Author Archives: Allison Howard-Berry

Are We There Yet?

“Are we there yet?,” How many times have you heard your kids ask this question while en route to your destination? The same question is being asked in the arenas of global development with respect to the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and improving international development efforts. To be clear, while the MDGs are the closest road map we have to taking a bite out of globabl poverty, they are by no means comprehensive in outlining what is needed to make the world in which we live a more equitable, peaceful and safe place.

As The Lancet aptly points out in its recently published <a href="http://www click over here now.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2812%2962092-3/fulltext” target=”_blank”>“A manifesto for the world we want” , there are things we need to attend to that fall outside the carefully worded MDGs that are still critical for a world we want to leave out children. Front and foremost is the role of women in society and the need to provide them the basic rights to education, health and employment that men enjoy. The Lancet calls for integrated development efforts; women need basic health, education and job opportunities to break the cycle of poverty in to which they are born. You cannot have one without the other two and expect a woman to be able to overcome the obstacles to moving beyond her economic station. As we move into this holiday season and reflect on that for which we are most thankful, let us also renew our pledge to those women and children in developing nations who do not yet have a voice and cannot lift themselves out of the impoverished slums, squatter camps and underdeveloped villages into which they were born. “Are we there yet?” No we are not, but we are getting ever closer to our destination: A world we want.

C2C's Community Health Education Program

We’ve been working on a Community Health Education program for a few months, and are excited to share some of our progress and impacts. In partnership with Grace Children’s Hospital, our twelve month program strives to improve health knowledge, attitudes, and practices among community members, as well as training Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA’s) to enable safer labors and deliveries.

To date, 19 Community Health Workers (CHW’s) have been trained on health communication techniques and health data collection, and have visited over 150 pregnant women in their homes. UNICEF and the World Health Organization identify home visits as a vital step in improving newborn survival, and C2C’s home visit program helps to identify high-risk pregnancies- leading to safer births and healthier infants. The CHW’s have also distributed dozens of antenatal care kits to pregnant women in the community. The kits include essential items like diapers, blankets, soap, and warm clothing which can drastically reduce infant mortality.

Finally, C2C and Grace Children’s Hospital have continued our “Responsible Motherhood Program”, which awards certificates to women who attend 4 antenatal care visits and are committed to healthy pregnancies. Future initiatives as part of our Health Education Program include Mothers’ Club meetings at our clinic and targeted outreach to HIV-positive mothers.

This Health Education Program is vital in the community surrounding our clinic, which is characterized by extreme poverty and informal housing. Our passionate, skilled CHW’s serve the heart of this community to identify at-risk pregnancies and encourage healthy pregnancies. This direct impact can be seen in our patients who receive care at our clinic and go on to have safe births and thriving babies. Below, see some photos of the CHW’s at work in Port-au-Prince.

My Week in Mexico- Opportunity Collaboration

Last Thursday, I was in Ixtapa, Mexico. The difference between this Thursday and last is pretty enormous. Today in New England, we’re watching the final orange, red and yellow leaves drop from the trees and spending long yet exciting hours in strategic planning meetings for 2013 and crafting the end of year appeal. But last Thursday, I was among about 200 folks who gathered for the annual “non conference” called Opportunity Collaboration looking over the gorgeous pacific coast beaches of Ixtapa. I had my reservations—how was the week going to be productive with “no agenda,” with 200 people to get to know and too much to do back home?

It’s hard to put it into words, but it was a phenomenal week of where I shared our passionate work with other non profit practitioners and learned from thought leaders in the fields of social impact investing and micro-finance. I met the Executive Producer of “Half the Sky” –the 4-hour documentary film that had the C2C team in tears the week before. I learned about new ways of measuring impact from really smart university think tank folks. And I also heard from global funders who struggled with being sought after and how hard it was to say no to so many great projects and ideas that always needed more funding. I flew from Mexico City to Ixtapa with a 26-year old Pakistani woman who has been advocating for girl’s education in her country for 10 years and knew the young woman who had been shot in the face as she rode her bus to school the week before.

I came away more certain that ever that the C2C model is critically needed to build capacity to deliver primary health care to women and children. At OC, I learned about and hope to create partnerships with many other great organizations and individuals who want to leverage each other’s core competencies, resources and collective energy to eradicate global poverty through thoughtful action. Never before have I felt so certain about our direction. Please join us as we grow and expand.

Certificate of Responsible Motherhood

At C2C’s clinic in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 35 pregnant women were awarded a “Certificate of Responsible Motherhood”, recognizing their attendance at the WHO-recommended minimum of four antenatal care visits. Despite the living conditions in central Port-au-Prince, these women are doing everything in their power to ensure the health of their unborn babies. C2C is humbled by and honored to support their efforts.

19th International AIDS Conference

The 19^th International AIDS conference came to a close this summer amid much talk of the beginning of the end of AIDS, turning the tide on HIV and even a potential cure. It is now more certain than ever that we have the tools, the medicine and experience to stop this epidemic.

While we make gains in certain areas of the globe, we remain mired in a global epidemic. For every person placed on HAART, two more people become infected. We now have 34 million people living with HIV/AIDS and are treating only 8 million of the 15 million eligible people in resource poor countries. At least 25% of HIV infected individuals do not know they are infected and, as a result cannot protect themselves or their sexual partners. These statistics are sobering to an organization like ours—since we treat pregnant women who may or may not know they are infected while a new life steadily grows inside them.

