Recent Reports

Throughout the month June, RMF and Armenian Relief Society (ARS) continued their mission with the implementation stage of distributing the necessary medicines to those in need and continuing their analysis, gathering of case stories and identifying various gaps in services to be met in the future.

To comply with program objectives, our program partner ARS, focused on equipping of the six satellite health posts with pharmaceuticals to service the target population in the region. In addition, ARS assessed, evaluated and reported all the necessary elements in the purchase of the ambulance which is projected to significantly increase access…

During the month of April, RMF and ARS staff performed assessments in Shinuhayr’s surrounding villages, all of them with little access to health care, and investigated the shortfalls of medicines in the region. Throughout the month, medicines were purchased and distributed to 58 beneficiaries in selected villages, 16 of them children. Close to 22% received some type of antibiotic; 25% received heart/diabetic medications and the rest ranged from analgesics to anti-depressants, vitamins, antipyretics and others. 

In addition to the medical services it provides, the Shinuhyr ambulatory is also intended for delivery of counseling services,…

Even though there have been some notable economic improvements in Armenia, the country is still facing high inflation and frequent increases in costs for basic products and services. Social polarization reflects a highly uneven distribution of economic growth. Based on the World Bank’s statistics, over half of the population in the country is living under poverty level. The Ministry of Health is implementing health reforms, and it is struggling to provide quality medicines, supplies, and laboratory equipment to keep up basic medical services in many rural hospitals and small health facilities, including our clinic in…

This November, RMF welcomes to our team, Armenia Project Coordinator, Ms. Kristina Matevosyan. Based in Shinuhayr, she will fulfill various responsibilities in the planning, implementation and evaluation phases of our program.

Through our partner organization ARS, The Armenian Relief Society and with the generous support of our friends who attended our “Journey to Armenia” event this summer, RMF will provide basic medical supplies and medicine to the Shinuhayr clinic to ensure adequate stocks to meet the immediate needs of the surrounding communities. We’re also investing the purchase of an ambulance for the clinic to expand…

The hard work toward raising funds for our primary care clinic in Shinuhayr continues…

In the last few months, RMF and its many volunteers have been working very hard planning a fundraising event to benefit our project in Shinuhayr. Our goal is to begin complete renovation of the 14,000 sq. foot roof of the clinic this summer so that it will be in place before the onslaught of winter. We are confident that the funds needed for this phase, a total of $75,000, will be raised in its entirety on the evening of June 12th…

On January 17th, RMF visited the village of Shinuhayr with the following agenda:

Recently, the World Health Report (WHO) 2008 confirmed UN…

Since the germination of the idea for the RMF-Armenia Clinic project in April of 2008, we have had considerable progress. The needs assessment for the project was completed by independent consultant Dr. Alina Dorian, upon which we were able to identify the exact location and primary care services and programs RMF will implement.

The Republic of Armenia is a small, mountainous country located in southwestern Asia, between the Caucasus and Near Asia (the area between the Kur and Araks rivers). The country is bordered by Georgia and Azerbaijan on the north and east, and by Turkey and Iran…

Armenia is one of the world’s oldest civilizations located in the southern Caucasus and is the smallest of the former Soviet republics. It lies in the highlands surrounding the Biblical mountains of Ararat, upon which, as Judeo-Christian theology states, Noah’s Ark came to rest after the flood (Gen 8:4). Armenia was the first country in the world to officially embrace Christianity as its religion in 300 A.D. Upon the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia declared its independence on September 23, 1991 as a free democratic country.

Armenia has an estimated population of 3,000,000 people of which 70.3%…

Project Goal:

To reduce the prevalence of underweight children under 5 years old and to reduce child mortality from malnutrition by strengthening communities and village level government facilities’ capacity to identify, treat, and prevent malnutrition.  This project aims to prove that a holistic, decentralized, community-based approach to malnutrition eradication will have better health outcomes, be more inclusive for children under 5 and will be more cost-effective in the long-run than centralized approaches, especially for rural, marginalized tribal communities.

This project empowers communities through health literacy and connects rural communities with the government health and nutrition services…

Project Goal:

To reduce the prevalence of underweight children under 5 years old and to reduce child mortality from malnutrition by strengthening communities and village level government facilities’ capacity to identify, treat, and prevent malnutrition.  This project aims to prove that a holistic, decentralized, community-based approach to malnutrition eradication will have better health outcomes, be more inclusive for children under 5 and will be more cost-effective in the long-run than centralized approaches, especially for rural, marginalized tribal communities.

Photo: RMF's Malnutrition Education Booth at the International Women’s Day Mela

This project empowers…

The Real Medicine Foundation is pleased to announce that it is now in partnership with the World Bank’s Development Marketplace for our programs in India. The Development Marketplace (DM) is a competitive grant program that identifies and funds innovative, early stage development projects that are scalable and/or replicable, while also having high potential for development impact.

World Bank Press Release of Award Announcement

Photo: Michael Matheke-Fisher, RMF Country Director, India (left), Pratik Phadkule, RMF Program Manager (second from (left) recieve award from, Drew von Glahn, Team Leader of Development Marketplace (third…

Project Background:

RMF's Childhood Malnutrition Eradication Initiative has the largest field presence of any NGO working in malnutrition in the region, a result of strong partnerships with government, NGOs, business, and most importantly, local communities. Into its second year, our program continues stronger than ever.  Our team of 75 Community Nutrition Educators (CNEs) is covering enormous ground every week across 5 districts and 600 villages in Madhya Pradesh.  Madhya Pradesh carries India's highest malnutrition burden, with 60% of its children under 5 malnourished – approximately 6 million children whose futures are at risk.  Our strategy continues to…

Over the course of the past three years, RMF’s CNEs have helped thousands of children recover from malnutrition. Some times these cases are easy to handle: the CNE diagnoses a child, refers them to treatment, and the family agrees to do everything they can to help their child. Often, however, there are too many challenges for these families to overcome to give their child the treatment they require. 

