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C2C Partnership With Namibian Ministry of Health Benefits Resettlement Community

It’s winter in Namibia and at C2C’s clinic in the informal Democratic Resettlement Community (DRC) near Swakopmund, increasing numbers of women are seeking health services. In July, over 650 women visited our clinic— many received pre-natal or post-natal check-ups, others attended health education sessions on family planning and sexual health (one of which is pictured above).

An important component of our work in Namibia is our relationship with the local Ministry of Health office. This partnership was designed to increase the government’s capacity to offer health services to women and children in the informal squatter community of DRC. Indeed, the population of the settlement continues to grow as migrant workers flock to the area in the hopes of securing work at local mines.

The growth of the population is not only from those seeking work, however. As the migrant worker population surges, so too does the rate of teenage pregnancy. Over the course of the next year, we aim to assist in the lowering of this rate.

Through a grant from the Izumi Foundation, C2C will work with the Ministry of Health to promote a health campaign to curb teenage pregnancy. Partnering with schools, parents, and community leaders we’ll work to help young people make healthy decisions about their futures, delay having children and complete their schooling.

Summer Intern, Lauren Benoit, Reflects On Her Time With C2C

Working in the non-profit field gives me a sense of satisfaction that no other job can. This summer I was able to intern at Care 2 Communities. It has been an opportunity to absorb much knowledge, both about non-profits and global health.

During my time with C2C, I’ve learned skills that will help me in the office and in the classroom. The majority of my work at C2C was focused around Salesforce. Before this internship I had no clue as to what Salesforce was. I have since become very familiar with it, and I know that an in-depth knowledge of databases will be helpful to me in the future. In between data projects, I enjoyed several research projects. Topics included peer organizations and grant research, as well as learning about services for the base of the pyramid and how to create demand for primary care in developing communities.

As a rising sophomore at Northeastern University, I am still trying to find my niche in the D’Amore-McKim School of Business. The information that I learned during my research projects has given me an introduction to what I will be learning this fall; and it was even better that I could relate my findings to a real-world context.

In addition to all of the skills I have gained through this experience I witnessed first-hand what it takes to manage a non-profit. Interning at C2C, I have met some wonderful ladies who are passionate, hardworking, and dedicated to all of the C2C clinics and patients. I sat in on staff meetings and heard many stories of the struggles and successes of keeping C2C alive. These women are resilient, and are always looking forward to the next time they open a clinic for a community in need.

C2C Founder, Elizabeth Sheehan, Featured by Ellevate Women's Network

C2C is delighted to share that Founder Elizabeth Sheehan was recently featured by Ellevate Network in this week’s Member Spotlight. Ellevate is a global, professional network of women dedicated to the economic engagement of women worldwide.

Enjoy the full Spotlight below!

We are pleased to spotlight Elizabeth Sheehan. Elizabeth has two decades of experience delivering medical care in the US and abroad. She began her career in healthcare working in emergency rooms in the US as a Physician’s Assistant. After a year-long journey to 19 developing countries to investigate health care delivery systems, Elizabeth became the medical director of The HALO Trust, an organization committed to village-based mine clearance.

Introduce yourself to our audience. Tell us who you are and what you are currently focused on.

As a founder of an international non-profit called Care 2 Communities (C2C) I am passionate about building a sustainable primary health care model that will increase health access for vulnerable populations in developing countries. Trained as an emergency medicine Physician’s Assistant, I worked in urban and rural settings in the US for a decade followed by another decade in Cambodia and Africa delivering health care to the poor. I felt most alive when my sleeves were rolled up—in a minefield or rural clinic as well as when building a new model to deliver sustainable health care via shipping containers. Five years ago I founded C2C, whose mission is to save lives by bringing primary health care to communities in the developing world. We currently operate in Haiti and Africa.

What’s been the biggest challenge in your career to date?

