently sent materials from Tokyo tonight. A two-ton truck carrying three tons of urgently needed items was sent from JEN’s warehouse in Tokyo, containing diapers (both adult and children), feminine hygiene products, pre-cooked and sealed food, canned fish and meat, and wet wipes for elder care.

As progress picks up in restoring roads surrounding Sendai City, more and more communities are becoming accessible. However, there are still many isolated areas and evacuation centers. As a result, the difference between the amount of assistance being offered to the accessible and non-accessible communities is becoming clearly noticeable. In the coastal areas, the town hall itself was swept away and there are no bodies to request or coordinate external assistance that they need. In the urban areas, on the other hand, those who have lost their homes by the tsunami have no hope of returning home, and continue to live in extremely poor living conditions. Many people are expected to face long-term displacement, and their situations and needs are becoming increasingly complex.

Following the Earthquake, three teams were sent to the affected areas consisting of two members on March 13th, three on the 20th and two on the 23rd. The teams distributed emergency items and hot meals (rice and miso soup etc) in evacuation centers in Sendai City. To date, JEN has provided fresh food (to be cooked and distributed in the centers), clothing, blankets, sanitary items (feminine hygiene products, antiseptics, wet wipes, diapers for adults and children), and fuel. While distributing these items, JEN is also conducting assessments in the less accessible areas in order to shift to mid- and long-term assistance including the provision of psychosocial care.

Stay tuned for further updates from on the ground in Japan on our website.

Also, as part of a matching donations challenge, Rudy’s Barbershop, Ace Hotel, Bimbos Cantina, and Cha Cha Lounge have together agreed to match up to $18,000 in donations made through our website and at their business locations! More information on this matching donations challenge can be found here

Tags: japan, japan charity, japan donations, japan earthquake, japan JEN, japan photos, japan relief, japan tsunami

Real Medicine Foundation To Participate in LA Marathon For Second Year, Portion of Proceeds to Go Directly to Relief Efforts in Japan

March 18, 2011 in Athletes for Real Medicine, Disaster Relief, Helping Children, Los Angeles, North America, Providing Medical Support, Rebuilding Communities by Jonathan White | Comments closed

Los Angeles, CA – March 18, 2011 – Real Medicine Foundation is proud to announce that for the second year, it will be an official charity of the LA Marathon this Sunday March 20^th. Runners from across California have joined Athletes for Real Medicine raising $18,000 so far for the non-profit which provides humanitarian support to people living in disaster and poverty stricken areas.

Some of the funds raised will go directly to Real Medicine Foundation’s relief efforts in Japan. The organization has partnered with JEN (Japanese Emergency Non-profit) to provide food and supplies to emergency shelters. JEN’s motto of “psycho-social care and assistance for self-reliance” is very similar to Real Medicine Foundation’s focus on the person as a whole, providing medical, physical, emotional, economic and social support.

Forty LA Marathon runners have opted to run and fundraise on behalf of Real Medicine Foundation, which operates in 15 countries throughout the world, including at home in Los Angeles, serving more than 6 million people a year. Donations of any size are accepted, and donors may earmark funds to be dedicated to specific projects, including relief efforts in Japan.

Dr. Martina Fuchs, founder and CEO of Real Medicine was honored earlier this year with Lifetime’s Remarkable Women recognition. Fuchs says, “We are thrilled to be included in the LA Marathon again this year. With every step these runners take, they are bringing people around the world closer to complete health. If that’s not a great reason to run, what is?”

Real Medicine has received considerable support from the community, including Fox Entertainment Group’s FoxGives, CAA, Environment Charter High School of Lawndale, and Comfort Chiropractic of Monterey Park. Sole Runners Long Beach has runners dedicated to Real Medicine as well.

Lisa Suen, who oversees Real Medicine’s Creative Development, says, “The support we are receiving in the LA Marathon will allow us to continue battling malnutrition, providing screening tests for children, or even just providing the food people need to survive another day, whether in disaster areas like Japan or areas of on-going need such as Haiti and India. We spend every day promoting health, so to see runners use their extremely strong health to benefit our work is doubly powerful.”

