Converting a container to a mobile clinic: Dr James Pukrin delivers specialized medications to the Vozniksyy Foundation (Ukraine)
Rose Charities Canada has been continuing health-care support to the Ukraine war victims in through supporting highly effective ICross B.C efforts. Container(s) are being converted to mobile health clinics and hard to get specialized medications supplied from Canada. Peripheral medical supplies, ie blankets, baby items also are being sent through the same coordination.
Rose Charities Haiti Children and Youth Project’s extensive local grassroots contact in the area has ensured a penetration of response rapidly to street level. Wherever possible local materials and purchasable items are being acquired which not only assist with those who have lost homes and assets but also helps to support and recover the local economy.
Assistance continues to be focussed on the Les Cayes region which was one of the worst to be affected by the quake and subsequent storm damage. Local team members move around the area recording the needs of individual families and groups and feeding the information back to the organizers who assist with materials, food or even cash.
Often in these situation, while supplies and materials may be available there are a great number of small needs which prevent their usage. Such simple items as cooking oil or cooking apparatus itself can make a huge difference. Tarpaulins, tool (for livelihood) replacement, some money to pay for medications (cash is always carefully monitored and followed up, but remains a hugely important assistance vehicle, often overlooked in such situations).
Rose Charities has a 20 year plus history of disaster relief in all parts of the world . Always it is noticed that with all natural disasters, while the focus of the media soon moves away other world issues, the deprivation and suffering continue for months into years. It is one of the principles of Rose Charities to remain helping for as long as resources area available and/or needs remain. This has been achieved time and time again. Indeed it was the terrible Haiti Earth Quake of 2010 and subsequent cholera outbreak which established Rose Charities program(s) in Haiti in the first place and from which Haitian Founder Jean Lubin and his wife Terri, run their incredible Rose Children and Youth program now within the earthquake zone.
Donations very gratefully received and go (as described above) directly to the needy in the affected zone, with almost zero (and mostly local so into local economy) admin costs.
At 8.29am on Saturday 14th August mainly south-western Haiti was hit by a 7.2 Richter scale magnitude earthquake. The Rose Haiti Children and Youth Program in the Lavalee-Jacmel area was less affected (some buildings/homes damaged but not collapsed and no deaths) and there has been considerable damage in the areas significantly shaken by the quake / in several areas on the south-west arm of the country. To date 7000 injured and around 1500 deaths. To compound problems a tropical storm (Cyclone Grace residual) has struck the area bringing still more hardship to the homeless and carrying the risk of flash floods with the large quantities of rain it is bringing.
As per usual, Rose Charities takes every measure to assist in areas where it already has involvement utilizing local staff and resources to minimize the logistics and high cost of flying in special personnel and materials. Its long term (since the 2010 Haiti Earthquake) presence means that the staff have a huge, nation-wide network of grassroots contacts who know exactly what and where aid is needed and are able to deliver it. This a model which has worked with incredible cost-effectiveness to provide real, ground-level one-on- one assistance to many parts of the world.
Jean and Terri Lubin, founders of Haiti Children and Youth and two of the most experienced, active and dedicated members of the Rose Charities Canada team are currently implementing aid efforts. Jean is Haitian and Terri has spent many years in the area.
The main damage, while not affecting Haiti Children and Youth, is nevertheless very close to the region where it operates (equally South, only further West). The team is well placed to provide assistance.
Rose Charites Canada is supporting the SFH (Disaster Aid Canada) efforts to provide emergency materials and provisions for the disastrous B.C. wildfires which have been sweeping the province in the wake of record high temperatures ( 40 – 47 deg) .
Having experienced weather temperature of 47 degrees (117 def F) the town of Lytton in S.Central B.C. was almost entirely annihilated by fire which moved with devastating speed and ferocity and resulted in two fatalaties.
SFH was quick to send urgently needed materials such as clothing, sleeping bags etc.
Rose Charities Canada has sent funds for the Rose Nepal Programs Group under Ms Sarala Adhikari to urgently supply around 3000 medical masks, primarily for people in the Pharping area with a focus on kids. While the protective benefits of mask wearing have become well appreciated in the area, simple lack of having them has been impeding their usage. Great work Nepal Group !