Right now in Madhya Pradesh, the only treatment option for children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) is a 14 to 21 day stay in a Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre (NRC),…

Most organizations in the developing world still rely on paper for record keeping, giving rise to many problems in aggregation, storage, transmission and analysis of data. Errors and time delays associated with paper data are particularly problematic in the domain of healthcare. We present a case study of CommCare, a low-cost mobile phone data collection solution deployed to enhance the paper-based record management system of a non-profit organization working in prevention of child malnutrition in rural central India. Through a three-month unsupervised field trial with ten rural health workers we report data management gains in terms of data quality,…

Project Background:  

RMF's Childhood Malnutrition Eradication Initiative has the largest field presence of any NGO working in malnutrition in the region, a result of strong partnerships with government, NGOs, business, and most importantly, local communities. Into its second year, our program continues stronger than ever.  Our team of 75 Community Nutrition Educators (CNEs) is covering enormous ground every week across 5 districts and 600 villages in Madhya Pradesh.  Madhya Pradesh carries India's highest malnutrition burden, with 60% of its children under 5 malnourished – approximately 6 million children whose futures are at risk.  Our strategy continues to…

Project Goal

To reduce the prevalence of underweight children under 5 years old and to reduce child mortality from malnutrition by strengthening communities and village level government facilities’ capacity to identify, treat, and prevent malnutrition.  This project aims to prove that a holistic, decentralized, community-based approach to malnutrition eradication will have better health outcomes, be more inclusive for children under 5 and will be more cost-effective in the long-run than centralized approaches, especially for rural, marginalized tribal communities.

Photo: Two of our Community Nutrition Educators learning to use the RMF/Commcare mobile phone survey…

Sunday, November 20, 2011 was the first time I met Sonu. To me, he was a picture on a PowerPoint presentation, a picture that continues to shock me today. Sonu came into our program 15 months ago while I was in Delhi working on streamlining our administrative procedures and, more importantly, trying to raise more funds to help children like him. Fundraising and administrative work, while just as vital as the field work we engage in, is an ever present necessity shared by our small, but dedicated team.

Photo: Sonu, before he began treatment through…

Click here to watch Phil Ebiner's video documentary about Asha, one of the children treated by our Malnutrition Eradication Program.

Project Goal:

To reduce the prevalence of underweight children under 5 years old and to reduce child mortality from malnutrition by strengthening communities and village level government facilities’ capacity to identify, treat, and prevent malnutrition.  This project aims to prove that a holistic, decentralized, community-based approach to malnutrition eradication will have better health outcomes, be more inclusive for children under 5 and will be more cost-effective in the long-run than centralized approaches, especially for rural, marginalized tribal communities.

This project will empower communities through health literacy and connect rural communities with…

Project Goal:

To reduce the prevalence of underweight children under 5 years old and to reduce child mortality from malnutrition by strengthening communities and village level government facilities’ capacity to identify, treat, and prevent malnutrition. This project aims to prove that a holistic, decentralized, community-based approach to malnutrition eradication will have better health outcomes, be more inclusive for children under 5 and will be more cost-effective in the long-run than centralized approaches, especially for rural, marginalized tribal communities.

This project will empower communities through health literacy and connect rural communities with the government…

Project Goal

To reduce the prevalence of underweight children under 5 years old and to reduce child mortality from malnutrition by strengthening communities and village level government facilities’ capacity to identify, treat, and prevent malnutrition. This project aims to prove that a holistic, decentralized, community-based approach to malnutrition eradication will have better health outcomes, be more inclusive for children under 5 and will be more cost-effective in the long-run than centralized approaches, especially for rural, marginalized tribal communities.

Photo: RMF Staff conducting spot checks in the field

This project will empower communities…

By Caitlin McQuilling

RMF Community Nutrition Educator, Samoti, and a child recovering from SAM.

Photo Credits: Ximena Prugue

In March 2009, when I was conducting the initial field visits to develop RMF’s Malnutrition Eradication Program I visited a village called Shali Dana, in Kalwa block of Khandwa district in Madhya Pradesh. I remember being shocked and overwhelmed by the amount of children with severe acute malnutrition I saw in this village and the complete apathy and absence of government services in this village. We saw dozens of glassy eyed children with thinning…

Introducing a new pilot initiative within RMF’s Eradicate Malnutrition Program: Strengthening Community Management of Childhood Malnutrition through community mobilization, and nutrition and health education of mothers and pregnant women in Barwani, Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh has the highest rate of childhood malnutrition in India, with upwards of 60% of all children under 5 years old underweight. In many tribal communities in the state, this rate may be even higher, with alarmingly high rates of severe and moderate acute malnutrition. These communities often have limited access to government resources meant to prevent and treat malnutrition and…

Introduction

In January 2010, Real Medicine Foundation (RMF) set off on an ambitious mission to begin eradicating malnutrition Southwestern Madhya Pradesh. Facing extremely high rates of malnutrition and a challenging environment in the field, RMF brought on and trained 55 Community Nutrition Educators, a force of local tribal women with the passion and dedication to combat malnutrition in their communities. With the leadership of these local women, RMF’s team went door to door across 500 of the villages worst hit by childhood malnutrition and identified over 76,000 children with severe and moderate acute malnutrition. In just 12…

The Real Medicine India Class of 2011

Announcing the 26 members of the Real Medicine India Class of 2011! On October 30th, 2010 all 25 members of the RMF India team who applied were accepted into the year-long Child Health and Nutrition Course at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). The course officially starts on January 1st 2011, with final exams in December of 2011.

This course is mostly a correspondence course, with classroom sessions and presentations quarterly at the IGNOU campus in Jhabua. The course focuses on the basics of early childhood development and…

Year to date Progress Report: January through August 31st, 2010

As we approach the 9th month of our Malnutrition Eradication program, this progress report serves to summarize the incredible achievements of this initiative in such a short time. 