Real Medicine is sponsoring a cheer station at Mile 22 (San Vicente and S. Canyon View Drive) and invites the public to come and show support. The station will feature cheer boards to encourage runners, made by the children who benefit from Real Medicine’s Community Outreach Programs at Florence Western Medical Center in South Los Angeles.

About Real Medicine Foundation: Real Medicine Foundation (www.realmedicinefoundation.org), a 501c3 registered non-profit organization based in Los Angeles, provides humanitarian support to people living in disaster and poverty stricken areas. RMF believes that “real” medicine is focused on the person as a whole, including medical/physical, emotional, economic and social support. RMF’s unique approach to humanitarian relief involves partnering with local groups wherever they are to ensure that the clinics and solutions it creates will be sustainable long after the public spotlight has moved on. Real Medicine’s CEO and Founder Dr. Martina Fuchs was recently honored by Lifetime as one of Lifetime’s Remarkable Women for the work she and her organization have been doing around the world. RMF currently has clinics and projects around the world, including Haiti, Peru, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda, the United States, and more. For complete listings of RMF’s projects, please visit www.realmedicinefoundation.org/our-work.

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Efforts

March 11, 2011 in Asia, Disaster Relief, Providing Medical Support, Rebuilding Communities by Jonathan White | Comments closed

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Japan and all those affected by the 8.9 earthquake that struck off its northeastern coast and the devasting tsunami that followed on Friday, March 11, 2011.

Dozens of cities and villages along a 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) stretch of coastline were affected by violent tremors that reached as far away as Tokyo, hundreds of miles (kilometers) from the epicenter.

Google Inc. has just activated a Person Finder page to help people concerned about loved ones in the area affected by Friday’s devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The Person Finder page can be found athttp://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/ and is available in both Japanese and English

Real Medicine is working within our network to see where we might be able to contribute our funding, resources or expertise. We will update our website with further information as it becomes available.

If you are interesting in donating to the earthquake/tsunami relief efforts in Japan, click on Donate below and be sure to mention Japan Earthquake as the donation purpose.

Tags: japan, japan charity, japan disaster, japan donations, japan earthquake, japan health relief, japan tsunami, japan tsunami relief

The first two months of our new clinic in Gulbella, Pakistan

March 9, 2011 in Asia, Disaster Relief, Helping Children, Initiatives, Pakistan, Providing Medical Support, Rebuilding Communities, Whole Health by Jonathan White | Comments closed

by Dr. Zahoor Uddin and Dr. Rubina Mumtaz

Real Medicine Foundation in collaboration with the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA) established a primary health clinic in Gulbella, Charsadda District of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, aiming to provide free health services at the unit for the Pakistan flood affectees.

This clinic was established in a record short period of time – 7 days – and was formally inaugurated by Dr. Rubina Mumtaz, Country Director, RMF Pakistan, on December 19, 2010. People of the area consider the establishment of the BHU a noble act on the part of the RMF/APPNA since health has always been one of the basic and the most important issues of the region. The facility treats an average of around 50 patients a day.

From December 15th, 2010 through January 30th, 2011, 1,897 patients were diagnosed and treated at the RMF- APPNA Basic Health Unit, Gulbella, 38% of these patients were males and 62% females. 7% of the all patients were children. 19 women came for antenatal visits, 86 women visited the clinic for OB/GYN problems, and 15 women came to receive advice on family planning.

The response of the community has been very positive. They appreciate the presence of a doctor and Lady Health Visitor (LHV) who handles female related diseases (maternal cases). There were few medical facilities available in the region only far from their homes

Being poor, people were unable to hire vehicles to get to the health centers. They perceive the establishment of the Basic Health Unit at their door steps as nothing less than a blessing. And the people are therefore very thankful to RMF and APPNA for the establishment of the facility.

For more information on this initiative visit our website here

More blogs on RMF’s flood relief efforts and medical outreach camps in Pakistan can be found here: 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th, 5th and 6th, 7th and 8th, 9th and 10th, 11 and 12th