Maria and Pankaj
The Importance of a Whole Health Approach: malnutrition and psychosocial neglect
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Tags: India, malnutrition clinic, malnutrition crisis in india, malnutrition in india, nrc in india, rmf in india
Program Director Bilha Achieng with the Principal and first class of students
The new Juba College of Nursing and Midwifery that Real Medicine supports and helps manage in South Sudan has finished with the foundation level courses for it’s first class of 40 students and getting ready to begin the diploma program next week. In honor of this milestone, the Southern Sudan Medical Journal has published an article focused on the new College and it’s mission. This is a unique project for Real Medicine as we are focused on building the actual capability of Sudanese to help themselves through their own resources in the future. Graduating 40 new diploma level Nurses and Midwives every year will go a long way in helping South Sudan rebuild after decades of neglect.
As mentioned in the article, Bilha Achieng is Real Medicine’s program director for South Sudan and is doing an amazing job managing the launch of the College.
Tags: College of Nursing, Juba, Nursing in Juba, Nursing in Sudan, Nursing School in Africa, Southern Sudan, Sudan
Join us for a happy hour benefiting the
Real Medicine Foundation
WHEN: Thursday, August 19th, 6:30-10:00 pm
WHERE: GYENARI (www.gyenari.com), 9540 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA
RSVP: Evite.com
Tags: fundraiser, LA Marathon, Los Angeles, Marathon
Very good article published in Sunday’s New York Times about the malnutrition and food crisis in India. This focuses specifically on the crisis in Jhabua and Madhya Pradesh where our Malnutrition Initiative and Team India are based.
Link to New York Times article here.
There’s even a photo featured in the article of the treatment center (NRC) that we support in partnership with the Jeevan Jyoti Hospital. Photo here.
Tags: children in india, donate to india, food crisis in india, India, Jhabua, malnutrition clinic, malnutrition crisis india, malnutrition in india, new york times
July 27, 2010
By Sarah Stern
This past weekend our little “warriors” took their workout up a notch with instructor Roz Baker. Every month Roz comes in and gives the kids at the Florence & Western Medical Clinic a full hour of heart pumping exercise while incorporating healthy living tips. The kids were literally “bouncing off the walls” with the introduction of exercise balls to help develop their large motor skills, hand-eye coordination along with the ability to work with one another.
We cooled down after Roz’s session with an arts & crafts lesson where the children explored a variety of mixed media materials and created paper plate fans for themselves. The temperature in Los Angeles was in the hundreds, so our project seemed quite appropriate! Volunteers Carly Krause and Aleksander Stanisic provided guidance through the project (which got a little messy) and our finished projects had the kids feeling pretty “cool” about themselves-
We are looking forward to our yoga session on August 7th, so please stay posted for more on the magic of working with the children of South Los Angeles, and what Real Medicine is doing to make a difference!
Tags: children, exercise, Florence Western Medical Center, Los Angeles, volunteering
by Jonathan White
Last month, Real Medicine’s Lwala Community Health Center in Kenya welcomed two 18 year old first time mothers on a Saturday morning: Millicent, nearly silent in labor in one corner, and Maureen, a vigorous and loud laborer in the other. There was never better proof of the need for a larger space for deliveries in our clinic, Real Medicine’s support of the new maternity center is much appreciated. Despite the small space, Clinic Officer Michael Omollo and clinic founder Milton Ochieng’ MD were smiling as silent Millicent pushed out a crying healthy baby girl.
Maureen’s vigorous, athletic, and loud labor response was a stark contrast and kept the team on their toes. A second crying and healthy baby girl was welcomed about an hour later. This was baby number 100 for the Lwala Community Health Center! These children have all been born in what was originally designed as a kitchen and was converted to a birthing facility when laboring mothers began to come. Groundbreaking for a much larger and proper maternity unit is planned for August 2010.
For more information about this initiative please visit: http://www.realmedicinefoundation.org/initiative/healthcare-project-lwala-kenya
Tags: Africa, birth, children, clinic, field report, Kenya, lwala, maternity
by Jonathan White and James Nardella
Real Medicine’s Ochieng’ Memorial Lwala Community Health Center in Kenya is a community-based health care project that is managed and supported in partnership with the Lwala Community Alliance, a U.S. based humanitarian organization. The mission of the clinic is to meet the holistic health needs of all members of the Lwala Community, including its poorest.