This project seeks to empower communities through health literacy and connects rural communities with existing government health and nutrition services locally available, thus reducing the prevalence of malnutrition. We employ 55 tribal women as Community Nutrition Educators, covering 500 villages across 5 of the districts hardest hit by…

Back in January, Phil Ebiner and Vince Patin, juniors at Loyola Marymount College, contacted RMF CEO Dr. Martina Fuchs to explore collaborating with RMF on a volunteer project for the summer. Phil, Vince, and new team members Diego Gonzalez, and Sahar Mansoor, faced challenges to their work for RMF India even before they got on the plane. Phil and Vince had been working very hard on securing a grant for their work and while all indicators pointed to them having a very good chance of receiving the grant in the end, they did not receive the expected cash. Disappointed,…

Real Medicine India is proud to introduce its newest staff member, Jaimie Shaff, as the team’s Program Manager for Health and Nutrition. Jaimie recently completed her Master of Public Administration for International Public and Non-Profit Management and Policy Analysis at New York University.

While Jaimie is new to the RMF team, she’s not new to our programs. For the past year Jaimie has been a part of the 4 person “Capstone” team, assigned to help RMF’s “Eradicate Malnutrition” program through NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service’s Capstone program. Jaimie and her colleagues spent two semesters helping…

RMF is proud to announce that the Capstone team from the NYU Robert Wagner School of Public Service has successfully completed their collaboration on the Malnutrition Initiative in Madhya Pradesh. The Capstone team was engaged to assist RMF identify opportunities for eradicating malnutrition in Madhya Pradesh, while providing additional tools and information to assess program effectiveness. The objective of this report is to serve as an evaluative tool for RMF in regards to the “Eradicate Malnutrition” Program, from the perspective of the New York University Capstone team.

In April 2009, the Real Medicine Foundation (RMF) launched the “Eradicate…

After months of negotiating the bureaucratic maze of India; acquiring form after form and signature after signature; tireless hours spent on renovation and beautification by our dedicated staff and volunteers, RMF and its partner, Jeevan Jyoti Health Service Society, who operate Jeevan Jyoti Hospital, proudly inaugurated its Nutritional Rehabilitation Center (NRC) in partnership with the state government of Madhya Pradesh. After the requisite ribbon cutting and speech by the district’s Chief Medical Officer, we immediately admitted our first 12 patients, who had been waiting (while being looked after by our staff) for hours to be officially admitted.

As our teams have finished their baseline surveys and are now moving on to the intervention stage of our childhood malnutrition program, we’re excited to already be seeing successes.

A few days ago I went out with one of our community nutrition educators, Priyanka, from Alirajpur, to see how the team is doing with their trainings and individual household counseling sessions.

Priyanka, one of RMF's Community Nutrition Educators, Kashish, and Ranu

Priyanka and I visited Chota Undava village which Priyanka had already visited twice, once during the baseline and once to follow-up with…

Now that the training of our Community Nutrition Educators (CNEs) is complete, Real Medicine Foundation Team India has started our field surveys in 500 villages in Southwest Madhya Pradesh. The CNEs are going door to door to find out about nutrition levels among all children under 5 and ask the thousands of families about livelihoods, access to healthcare and public services, and available food. This is the first time a survey of this size and scope is being conducted in these areas.

Our goal is to gain a better understanding of the level of malnutrition…

The Real Medicine Foundation (RMF) and NYU’s prestigious Capstone program have announced a partnership and three graduate students have arrived in Jhabua, Madyha Pradesh to assist with RMF’s malnutrition program.

An estimated 60 million children under the age of five are estimated to be malnourished India. The state where RMF is concentrating, Madhya Pradesh, has the country’s highest malnutrition burden, with 60% of its children under-five malnourished. Of the six million malnourished children in the state, 1.3 million of them have severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and one million have moderate acute malnutrition (MAM).

Children with MAM are…

Read the full PDF story here.

Malnutrition Eradication Program, Madhya Pradesh, India

RMF's Childhood Malnutrition Treatment and Prevention Initiative boasts the largest field presence of any NGO working in malnutrition in the region, a result of strong partnerships with government, NGOs, business, and most importantly, local communities. Madhya Pradesh carries India's highest malnutrition burden, with 60% of its children under 5 malnourished and approximately 6 million children whose futures are at risk. We decided to attack the problem head on by focusing our efforts on 500 of the worst hit villages across 5 districts. Our strategy is to close the gap between the…

Jhabua, Alirajpur, Khandwa, Khargone June 2009

Malnutrition is one of the most serious and large scale health problems facing the Indian state today:

Staggering figures, but we have to start somewhere.

RMF will start by working with government, NGO, UN, corporate, and civil society partners in Madhya Pradesh to treat severe and moderate acute malnutrition at community levels and to simultaneously train local communities in malnutrition identification, treatment, and long…

In closing out our Tsunami/Earthquake relief project in Japan, our partner in Japan JEN (Japan Emergency NGO) interviewed a couple at one of the Community Gathering Centers and Shelters that we supported.  Mr. Ryozo SANJO (73) and Mrs. Kieko (69) SANJO, are residents of Oppagawa Kasen Transitional Shelter.

Q: At first, could you please introduce yourselves briefly?

A: Now, my husband and I are living in a temporary house. Before the disaster, we used to live in the Nagatsura area in Ishinomaki city. My husband retired a few years ago from a plywood company after 30 years.…

RMF partner JEN volunteers and local villagers making fishing nets in Fukkiuraüi (photo copyright JEN)

Yesterday marked the one year since an enormous earthquake sent a tsunami roaring into the east coast of Japan. Almost 19,000 people died in the ensuing tsunami waves with many coastal communities wiped off the map.