Rose Charities Canada is supporting the Rose Charities Nepal Program Group in assisting an urgent local initiative, along with other groups and individuals to provide an oxygen unit for the Manmohan Hospital. The program to date has already raised around 50% of the required NPR 60 lakh (appx CAD65,000) allowing equipment already to be ordered (oxygen production, cylinders, beds etc, as well as ambulance refurbishment).
At the time of writing, Sars-Cov-2, having spread in from India is ravaging Nepal. Resources are strained to beyond their limits and at the end of May 2021 there were over half a million cases with some 8000 deaths. One of the essential treatment methods prevent death, the use of oxygen, has been made almost impossible give to to the majority of covid sufferers due to the overwhelming demand depleting supplies. Ref https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/10/hopeless-situation-oxygen-shortage-fuels-nepal-covid-crisis
The Government is doing what it can but itself has limited resources to spare amid the numerous other national demands from the pandemic.
Manmohan Memorial Community Hospital. Dakshinkali
Dakshinkali, in the Pharping community lies on the southern edge of the Kathmandu Valley, an area containing apprximately 2.5 million people or some 8% of the entire population of Nepal The Manmohan Memorial Community Hospital in Dakshinkali town provides a vital role in serving the people both of the local areas and its surrounds. Its services however have been overwhelmed by the current pandemic.
Manmohan Memorial Community Hospital doing its vital work for the poor
2020 marks the 18th year of the Safe Motherhood Project in Guatemala, a four to five day hands-on education program for Mayan midwives who are called comadronas, Guatemalan volunteer firemen/paramedics who are called bomberos, and other healthcare workers involved in maternity care. We have now taught over 1280 students, skills helpful in managing obstetrical emergencies. We have always intended that these skills complement the traditional birthing practices of Mayan comadronas. The goal is to help reduce maternal and newborn mortality.
Fifty percent of the Guatemalan population identifies as indigenous, Maya. The majority of the Mayan population in Guatemala lives rurally and does not have easy access to health care services. While giving birth has become safer in the urban areas of Guatemala over the past twenty years due to proximity to a system of National Hospitals, giving birth rurally is still fraught with risk; hospital care is often a distance away, and maternal mortality and newborn mortality rates are much higher among the rural population in the country. Our course targets comadronas and bomberos in the rural highlands of Guatemala.
The global pandemic caused by the SARS CoV2 virus has had a huge impact on our project this year. Just before global cases of COVID 19 surged, from January 9 to January 26, Annette Borkent, RN, Ruth Brighouse, MD, and Birte Pachen, RM, travelled to Guatemala to join our Guatemalan teammates, Cenaida Juarez, project coordinator and instructor; Gloria Cotuj, comadrona and instructor; and Gaby Castellanos, nutritionist and instructor. Together we taught 15 experienced comadronas in Santiago Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in the department of Solola. All of our students were very satisfied with the course remarking how practical it was and how useful it would be to apply the skills learned in a rural home birth. We had a wonderful closing ceremony where each student received their course diploma, manual, and birthing kit of supplies. We were fortunate to use the facilities at the POWHER School, run by Salvando Madres. POWHER is an NGO that also offers courses and assistance to the comadronas of the municipality of Santiago Atitlan. We required translation assistance from Chonita one of POWHER’s instructors, as most students spoke the Mayan dialect of Tzutuil. During this time we met American and Mexican midwives volunteering at the school and also at a Casa Materna (birth house) in San Juan La Laguna, a community across the lake from Santiago. Check our facebook page, “The Safe Motherhood Project” to see videos of us in action this year.
For the second week of our sojourn we planned to teach in San Juan La Laguna, but the group requesting our course cancelled the course just days before our arrival. Always adaptable, we seized the opportunity to teach 57 school girls aged 10 to 13 years. We taught the girls about female anatomy, menstruation, teen pregnancy, and the right to say “NO” to sexual advances. Teen pregnancy is a huge problem in Guatemala. Each student was allowed to ask questions anonymously by writing her question on a piece of paper that was placed in our basket. We jumbled the pieces of paper and drew questions and provided answers. This was very successful. This type of educational project would tie in nicely with the Days for Girls project where re-usable menstrual pads and panties are provided in a kit to each adolescent girl. Unfortunately we had not budgeted for these supplies which we could have obtained for a cost from the local branch of Days for Girls.