We all face naysayers, and I feel like my biggest challenges have been my greatest victories. When the earthquake rocked Haiti in January 2010, it rocked me to the core. The C2C prototype clinic fabrication was complete and within months it was deployed, installed and operational at the site of a destroyed children’s hospital in Port-Au-Prince. Four years later, thousands of pregnant women and infants have been treated, had lab tests performed and medicines dispensed from an on site pharmacy. Partnerships were formed and amplified our mission. Presently we are setting out to prove that sustainable community-run health clinics are possible—and we are tracking close to our sustainability goal years earlier than expected. With integrity, grit and local engagement we are defining a new paradigm for health care. We constantly face funding challenges due to the plethora of organizations delivering health care in the developing world, but very few can truly say they are sustainable.

What was your biggest career breakthrough moment?

My career has evolved over the past 20 years, from front line health worker, health economist and now founder, funder and board member of C2C. When I stopped trying to label myself and focused more on continuing to pursue my passion of health equity for all, I was able to get into the flow. My horizontal career moves have allowed me to learn and contribute in each field in a way that I could not have had I just stayed on one track.

Finish this sentence, “I knew I had ‘made it’ when….”

I knew I made it when C2C made it. With a dynamic team of women employees, we have been able to expand the funding base of C2C to include individuals, family foundations, and emerging institutional support (and always need more of all of these!). The measurable impact made in communities where C2C clinics operate has been significant. In 2 clinics in Haiti more than 15,000 patients have been treated, 20,000+ life-saving medicines have been dispensed, 900+ ultrasounds have been performed, 3,500+ home health visits have been conducted by community health workers, 5,000+ women have enrolled in free family planning programs and 99% of patients say the quality of care they receive is excellent or good.

If you could go back and talk to your younger self (before your career really began), what professional advice would you give her?

It has been said so many times and ways—but I am a firm believer in following your passion. Once found, position yourself amid fertile soil, find mentors and allies, celebrate success more than setbacks and constantly iterate.

Share your two cents about money. What lessons have you learned about money along the way?

My family of origin was very frugal and my father spent time with every one of his 8 children teaching us about money management and his story of success, which was all about razor focus and very hard work. My approach to money as an adult is that it has far more power and transformative qualities when it is out in the world and not piling up in a bank account. Be honest about what you need to live and retire on and what your children need to get launched – then loosen the strings and watch it really transform lives.

What’s your secret to success?

Although I have had many external successes—as a nationally ranked junior equestrian show jumper, a fulfilling medical career and humanitarian service—the most lasting success I am realizing is when I am in stillness. When I am not always doing, going, achieving. It’s about listening in to the stillness, listening to myself, others and to all that is becoming. This is part discipline, part practice and part support network (a great coach has been life changing for me). Regardless of the season, I unplug daily, reconnect to nature and strive to be fully present with my 2 amazing children and partner.

Why are you a member of Ellevate?

It is a wonderful local and international women’s network that I feel has the perfect combination of intelligence, passion and heart. Women helping other women to be fully expressed. I am also interested in connecting with anyone who is interested in serving on our board of directors or supporting our work through their networks.

Attention to Community Feedback Ensures Quality Care

How can C2C ensure our patients have the best possible experience at our clinic? We work toward that goal every day, most recently sending our Community Health Workers (CHWs) to talk with past patients as well as Camp Coq community members who have not yet been to the clinic. Their goal was to identify what we are doing well and where we can improve.

CHWs interviewed more than 60 patients and potential patients; half had visited the clinic and half had not. The results were truly encouraging: 97% of users said that they will visit the C2C clinic next time they or someone in their family is sick, and 100% said they would recommend the C2C clinic to family and friends. Why? A good pharmacy, quality care, and kind staff were the top three reasons patients mentioned for choosing or recommending C2C.

Interviewees who had not yet visited the clinic said they had heard from friends and neighbors about the quality care and good pharmacy. The number one reason for not having gone to the clinic was simply that they had not been sick, and 94% of non-users questioned said they would choose the C2C clinic next time they or a family member need to see a doctor.

Allison Howard-Berry, Director of Global Operations and Partnerships, said, “Our clinic staff and U.S.-based team will use this data to examine how we can achieve our goal to offer the highest-quality experience. Patient feedback is essential to C2C clinic operations, and we’re very pleased that after less than one year in Camp Coq, almost 100% of our patients are satisfied with the care they receive.”