In the aftermath of this devastation, we partnered with a Japanese non-profit in Tokyo, Japanese Emergency NGO (JEN) in late March 2011, to deliver aid and supplies to those most affected.  Our relief efforts over the past year with JEN have reached more than 33,000…

 Photo: Locals of the Oshika Peninsula, preparing aqua-farming equipment (JEN photo credit)

Project Period: October 1st – December 31st, 2011

Metabolic Studio/The Annenberg Foundation Grant Through the Metabolic Studio, a direct charitable activity of The Annenberg Foundation, Real Medicine Foundation (RMF) received a $100,000 grant on September 12th, 2011, directed towards Tsunami/Earthquake Relief Efforts in Japan in partnership with the Japanese Emergency NGO (JEN).  Over the course of 3 months, from October 1st to December 31st, 2011, RMF and JEN were able to use these funds for a Fishery Rebuilding and Assistance effort on the Oshika Peninsula.

Project Objectives Recover the livelihood of Earthquake/Tsunami…

Period of Report:  November 25 – December 22, 2011

Geographic Locations: Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture

Beneficiaries Approximately 1,894 individuals, employees of 16 local companies, students at 16 schools, 10,823 households and the residents of 16 communities in the general Ishinomaki area were reached by JEN’s activities during this period.

Activities 1) Volunteer Dispatch Debris Removal Supported by 45 volunteers, JEN completed removing rubble and sludge from a total of 3 buildings/locations in Ishinomaki City. During this reporting period, JEN dispatched volunteers cleaning ditches, assisting with document organization for…

Period of Report:  October 23rd – November 24th, 2011

Geographic Locations  Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture

Beneficiaries Approximately 5,040 individuals, employees of 7 local companies, 6 households and the residents of 24 communities were reached by JEN's/RMF sponsored activities during this period.

Activities Volunteer Dispatch Debris Removal Supported by 331 volunteers, JEN has completed removing the rubble and sludge from a total of 6 locations in Ishinomaki City. JEN dispatched volunteers to clean the houses, offices and factories.

Fishery Assistance  324 additional JEN volunteers were dispatched to…

The Fishery Assitance Program is a partnership between Real Medicine Foundation and the Japanese Emergency NGO (JEN) made possible by a grant provided by Metabolic Studio, a direct charitable activity of The Annenberg Foundation in Los Angeles.   

Photo: Volunteers assist with Aqua farming cleanup (Photo credit: JEN) 

Project Objective:

Recover the livelihood of Earthquake/Tsunami affected fishermen of Eastern Japan on the Oshika Peninsula.  The immediate objective is for the local fishermen of the Yoriiso-hama, Higashihama, and Omotehama communities to be able to restart aqua-farming of ascidiacea…

PERIOD OF REPORT: 19 August – 22 September, 2011

1. BENEFICIARIES Approximately 1,690 individuals, employees of 7 local companies, 11 households and the residents of 11 communities of Ishinomaki were reached by JEN’s activities during this period.

2. ACTIVITIES 1) Volunteer Dispatch • Supported by 2,890 volunteers, JEN has completed removing rubble and sludge from a total of 196 buildings in Ishinomaki City. JEN dispatched volunteers to clean places such as houses, an office and a factory.

• JEN was requested to send volunteers to help hold a sports event at Oshika Junior…

Photo: Last Soup Kitchen Service at Nakayashiki (JEN Copyright)

PERIOD OF REPORT: July 22nd –August 18th, 2011

1. BENEFICIARIES Approximately 964 individuals, the employees of 7 local companies and 866 households in the general Ishinomaki area were reached by JEN’s activities during this period.

2. ACTIVITIES 1) Volunteer Dispatch 1-1. Sludge Removal Supported by 2,546 volunteers, JEN has completed removing rubbles and sludge from a total of 185 buildings or places in Ishinomaki City.

JEN was requested to dispatch volunteers for the cleaning of a fish sausage factory in the…

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture

BENEFICIARIES Approximately 1,265 individuals and 1,178 households of 6 communities and general Ishinomaki citizens were reached by JEN’s activities during this period.

ACTIVITIES 1) Volunteer Dispatch

Sludge Removal Supported by 2,059 volunteers, JEN has completed removing rubble and sludge from a total of 176 buildings and lots in Ishinomaki City.

JEN’s volunteers participated in a joint ditch cleaning and park weeding effort organized by JEN and the community on July 9th and 10th in the South Kazuma area. JEN was requested to…

JEN BI-WEEKLY SITUATION REPORT PERIOD OF REPORT: 24 Jun – 7Jul, 2011  

1. GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture

2. BENEFICIARIES Approximately 8,695 individuals, 1,348 households and residents of 7 communities in Ishinomaki were reached by JEN’s relief activities during this period.

3. ACTIVITIES 1) Volunteer Dispatch 1-1. Sludge Removal Supported by 1,785 volunteers, JEN has completed removing rubble and sludge from a total of 172 houses in Ishinomaki City. Having completed sludge removal from the most needed houses in the area, JEN’s activities have shifted to the…

PERIOD OF REPORT: 5th – 23rd Jun 2011

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture

BENEFICIARIES Approximately 3,777 individuals and 2,330 households, and evacuees at 5 evacuation centers in the Ishinomaki area were reached by JEN’s activities during this period.

ACTIVITIES 1) Material Distribution Deodorant and cleaning materials were distributed at 4 evacuation centers (Oshika Peninsula, Ayukawa, Omotehama, Higashihama) and at the Ogihama primary school on the 15th of June. Items Distributed: Strong Deodorant：20ℓ * 50 bottles (to be diluted 1/5) Washing powder and Liquid：10ℓ Bathwater additive：450g (to be diluted…

PERIOD OF REPORT: May 23- June 4, 2011

Location: Ishinomaki City

1. BENEFICIARIES Approximately 6,257 individuals and 895 households were reached by JEN’s activities during this period.

2. ACTIVITIES 1) Material Distribution Four cases of canned food were distributed at the sports day event at Ogihama Primary School in Ishinomaki. In-kind donations (9,000 bottles of shampoo and bath towels) were prepared at JEN’s Ishinomaki warehouse for further distribution.