Whenever possible it addresses health problems at their roots through community health interventions. It aims to provide excellent community-based health care, not to become a tertiary care facility. The health center is part of a larger effort to achieve holistic health and development in Lwala, including educational and economic development.
Tags: Africa, clinic, Kenya, malaria, malnutrition, maternal health, nutrition, primary care
Primary Care Clinic, Yayawatta,Tangalle, Sri Lanka
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.
Tags: child's health, children, clinic, Disaster Relief, maternal health, primary health care, Sri Lanka, tangalle, tsunami, yayawatta
Turning Lemons into Lemonade
July 16, 2010
By Sarah Stern
Real Medicine Foundation continues to provide physical and emotional support to children and adults within the greater Los Angeles area. With our children’s programs, this past month we focused on how to approach situations which can cause a great deal of stress within our everyday lives. Most of the children who participate in our programs are being raised by family members other than their parents, and are at high risk for future physical and psychological problems.
Our workshop “Turning lemons into lemonade” gave the children the opportunity to discuss different situations which can cause stress, and then invited them to explore and create their own problem solving techniques. The majority of children we work with are faced with extremely difficult situations due to demographics based on socioeconomic status. Their neighborhoods are unsafe, schools are overcrowded and there is little or no access to enrichment programs which would help relieve the stressors created in these environments.
We have noticed an increase in the number of children with a high BMI index, due primarily to lack of nutritional education coupled with the inaccessibility of fresh produce and whole grain foods. Real Medicine Foundation offers Adult & Child Health & Fitness education workshops along with a food donation program 5 days a week which provides organic produce and food donated from Whole Foods Markets, Venice, California, in an effort to assist in meeting the needs of this community.
Tags: Adult Fitness, Child Fitness, children, community outreach, Florence Western Medical Center, Los Angeles, Whole Foods
July 12, 2010
By Alex Areces and Jonathan White
As we pause to mark the somber six month anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti and the 230,000 lives lost, it is worth noting not only the significant achievements of the international aid community but also how dire the situation remains and the immense challenges that lie ahead. Most of the 1.5 million Haitians that were left homeless are still living in the immense tent cities due to sheer scale of the logistical and legal challenges of rebuilding literally hundreds of buildings on mostly private property. The health care system is still in tatters, and struggling to keep up with the contstant flow of new patients from these tent cities. Much of the money raised in the initial weeks for rebuilding is still sitting on the sidelines with no clear way to spend it. With no easy solutions on the horizon to re-house this immense displaced population the repairing and re-growth of the health and education systems are more important than ever. Knowing that it will take many more months for any kind of progress on the resettlement of these people living in tent cities, RMF is committed more than ever to concentrating on the rebuilding of a sustainable health care system to care for this immense displaced population.
The living conditions in many of these tent cities with rubble everywhere, limited sanitation options, and very little protection from the heavy rains common this time of year presents a variety of hazards for these people every day, resulting in multiple injuries and deaths. Little Chon Oxius, 11 months old, is one of them, and a few weeks ago he came to see Dr. Margaret Degand, RMF’s partner doctor at the Lambert Santé Hospital’s free clinic, with severe burn trauma complications.
Dr. Degand or “Maggie”, as she is fondly referred to is Lambert’s Santé’s Medical Director and founder and one of nation’s top clinicians and plastic surgeon. Dr. Degand spontaneously opened her private surgical clinic in Pétion-Ville to all the victims of the quake at no cost working tirelessly around the clock for days and weeks to hundreds that came to her clinic desperate for emergency care. With continued financial support and volunteer assistance, she has been managing to keep her public clinic open. She shares RMF’s vision to increase the overall quality and accessibility of patient care to the public during this crisis. In May 2010, Maggie entered into official partnership with RMF to continue offering Public Care.
Tags: charity, children, Donate, earthquake, Haiti, hospital, Lambert Santé, Port-au-Prince, Real Medicine, rebuilding, RMF
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