C2C welcomes two new board members

C2C is thrilled to announce the newest members of our Board of Directors: Dave Adams and Ruthie Barker. Dave and Ruthie are joining the C2C team as we work toward bringing quality, sustainable primary care to those in need.

Dave is the President of Patriot Urgent Care, LLC, the management company of the AFC Doctors Express Urgent Care centers in Waltham and Burlington, Massachusetts. There he runs day-to-day operations of the company. Prior to launching these medical practices, Dave served as Vice President of Operations at Suffolk Construction following nearly a decade serving as a commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps.

Dave said, “I am very excited about my recent appointment to the Board of Care 2 Communities. C2C does an amazing job of providing high-quality primary health care where it is needed most –in the heart of communities in the developing world. I look forward to supporting C2C by applying some of the knowledge we have gleaned at Doctors Express in the development and operation of retail-based, walk-in urgent care centers throughout the United States. C2C is making a difference in the world and I am honored to be a part of it.”

Ruthie brings a wealth of non-profit experience with her, having worked for more than ten years with the FCD Hazelden Foundation, a global non-profit substance abuse prevention organization, as Client School Coordinator, Conference and Special Workshops Coordinator, and Prevention Specialist. Ruthie now works with a variety of civic and cultural organizations, including the Parents Council of Connecticut College and the Garden Club of America.

Ruthie said, “I was so impressed with C2C’s Founder, Elizabeth Sheehan. During her time as a clinician abroad, she spotted a real need and created a solution that now has the potential to change health care for many. Her idea of refurbishing shipping containers to provide a flexible and respectful place for patient treatment is so great, and the financial sustainability aspect of C2C’s model is so important to me. I am eager to build support for C2C’s vision, and I want to see these clinics helping people all over the world.”

C2C Director of Global Operations and Partnerships shares the latest on our CHWs

Community Health Workers, or CHWs, play an important role on the C2C team. Working closely with the clinic staff, they schedule follow up visits with patients, and travel throughout the community, educating and raising awareness.

Camp Coq is spread over a large area and the CHWs need to be able to reach all corners of the community. Finding a patient’s home can be quite difficult, as there are no street names or house numbers, but we are committed to 100% follow up with all of our patients. With this in mind, team members Julia Maxwell, Global Programs Manager, Dr. Jean-Eric Calvaire, Haiti Country Manager, and myself, recently worked with our CHW team to conduct a mapping activity of the community.

The CHWs led the process of neighborhood identification. Their grassroots connection with the community is integral, not only to this exercise, but to the clinic’s operations as well.

During the activity, the team worked to create a map that would: divide up the neighborhoods to ensure complete coverage, flag vulnerable areas where families might need particular kinds of support, and map routes for accessing hard-to-reach areas (some require several hours walk, while others are accessible by motorbike).

Having a strong visual tool to aid them will allow the CHWs to ensure they are able to reach all of our patients in the Camp Coq Community.

C2C Diagnoses and Treats 4-year-old Boy, Ending Long Search for a Solution

“The clinic is very important to the community,” said Ronel, a Camp Coq local, after a visit to C2C’s clinic with his son, Marvens.

The 4-year-old boy suffered from frequent fevers and cough and his parents had taken him to the hospital in Limbé (approximately half an hour from Camp Coq on a motorcycle taxi) a number of times. There, doctors had run chest x-rays and a battery of other tests, but hadn’t been able to accurately diagnose Marvens. The best the doctors could tell them was the cause was probably something coming from the river near their home in Camp Coq.

When C2C’s Camp Coq clinic opened, Marvens and his parents decided to try again to get appropriate treatment. Here, the doctor was able to perform a lab test and come up with a diagnosis: it was a parasite that was making the little boy sick. Marvens and his parents were able to see the doctor, access lab tests and quick results, and purchase healing pharmaceuticals in one spot, and Marvens was soon feeling better.