2) Sludge Removal Volunteer Dispatch Supported by 1,410 volunteers, JEN has completed removing rubble and sludge from…

PERIOD OF REPORT: May 8th – 21st, 2011

1. BENEFICIARIES Approximately 6,905 individuals and 101 households were reached by JEN’s activities during this reporting period.

2. ACTIVITIES

1) Sludge Removal Volunteer Dispatch Supported by 1,307 volunteers, JEN has completed removing the rubble and sludge from a total of 134 houses in the Watanoha area and Oshika Peninsula of Ishinomaki City. The number of volunteers dropped drastically after the end of the Golden Week holidays in Japan (2 May – 8 May). Securing enough volunteers, especially on weekdays, will be an issue moving…

Photo: Sludge Removal Volunteers at Orientation (Photo: JEN copyright)

Our Japan Relief partner, Japanese Emergency NGO (JEN) has updated us with the following field report of activities conducted from 24 April to 7 May with the help of RMF's funding.

Beneficiaries

Approximately 6,531 individuals and 241 households were reached by JEN’s activities during this period.

Activities

1) Material Distribution

JEN distributed sludge removal kits including rubber boots, rain coats, jerry cans, and shovels to evacuees in Oshika Peninsula, a 2 hour-drive from Ishinomaki City, where assistance has been delayed. These same…

PERIOD OF REPORT: 9 April – 23 April 2011

Progress report from our partners on the ground at Japan Emergency NGO (JEN)

Approximately 5,735 people were reached by JEN’s activities during this last period Evacuees at evacuation centers as well as those in their own houses without food stocks in Ishinomaki City are the primary target groups of JEN  

ACTIVITIES 1) Material Distribution Between 16 and 21 April, JEN distributed portable heating pads, wet tissues, and dust-protective masks, clothing and sludge removal equipment to the evacuees in Oshika Peninsula…

JAPAN RELIEF/JEN SITUATION REPORT  

PERIOD OF REPORT: 12 MARCH– 19 APRIL 2011

1. BENEFICIARIES

2. ACTIVITIES 1) Material Distribution The following food and non-food items were delivered to evacuation centers and homes for the elderly.

2) Sludge Removal Volunteer Dispatch Supported by…

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.

Photo above: 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…

RMF Japan Relief partner JEN has been sending us the enclosed photos from their teams on the ground in northeastern Japan and posting their field updates to their blog

Photo below: Volunteers assist at JEN funded soup kitchen (Photo copyright JEN)

From the blog:

JEN’s Ishinomaki Team is divided into four groups:

• Sludge removal team (removing sludge from evacuation centers and individual homes) • Soup kitchen team (distribution of food at evacuation centers) • Psychosocial care team (psychological support for those affected by the earthquake) • Household visiting…

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.

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 last week’s relief work from their blog:

"On March 23rd, JEN dispatched…

We are very pleased to announce that 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 have agreed to match donations to our Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief dollar for dollar up to $18,000!

Currently, our relief efforts are focused on partnering directly with a Japanese non-profit organization, JEN ("Japanese Emergency NGO" http://www.jen-npo.org/en/index.html) based in Tokyo. JEN is an officially registered Japanese…

After reaching out to our network we are pleased to announce that we have located a Japanese non-profit organization JEN ("Japanese Emergency NGO"), to work directly with on the ground in Tokyo and the tsunami affected northern areas of Japan. JEN came highly recommended to us by our partners over at the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, who vouched for JEN's trustworthiness and effectiveness in disaster relief.

JEN is an officially registered Japanese non-profit founded in 1994 in response to the humanitarian crisis in Bosnia, and has since then been conducting relief around the…

Over the weekend we have communicated with our partners at the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), regarding the relief efforts in Japan and where our help might be needed most. JICA is Japan’s international aid and development arm (similar to USAID); we have been working with them for the past two years as project partners in our South Sudan initiative.

According to our contact at JICA, the relief activities are in full swing but still not perfectly coordinated, Japanese Self-Defense Forces are in the Miyagi Prefecture, and the Japanese government is getting ready to accept larger…

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…

Project Background:

RMF’s Mobile Clinic in Mozambique is a new model of health care provision for our organization, conceptualized to reach remote and rural communities with no prior access to health care. Since its inception in 2008 our Mobile Clinic has been hugely successful and remains the only mobile clinic in all of Mozambique. The clinic, a collaboration between RMF, Vanderbilt University’s Friends in Global Health and Medical Mission International, is currently deployed in one of the most populous provinces of Mozambique, Zambézia Province, located in the central coastal region with a population of almost 4 million.

Project Background:

RMF’s Mobile Clinic in Mozambique is a new model of health care provision for our organization, conceptualized to reach remote and rural communities with no prior access to health care. Since its inception in 2008 our Mobile Clinic has been hugely successful and remains the only mobile clinic in all of Mozambique. The clinic, a collaboration between RMF, Vanderbilt University’s Friends in Global Health and Medical Mission International, is currently deployed in one of the most populous provinces of Mozambique, Zambézia Province, located in the central coastal region with a population of almost 4 million.

Project Background:

RMF’s Mobile Clinic in Mozambique is a new model of health care provision for our organization, conceptualized to reach remote and rural communities with no prior access to health care. Since its inception in 2008 our Mobile Clinic has been hugely successful and remains the only mobile clinic in all of Mozambique. The clinic, a collaboration between RMF, Vanderbilt University’s Friends in Global Health and Medical Mission International, is currently deployed in one of the most populous provinces of Mozambique, Zambézia Province, located in the central coastal region with a population of almost 4 million.