We also took time to provide practice updates to our Guatemalan teammates and re-certify them on the various topics we teach. We often do not have time during our trips to provide continuing education to our instructors. This was a timely opportunity. We also spent time updating our manual to be more commensurate with the Guatemalan Department of Public Health health promotion materials.
Finally, we were invited by three bomberos that we had taught three years prior, to Chichicastenango, Quiche, population, 75,000. They shared stories of how valuable our course had been for them. They had been called to a number of birthing emergencies and were able to save the lives of both mothers and babies using the techniques we had taught. They wanted us to come to their city to offer a course to their bombero colleagues, which was planned for April 2020.
And then the virus struck globally and a pandemic was declared which halted our team’s activites abruptly in March…..
It is unfortunate that so many worthwhile projects have been placed “on hold” during this pandemic. We have also suspended our fundraising activites given the current uncertainty.
We have been convinced by the students we’ve taught of the value of our “hands on” teaching model. We believe this course is truly valuable and deserves to continue. This hiatus will allow us to solicit funds from larger funding agencies in addition to our usual individual donors.
We have a positive balance in the bank. While Guatemala is under curfew, there may still be useful activities our Guatemalan teammates can undertake in the next few months. It is our hope to have a broader reach with our birthing emergencies course throughout Guatemala. To do that we will need to train a larger and more geographically diverse group of instructors. We hope to have some success with larger funding agencies who share our vision.
Annette Borkent. Founder Safe Motherhood Program Guatemala
As with so man organisations, individuals and groups, members of the Rose Charities network have striven to help where they can. Initiatives include both those in very developing countries which, on top of existing poverty are being very hard hit as well as within problem areas in ‘the west’
Zambia (Malambo-Rose Charities Canada). Food distribution as well as a soap distribution, education and local soap making program. Recently also a protective mask making program has been inaugurated. For Malambo programs see ..Uganda Stand Tall education (Rose Charities Canada) has assisted with food distribution . This has also been implemented in the rural Voset School (Rose Charities Canada supported) . A generator has been supplied and installed in its own hut and this will assist hugely with the increased level of power cuts. Ethopia(PIHA-Rose Charities Canada ) Fund have been sent for food and material assistance.
United Kingdom. Rose Charities UK has carried out the following assistances a) medial mask manufacture by 3D printing. A private initiative was supported to establish and expand a manufacturing facility for medical protective masks to supply at material cost price. The support assisted the organization (along with others) to set up full production and now around a thousand masks a week are being produced and distributed. The program has proven so successful that further support has now been attracted by a large company which will boost production still further b) Reading program support to a school in South London with a high proportion of children from poor families. The corvid-19 crisis has left many unable to socialize normally and this is particularly harmful in in adolescent children in difficult areas where there is a danger of turning to crime, drug trafficking etc. The school initiative is combating this with a Kindle reading program. Kindles are purchased and lent to the children along with eBooks of their choice and all encouragement to read. The very fact that the reading is from a Kindle gives a lot of encouragement in the current age (surprising as this may seem to older generations)
Other programs will be reported on as they occur. Assistances in Haiti, Guatemala and NZ are under consideration
Rose Charities UK is assisting in provided much needed aid relief to the devastating series of earthquakes which have occurred in Lombok, Indonesia. Working with our Board Member Khalid Virani who was in the region at the time of the quakes, knows the area well and has a reliable network of contacts on the ground we are providing relief supplies such as non perishable food including rice and cooking oil, drinking water, ponchos, tarpaulin and basic medical materials to help alleviate the ongoing
Well over 250 people are confirmed dead, thousands missing or injured and tens of thousands displaced from their homes. Any donations hugely appreciated. Rose Charities UK takes no administration costs and works locally where needs can be met at ground level
Donate through our JustGiving site – please state ‘Lombok’ in the ‘comments/notes’ field