While it is really encouraging to read reports from the conference that the technology and science exists to keep infected individuals healthier and the secondary benefits of healthier communities, it is frustrating that more countries aren’t falling all over each other to fund the global roll out of HAART. Fortunately President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton reinforced their support of creating an AIDS free generation—and added another $150million to get more medicine to the patients we treat in resource poor countries. Change is incremental but the vision of an AIDS free generation is one that I hope to witness and certainly one I hope the women and infants who face so many other obstacles to keeping healthy can witness as well.

See an overview of the conference program here.[image position=”left”/]

photo © Tori Stuart Photography 2011

Life Continues…

Hurricane Isaac pummeled Haiti’s southern peninsula last weekend leaving the 400,000 men, women and children still living in flimsy tents sitting out high winds, pelting rain, streaming water and mud in the dark. Much of the power along the southern peninsula was knocked out and roads washed away leaving some communities stranded without access to health care, food and clean water. Amidst so much suffering from the 2010 hurricane, a natural disaster is unfair and cruel. Our staff members, Dr Calvaire, Jean Dube and Natacha Denis, are all safe and we are extremely thankful for their well being. I myself have been haunted by the thought of the young 19 year-old girl named Annette who was 8 months pregnant when I met her in Port-au-Prince in May (see June 8th blog entry). She is single, an orphan and now, a new mother of a beautiful baby boy. The idea of her and that new baby in the middle of a hurricane with flying debris, torrential rain, whipping wind and flooding water and mud in the flimsy tent where she lives in the Delmas neighborhood would be a nightmare for any mother to endure. The fact that she faced it alone with no family to help and no where to go to keep herself or her son safe is almost unfathomable. C2C remains committed to the people of Haiti, to lend them the support and care when their courage fails and they feel forgotten by the global community in which they live. As always, we thank C2C’s supporters for making our work possible and helping us uphold the promise we have made to this devastated nation.

Maternal Health and Economic Health

Did you know that the global impact of maternal ill health on economic productivity is estimated to be over 15 billion USD per year? The consequences of lack of access to prenatal care are destructive at all levels: for a woman and her unborn baby, for her family and the community, and for economic health of nations. Simple interventions save lives and have the potential to build a healthier economic future for millions of people living in poverty around the globe.

image via

A Decade of Change for Newborn Survival

Health Policy and Planning recently published a supplement, A Decade of Change for Newborn Survival, that shares a multi-country analysis of the changes in newborn care and survival from 2000-2010. The supplement also includes 5 detailed country case studies (Bangladesh, Malawi, Nepal, Pakistan, and Uganda) focused on the process of taking solutions to scale. In one of the papers, Gary Darmstadt et al describe the state of neonatal health in the world today versus a decade ago and the persistent disparities between those countries that have improved its newborn mortality rates and those that have not.

[pullQuote position=”center”]Progress in improving newborn survival has been slow and the global averages hide increasing regional, national and subnational disparities. For sub-Saharan Africa, on average, there has been no statistically significant change in neonatal mortality over the past decade. Without a dramatic change in the trajectory for Africa it is estimated that it will take over 150 years for an African newborn to have the same chance of survival as one born in Europe or North America (Oestergaard et al. 2011). In sharp contrast, five African countries have reduced neonatal deaths by over 25%, more than double their neighbours. Important lessons emerge from this supplement, especially around seizing opportunities to promote community-based newborn care, and to integrate newborn care interventions into frontline health worker delivery platforms, and especially into facility-based maternity care, which is already being scaled up (Mbonye et al. 2012; Zimba et al. 2012).[/pullQuote]

To read the full article, click here.

Ugandan Women Protest Maternal Mortality

At C2C, we regularly see news stories, blog posts, and personal narratives that remind us how important basic health care to ensure safe childbirth. Recently, the Boston Globe reported on a story that has been circulating around the world of international development. Ugandan women, fed up with their country’s staggering maternal mortality rate, have petitioned the Supreme Court “to declare that women’s rights are violated when they die in childbirth”. If successful, this tactic would put pressure on the government to address the dire health statistics facing young women. According to the article, 16 Ugandan women die each day in childbirth, creating tremendous fear for pregnant women during a time in their lives which should be full of joy. We’ll be following this story closely, and hope the news coverage creates a push toward greater access to health care for all Ugandans.

No Controversy!

Take Action! This week, an important global summit on family planning is being convened in London, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, DFID, and UNFPA. The intention is exciting and ambitious: to mobilize global commitments to support the rights of an additional 120 million women and girls in the world’s poorest countries to use contraceptive information, services and supplies, without coercion or discrimination, by 2020.

Help to build this important movement by signing a “no controversy” pledge. The proposition is simple: Access to contraceptives saves lives and leads to healthier, more prosperous families, communities and nations. There is “no controversy” in raising your voice for millions of women and girls who want access to lifesaving contraceptives

For more information, read about the summit at: http://www.londonfamilyplanningsummit.co.uk/

Family planning has been described by Management Sciences for Health (MSH) as a “triple win” health intervention: it helps reduce maternal mortality, prevent child deaths, and greatly contributes to an AIDS-free generation.

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