…

Project Background:

RMF’s Mobile Clinic in Mozambique is a new model of health care provision for our organization, conceptualized to reach remote and rural communities with no prior access to health care. Since its inception in 2008 our Mobile Clinic has been hugely successful and remains the only mobile clinic in all of Mozambique. The clinic, a collaboration between RMF, Vanderbilt University’s Friends in Global Health and Medical Mission International, is currently deployed in one of the most populous provinces of Mozambique, Zambézia Province, located in the central coastal region with a population of almost 4 million.

Project Background:

RMF’s Mobile Clinic in Mozambique is a new model of health care provision for our organization, conceptualized to reach remote and rural communities with no prior access to health care. Since its inception in 2008 our Mobile Clinic has been hugely successful and remains the only mobile clinic in all of Mozambique. The clinic, a collaboration between RMF, Vanderbilt University’s Friends in Global Health and Medical Mission International, is currently deployed in one of the most populous provinces of Mozambique, Zambézia Province, located in the central coastal region with a population of almost 4 million. 

Project Background:

RMF’s Mobile Clinic in Mozambique is a new model of health care provision for our organization, conceptualized to reach remote and rural communities with no prior access to health care. Since its inception in 2008 our Mobile Clinic has been hugely successful and remains the only mobile clinic in all of Mozambique. The clinic, a collaboration between RMF, Vanderbilt University’s Friends in Global Health and Medical Mission International, is currently deployed in one of the most populous provinces of Mozambique, Zambézia Province, located in the central coastal region with a population of almost 4 million. 

Project Background:

RMF’s Mobile Clinic in Mozambique is a new model of health care provision for our organization, conceptualized to reach remote and rural communities with no prior access to health care. Since its inception in 2008 our Mobile Clinic has been hugely successful and remains the only mobile clinic in all of Mozambique. The clinic, a collaboration between RMF, Vanderbilt University’s Friends in Global Health and Medical Mission International, is currently deployed in one of the most populous provinces of Mozambique, Zambézia Province, located in the central coastal region with a population of almost 4 million. 

Project Goals:

RMF’s Mobile Clinic in Mozambique is a new model of health care provision for our organization, conceptualized to reach remote and rural communities with no prior access to health care. Since its inception in 2008 our Mobile Clinic has been hugely successful and remains the only mobile clinic in all of Mozambique. The clinic, a collaboration between RMF, Vanderbilt University’s Friends in Global Health and Medical Mission International, is currently deployed in one of the most populous provinces of Mozambique, Zambézia Province, located in the central coastal region with a population of almost 4 million. 

Project Goal:  To improve the quality of life and provide access to health services, particularly access to maternal-child healthcare and anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis and other diseases.   To provide access to healthcare in remote areas of Zambézia Province, Mozambique, especially those areas devastated by the floods of 2007 and 2008.

Project Objectives:

To increase the number of people with access to health services as well as the number of those referred to ARV services in the targeted areas.

Summary of RMF/MMI-sponsored activities…

Project Goal: To improve the quality of life and provide access to health services, particularly access to maternal-child healthcare and anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis and other diseases. To provide access to healthcare in remote areas of Zambézia Province, Mozambique, especially those areas devastated by the floods of 2007 and 2008.

Summary of RMF/MMI-sponsored activities carried out during the reporting period:

Activities this quarter have included two areas: a) routine support to Macuse and Mexixine localities in Namacurra District…

Project Goal: To improve the quality of life and provide access to health services, particularly access to maternal-child healthcare and anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis and other diseases.  To provide access to healthcare in remote areas of Zambézia Province, Mozambique, especially those areas devastated by the floods of 2007 and 2008.

Project Objectives: To increase the number of people with access to health services as well as the number of those referred to ARV services in the targeted areas.

…

Project Goal: To improve the quality of life and provide access to health services, particularly access to maternal-child healthcare and anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis and other diseases. To provide access to healthcare in remote areas of Zambézia Province, Mozambique, especially those areas devastated by the floods of 2007 and 2008.

Summary of RMF-sponsored activities carried out during the reporting period under each project objective:

Activities this quarter have included two areas: a) routine support to Macuse and Mexixine localities in Namacurra District and b) participation in…

Our Mobile Health Clinic program in Mozambique continues to be a very effective way of delivering health care services to this rural area of the country. During the second quarter of 2010, RMF partner Friends in Global Health/Vanderbilt worked in close coordination with the DPS and DDSs (Provincial and District Health Directorates) to carry out our healthcare outreach to the villages of Macuse and Mexixine, located in the Namacurra District.  

During the reporting period, the direct target population was focused on the populations of Macuse and Mexixine…

Photos by Rui Esmael and Dr. Martina Fuchs

Additional information provided by Chiqui Arregui, Teresa Mendoza and Dr. Monica Carvalho

Zambézia is one of Mozambique’s poorest and the second most populous province, with 3,892,854 inhabitants (2007 Census), and an estimated HIV prevalence of 19% (2007 sentinel data). Zambézia is located in the central coastal region south of Nampula and north of Sofala. It has a population of 3,794,509 (2006). The provincial capital is Quelimane on the Bons Sinais River. Zambézia has a total area of 103,127 km², much of it drained by the Zambezi River.

…

June 1, 2010

The second day of Mobile Clinic operations I was part of took place in Macuse, also in Namacurra District, a 115km drive. Macuse has a population 40,000.

Meeting with the Mobile Clinic team

  In Quelimane on June 2nd, I accompanied Teresa Mendoza, FGH’s Directora Provincial, to a meeting with the Provincial Health Director, Dr. Battista. Dr. Battista is very excited about the impact and success of our Mobile Clinic operations and stated what I had heard many times in Mozambique: the only thing missing are more mobile…

Our mobile clinic continues to operate successfully in Mozambique under the effective direction of our implementing partner, Friends in Global Health (FGH).

