https://mailchi.mp/konbitsante/summer-newsletter?e=ee9995f90a
Summer Newsletter | |||||||||||||||||
This summer we sent a newsletter to our supporters with featured stories highlighting some of the work Konbit Sante has been a part of! Here are a few of the featured stories. If you would like to learn more about what we do and access the newsletter, click the button below! | |||||||||||||||||
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Ultrasound Training Program This project is currently being conducted at Unite de Lutte pour la Sante (ULS) Health Center and Serving Sante (SS) with the plan to expand to more hospitals and health centers in Cap-Haitien. The overall purpose of this project is to strengthen maternal care and outcomes. In both cases, the medical directors at the facilities identified the need for support. At ULS Health Center, this is one component of a maternal and child health project funded by a grant from the SG Foundation. The project covers comprehensive prenatal care services, including ultrasound screening for pregnant women. On the other hand, SS had been offering prenatal ultrasounds as part of routine care until a part of their machine malfunctioned last year. The equipment was made in China and they were unable to find the replacement parts. Dr. Nelly Osias, the medical director of SS, approached Konbit Sante for assistance to obtain a new machine. | |||||||||||||||||
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The ultrasound machines are donated by Humanitarian Radiology Development Corp, a non-profit organization that is led by our collaborator, Dr. Berndt Schmit. The organization donates equipment and provides training and tools for the users. The machines and screenings conducted by them, have been able to help make births safer for women and their newborn children. Data from ULS Health Center indicates they were able to conduct sixty scans from December 2020 to April 2021, and only seven of those pregnancies had fetal complications and required special health treatment. Our programs team, on the ground, is working alongside our healthcare partners and collaborators to strengthen this project. We are hopeful that this project will improve and facilitate better health outcomes for pregnant women. | |||||||||||||||||
Internship Profile: Alice Cockerham | |||||||||||||||||
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Alice is Kobit Sante’s Social Media and Fundraising intern for the summer of 2021. Alice is a rising junior at Bates College studying Anthropology and Religious studies. She hopes to pursue work in the non-profit field once she graduates. She stated, “Interning at Konbit Sante this summer has been an incredible opportunity. I have been able to get a taste of what a future career in the field of global health would look and feel like.” Some of her responsibilities include creating, editing, and publishing content for Konbit Sante’s social media accounts, interviewing and developing organizational profiles, and writing various pieces for the newsletters. She is also leading the efforts with our summer fundraiser, We Walk with Haiti. She has developed content for it, collaborated with team members to set up their fundraising pages, and raised funds for the walk too! While working remotely, she has been able to attend our US-based staff meetings and the Fundraising and Communications Committee meetings. She has also been working with team members individually, as it pertains to her internship role. In writing the profiles and newsletter pieces, she has had the opportunity to connect with the Haiti-based staff members to learn more about their work and the programs they operate. Alice mentioned, “One of my favorite responsibilities is talking to our partners in Haiti. Their stories are powerful and inspiring. Being involved in such a small part of the work at Konbit Sante has been a very rewarding experience for me.” We are excited to have a summer intern from Bates College and hope to continue the internship program with Bates Colleges and other nearby colleges and universities in the years to come! | |||||||||||||||||
Make Births Safe for Women This project was awarded a $15,000 grant from SG Foundation last year through Konbit Sante. This has been a year-long project focused on making births safe for women and improving the health outcomes of children living in Band du Nord - a peri-urban community of 25,000 people located in the outskirts of Cap-Haitien, Haiti. This project has encompassed four interventions: prenatal clinics, mobile clinics, rally posts, and support for traditional birth attendants. Prenatal clinics provide pregnant women with basic prenatal care focused on risk identification, prevention and management of pregnancy-related complications, and health counseling. Mobile clinics occur once a month at geographically isolated, hard to reach communities. These clinics offer a range of preventive and curative services for the whole family, including screening and hospital referrals for malnourished children. These clinics also serve as vaccination sites. Finally, traditional birth attendants meet monthly with ULS Health Center nurses to receive birthing kits, discuss challenging cases, and review topics for continuing education and skill-building interventions. Traditional birth attendants also identify and refer at-risk pregnant women to ULS Health Center. This project had 4423 direct beneficiaries between December 2020 and April 2021. We estimate there were approximately 14,000 people that were indirect beneficiaries of this project. Despite some financial and political disturbances in the area, ULS Health Center continued to provide quality care and services to a significant portion of the population. | |||||||||||||||||
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