Ronel said, “The clinic is very important for the population. They prescribe you what is most important and explain to you how to take the medicine when you get home. I find the treatment here to be better.”

Chikungunya spreads in Haiti

For Haiti, as for the rest of the Caribbean, summer means rainy season. And rainy season means mosquitos. Lots of mosquitos. And this year many of those mosquitoes are carrying something extra—the chikungunya virus.

Chikungunya is a disease transmitted by infected mosquitos. Patients experience fever, headache, and, most notably, joint and muscle pain. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “the name ‘chikungunya’ derives from a word in the Kimakonde language, meaning ‘to become contorted’ and describes the stooped appearance of sufferers with joint pain.” It is not fatal and symptoms usually last from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.

The WHO first reported that mosquitos had been infected in the Caribbean in December 2013, the first time it had been reported in the Americas. Since then, the number of reported cases of chikungunya in Haiti and throughout the region has increased greatly.

At our Camp Coq clinic, approximately 10% of patients in May and June were suffering from chikungunya. Because there is no medicine to prevent or cure it, our doctor and nurses addressed each patient’s pain with anti-inflammatory drugs. Because of the epidemic, the prices of these drugs have skyrocketed; however, C2C has been able to keep prices constant and affordable for the families we serve.

"C2C does not wait for the fire to come to us. We find the fire in the community."

“C2C doesn’t wait for the fire to come to us. We find the fire in the community,” Fusley Laguerre, C2C’s lab technician in Camp Coq, told me during my visit last week.

He’s right! C2C is about giving people the tools they need to keep themselves and their families healthy, from preventive education to efficient treatment. Our clinicians and Community Health Workers are constantly in the community – in schools, in people’s homes, in churches – to educate as many people as possible about ways to avoid illness. We find the fire in the community and give patients the information they need to stay healthy.

When prevention isn’t enough, our clinic provides excellent clinical services. One patient, Martha, said, “I was never able to get proper care elsewhere. As soon as I heard about this clinic I came, and it has changed my life. Here, it’s human being to human being, and they treat people very well.”

The clinic’s self-appointed godmother, Rejeanne (pictured above), said, “This clinic is for us. The prices are good, we don’t have to travel, and it’s important for us to support it.”

Having visited clinics in Haiti and elsewhere, I understand what Rejeanne, Martha, and their neighbors most likely experienced before their community partnered with C2C. Travel on the back of a motorcycle taxi, long wait times (sometimes stretching into the next day), pharmacy stock-outs, non-functioning labs, rushed staff, and dirty surroundings are unfortunately the norm in many places.

I’m always in awe of our staff members on the ground, who work tirelessly to improve health in and around their community and provide a clean, safe space for treatment. Our physician at Camp Coq, Dr. Preval, said it best: “We are always in the community so everyone knows us and we have a good understanding of their needs. We hear from the community that they are happy and get better care here, and that’s why we do what we do.”

C2C and partner offer HIV testing

This year’s Parish Day in Camp Coq, the celebration of the founding of the Parish of Marie Médiatrice, included a special partnership between Care 2 Communities and St. Jean Hospital (which is the nearest hospital to C2C’s clinic).

Team members from St. Jean traveled to our clinic to offer free HIV/AIDS testing to Camp Coq locals. The event was a complete success, with more than 150 people lining up to be tested!

Dr. Jean-Eric Calvaire, C2C’s Haiti Country Manager, said, “This is a great C2C/St. Jean Hospital collaboration. The HIV testing day allows people who would never pay for the transportation to go to the hospital to be tested in their neighborhood for free. And the people who were diagnosed are now in touch with St Jean Hospital for better care. Those people might never know their positive HIV status if C2C had not sought out this partnership.”

Because HIV/AIDS testing and treatment is a very serious, and organized process globally, C2C is partnering with St. Jean Hospital to ensure our patients receive the safest and most responsible care.

The partnership is scheduled to continue, with St. Jean team members visiting the Camp Coq clinic on the first and third Tuesday of each month to test pregnant C2C patients. This testing is part of C2C’s new antenatal care program, and we are grateful to be able to offer it to the community.

Care 2 Communities