The main activities carried out during this last reporting period were related to supporting the health facilities at Macuse and Mexixine in the Namacurra district, reaching out to the community residents and families of patients gathered at these two locations.

The main services provided were HIV Prevention, Care and Treatment, Prevention and Care for TB, prevention of cervical and breast cancer, maternal and child health outreach and promotion, public education regarding…

Real Medicine’s Mobile Clinic is being deployed in the most populous province of Mozambique, Zambézia Province, located in the central coastal region south of Nampula and north of Sofala. The provincial capital of Zambézia is Quelimane on the Bons Sinais River. Zambézia has a total area of 103,127 km², much of it drained by the Zambezi River. The population of Zambézia is 3,794,509 (2006 statistics).

Friends in Global Health (FGH), RMF’s Implementing Partner, with funding from the Center for Disease Control (CDC-PEPFAR) and financial assistance from RMF for the Mobile Clinic vehicle, is strengthening all the…

On August 15, 2009, a Health Fair took place in Quelimane, Zambézia's capital district, for the first time. The Health Fair occurred with the participation of several health related entities, and was promoted by the Health Ministry aimed at educating the population by providing valuable information, promoting good health awareness, and encouraging participants to assume responsibility for their own health. Friends in Global Health (FGH), RMF's partner organization in Mozambique, was one of the participants and introduced our first mobile clinic to the medical community and Ministry of Health of Mozambique. FGH, an NGO affiliated…

Our Mobile Clinic is completed and on its way from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Quelimane, Mozambique.

Our first mobile clinic – built by Emergency Vehicle Conversions in Johannesburg, South Africa – is almost completed. The anticipated completion date is end of April 2009. We expect it to be launched in Mozambique this spring.

My two-week sojourn in Gile district allowed me to observe the full-spectrum of rural health programs being run by the Ministry of Health, Friends in Global Health (FGH) and other partners. Having surveyed the clinical activities of FGH in the district during my first few days in Gile, I now needed to learn about the health outreach and education programs in the communities themselves. On June 14, I had the perfect opportunity to spend time out in the villages and observe the realities of life in rural Mozambique. I set out from the peripheral health center in the locality…

On June 9, I packed my bags and departed for a two week survey of Gile district. Gile is a mountainous area in the north-east of Zambezia province, easily one of the most isolated and challenging regions in rural Mozambique. Considering the highly dispersed population and tremendous need for basic healthcare—let alone HIV/AIDS services—in Gile, it had been suggested by Friends in Global Health (FGH) as an ideal place to pilot the mobile clinic. Accordingly, I undertook the 400 km journey to Gile from Quelimane on a clear Monday morning with Dr. Emilio Valverde, FGH’s clinical adviser for the…

The first week of June provided me a quick orientation to the excellent work of Friends in Global Health (FGH) in HIV care in Mozambique. It also served as an eye-opening reminder of the human devastation caused by AIDS when acting in concert with extremely poor primary healthcare, frequent natural disasters, population dispersion, inadequate infrastructure, and tremendous logistical challenges. These challenges have come to characterize Zambézia, the most populous province of the country and the staging ground for FGH’s PEPFAR-funded campaign to bring HIV detection and treatment to the rural areas of the country. In Zambézia, rural areas represent…

The Zambezi, Africa's fourth largest river, rises in Zambia and flows along the borders of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe to Mozambique, where it spills into the Indian Ocean. Since mid December 2007, early and torrential seasonal rains across northern Zimbabwe, southern Zambia, Malawi and central and northern Mozambique – intensified by a La Niña in the Pacific and possibly climate change – have waterlogged and destroyed fields, washed out roads and villages, and destroyed livelihoods. The worry for Mozambique is that most of that water drains out to the east along the Zambezi River valley through the center of…

(Photos REUTERS Grant/Neuenburg Mozambique 2/07)

1. Executive Summary

In February 2007, heavy rains ravaged Mozambique. An estimated 285,000 people were affected by severe flooding along the banks of the Zambezi River. More than 160,000 Mozambicans have been displaced and have congregated in refugee camps to the north. Just two weeks later, on February 22, 2007, Cyclone Favio added to an already catastrophic situation when it made landfall in the province of Inhambane and devastated the countryside. Essential infrastructure, health centers, educational facilities, and thousands of hectares of crops were destroyed in the aftermath. Cyclone Favio affected…

Not even a year has passed since Myanmar was devastated by one of South East Asia's most severe cyclones in decade, a media event that came and went quickly yet an event that continues to challenge the lives of millions each day. While the public has forgotten those who lost loved ones, do not have access to food, fresh water or shelter, Real Medicine Foundation has not, and continues to provide critical support to hundreds of thousands of victims in the Irrawaddy Delta through our partners IDE, International Development Enterprises.

With Real Medicine’s support,…

IDE Newsletter, September 2008

NGO Yangon Recovery Report, June 26, 2008

The skies have turned anthracite grey this afternoon in Yangon – an ominous sign that heavy rains are on their way in a few minutes. Winds are pushing the temporary plastic windows up against the back of my chair as I write. On my desk are photographs taken earlier this week of families in the Irrawaddy Delta huddled under a fallen tree during a downpour. These are dark days in Myanmar. The magnitude of the crisis here is almost unimaginable. The latest realistic estimates are that over 100,000 people have died and about 2 million people are affected. It's…

From the afternoon of Friday May 2nd until Saturday May 3rd 2008, Tropical Cyclone Nargis slammed along the coast of Myanmar (Burma) devastating large parts of the low-lying delta region of the Irrawaddy River before ripping through Myanmar’s largest city Yangon (estimated population 6 million) for over ten hours. It cut a path 50 miles wide by 200 miles long, killing an estimated 200,000 people and thousands of animals. Almost 95 per cent of all homes in the rural areas have been destroyed. Entire villages were washed away by 12 foot waves and winds up to 192 miles per…

