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!
by Jonathan White
The new class of preschoolers of Palathuduwa
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.
Our project in South Sudan, the new Juba College of Nursing and Midwifery, continues to gain momentum and vital support, with Southern Sudan’s current Minister of Health, Dr. Luka Monoja, visiting the first student class at the temporary College campus in Juba. The Juba College of Nursing and Midwifery is a new professional level 3 year college degree program supported by a consortium of stakeholders: Real Medicine Foundation, World Children’s Fund, UNFPA, UNDP, World Health Organization, Japan International Cooperation Agency, and the government of South Sudan.
Dr. Monoja was accompanied by the Undersecretary Dr. Olivia Lomoro and various other government officials. He indicated the importance and deep need for this level of trained Nurses and Midwives in Southern Sudan, and also stressed the how this particular institution is not only important to his heart but also to the Ministry of Health for the sustainable capacity building of professional health care providers.
He also mentioned that the need for skilled birth attendants through the training of midwives at the College is geared specifically toward reducing Sudan’s very high maternal mortality rates. Though the establishment of the college was long overdue he was glad that Southern Sudan can boast of having one now.
In this article posted on Huffingtonpost.com, Amy Goodman, the renowned host of Democracy Now!, echos much of what we’ve heard from our staff on the ground, and points out that according to the Washington Post only 2% of the promised reconstruction aid has been delivered, and much of the U.S’s $1.15 Billion pledge is still stuck in Congress. It is also pointed out that they could only find 6 of the 197 organizations that solicited money having publicly available reports detailing their activities.
We at RMF are proud, as always, to have detailed every penny spent on our initiatives and ensure it’s effectiveness..
Here’s the article below, and the link to the original: (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amy-goodman/haiti-six-months-after-th_b_645833.html)
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.
Malaria and Upgrade to the Health Center at Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement History of the World: Part I video
Update June 2009
Michael Lear, Director International Relations
Beth Cole, Country Director Uganda
Continue reading
Bewyale Uganda Panyandoli Health Clinic
Michael Lear, Director International Relations
2009 Field Update Gojira VS Mekagojira video
School Fees Support Continues
As a new blog volunteer for the Real Medicine Foundation (RMF) and a fan of YouTube, I took to searching it the other day for related video on RMF. Lo and behold, there was more to choose from than expected. I particularly liked this one with Carly, as it does a good job of explaining the <still brief!> history of the foundation.
It is truly inspirational how one motivated pediatrician’s instinct to hop on a plane to Sri Lanka to help in a disaster has turned into a foundation spanning a dozen+ countries.