CleanBirth - Saving Mothers and Babies in Laos
CleanBirth.org - Donate $5 Saves 2 Lives
This is a fascinating and comprehensive look at “Indigenous Peoples, Poverty and Development” in Laos. The region where I am distributing Clean Birth Kits is an area populated by minority groups.
Nutshell: if you think the Lao-Thai (majority group 67%) have it bad…try being a member of a minority group. And God forbid you are a women…
I just read the CIA World Factbook list of countries with highest rates of maternal mortality and Laos is at #20. The only non-Africa country. Worse than Afghanistan which comes in #21. Are you kidding me? It’s neighbors Cambodia (#44), Vietnam (#101), Thailand (#110) and China (#116) are not in the same category. So sad but also motivates me.
Here’s the list: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2223rank.html
This morning I read an article profiling a Peace Corps worker who will be distributing Clean Birth Kits to midwives and Casas Maternas (birthing centers) in Nicaragua. MedShare is providing the supplies.
This is the first time I have heard about this organization and the great work they are doing. I would love to get hooked up with them. Here’s more on their mission:
MedShare is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving healthcare and the environment through the efficient recovery and redistribution of the surplus of medical supplies and equipment to those most in need. We collect surplus medical supplies and equipment from hospitals, distributors and manufacturers, and then redistributes it to qualified healthcare facilities in the developing world. We also outfit medical missions and safety net clinics in both the U.S. and abroad.
The MedShare Bridge
1Gathering supplies:
- Collected more than $93 million worth of life-saving medical supplies and equipment.
- Saved in excess of 2 million cubic feet from area landfills.
- Received medical products from hundreds of hospitals and corporations.
- Collected over 15,000 pieces of equipment.
2Matching needs:
- Sorted more than 3,500 tons of medical supplies.
- Provided approximately 1,000 different boxes of medical supplies per shipment.
- Built volunteer corps exceeding 1,500 per month.
3Improving healthcare and the environment:
- Supported the healthcare of millions of people who live in poverty.
- Shipped more than 700 forty-foot tractor-trailer size containers to over 85 developing countries and territories.
- Provided biomedical engineering support to recipient hospitals.
- Provided more than 2,100 medical mission teams with $2.5 million in supplies.
Our shipments of medical supplies and equipment have decreased our carbon footprint and brought healing and the promise of better lives to 88 countries and countless patients.
What an amazing week!
I got word that the Clean Birth Kits have arrived in remote Saravan (Salavan) Province in Laos. Now the non-profit with which I am working will bring the kits to the Ministry of Health for approval. Even if we decide to go with locally sourced kits eventually, it is a relief to know that I will have kits to use for training when I get there.
That’s the second piece of news: I am headed to Laos Nov 9-25. Tickets are booked. So excited to get on the ground and see what’s needed and what I can do.
Thirdly, and most unexpectedly wonderful, my intern emailed this morning letting me know that she has raised over $700. This is incredible and makes me much less nervous about covering the costs of the training and kits.
It also inspires me to take my story, the story of Clean Birth Kits, to my friends and acquaintances both on Facebook and in the real world. I have been waiting for things to fall into place and this week, they certainly have.
What a wonderful week!