A very brief update since our last report at the end of June: for the farm recovery effort we provided a monsoon paddy package of rice seed, access to tillers, fertilizer, etc. to 58,383 families across the hardest hit areas of the delta. We were able to deliver 10,387 metric tons of rice seed directly to 1,197 villages before the planting deadline of 31 July. This was the largest small farm relief effort among all international NGOs, the UN system and the government. Families had absolutely no idea how they were going to eat or what…

Photo: PAMS and RMF Peru Clinic Staff gather before the first outreach day

Peruvian American Medical Society (PAMS) at RMF’s Policlínico Peruano Americano   RMF’s Policlínico Peruano Americano in San Clemente has been serving the population of San Clemente since the August 2007 Pisco earthquake.   For the fourth consecutive year, a medical outreach mission was conducted for the populations surrounding San Clemente by the Peruvian American Medical Society (PAMS) and RMF Perú under the direction of PAMS Dr. Hugo Tapia.  This year’s mission was staffed with 3 volunteers in primary care specialties,…

Project Background

On August 15, 2007, Pisco, Peru experienced a deadly earthquake…7.9 on the Richter scale.   Over 1,000 people died, 40,000 families were left without homes, and 150,000 people were left without water.  The majority of the health infrastructure was damaged or destroyed in the earthquake and the people were in need of medical attention.  The Real Medicine Foundation team was deployed to Peru on October 12 in an effort to assist those in need.

Photo: RMF Founder/CEO, Dr. Martina Fuchs and the staff of the RMF Peru Clinic

The primary objective…

Project Background

On August 15, 2007, Pisco, Peru experienced a deadly earthquake…7.9 on the Richter scale.   Over 1,000 people died, 40,000 families were left without homes, and 150,000 people were left without water.  The majority of the health infrastructure was damaged or destroyed in the earthquake and the people were in need of medical attention.  The Real Medicine Foundation team was deployed to Peru on October 12 in an effort to assist those in need. 

The primary objective of our project was to bring long-term free healthcare to the victims of the earthquake who had lost…

Project Background

On August 15, 2007, Pisco, Peru experienced a deadly earthquake…7.9 on the Richter scale.   Over 1,000 people died, 40,000 families were left without homes, and 150,000 people were left without water.  The majority of the health infrastructure was damaged or destroyed in the earthquake and the people were in need of medical attention.  The Real Medicine Foundation team was deployed to Peru on October 12 in an effort to assist those in need. 

The primary objective of our project was to bring long-term free healthcare to the victims of the earthquake who had lost…

Project Background

On August 15, 2007, Pisco, Peru experienced a deadly earthquake…7.9 on the Richter scale.   Over 1,000 people died, 40,000 families were left without homes, and 150,000 people were left without water.  The majority of the health infrastructure was damaged or destroyed in the earthquake and the people were in need of medical attention.  The Real Medicine Foundation team was deployed to Peru on October 12 in an effort to assist those in need. 

Photo: Our partners of the Peruvian American Medical Society Medical kicking off their medical outreach at RMF clinic.

The primary…

Project Background

On August 15, 2007, Pisco, Peru experienced a deadly earthquake…7.9 on the Richter scale.   Over 1,000 people died, 40,000 families were left without homes, and 150,000 people were left without water.  The majority of the health infrastructure was damaged or destroyed in the earthquake and the people were in need of medical attention.  The Real Medicine Foundation team was deployed to Peru on October 12 in an effort to assist those in need. 

The primary objective of our project was to bring long-term free healthcare to the victims of the earthquake who had lost…

On the 17th of December, our clinic staff in Peru, celebrated with an early Christmas party with some of the children and former patients of our clinic.  Thanks to the the contribution of friends and family, the party was held with gifts, food, and a musical clown show for the children.

This year the party was held at one of the local municipality community centers, and we were able to provide a total of 110 gifts for the children. 90 of these…

Project Background

On August 15, 2007, Pisco, Peru experienced a deadly earthquake…7.9 on the Richter scale.   Over 1,000 people died, 40,000 families were left without homes, and 150,000 people were left without water.  The majority of the health infrastructure was damaged or destroyed in the earthquake and the people were in need of medical attention.  The Real Medicine Foundation team was deployed to Peru on October 12 in an effort to assist those in need. 

The primary objective of our project was to bring long-term free healthcare to the victims of the earthquake…

Project Goal: To provide long-term comprehensive health assistance to the people in the province of Pisco (pop: 125,000), specifically in the district of San Clemente (pop: 30,000). 

Project Objectives: 1 – Treatment of acute and chronic illnesses in the urgent care center “Policlínico Peruano Americano.”  San Clemente is a very impoverished area and all services are offered free of charge. Much attention is given towards prevention and health education within all facets of the clinic´s operation. 2 – To improve the comprehensive health of the community through outreach programs, educational programs, and public health…

Project Goal: 
To provide long-term comprehensive health assistance to the people in the province of Pisco (pop: 125,000), specifically in the district of San Clemente (pop: 30,000).
 

Project Objectives: 
1 – Treatment of acute and chronic illnesses in the urgent care center “Policlínico Peruano Americano.” San Clemente is a very impoverished area and all services are offered free of charge. Much attention is given towards prevention and health education within all facets of the clinic´s operation.
2 – To improve the comprehensive health of the community through outreach programs, educational programs, and public health initiatives

First Quarter Clinic Report (January-March 2011) San Clemente, Peru

Project Goal: To provide long-term comprehensive health assistance to the people in the province of Pisco (pop: 125,000), specifically in the district of San Clemente (pop: 30,000).

Project Objectives:  

Our clinic has moved to a new building with the sponsorship of the local authorities in San Clemente. This new location will cost less for us to rent and manage, and brings us closer in partnership with the local health and political representatives.

Below are a collection of photographs from the official inauguration with the local mayor and other dignitaries present for the ribbon cutting ceremony. More photos to come as we get settled into our new location.