GRASSROOTSCuramericas Global HOPE THROUGH HEALTH Spring 2015

GRASSROOTS SPRING 2015

This past year has been a busy one at Curamericas Global,

and we’re especially proud of the accomplishments of our program in Guatemala. This program began in 2002 with the goal of improving the health of women and children living in isolated, indigenous communities throughout the department of Huehuetenango. Over the years the program has been supported by USAID, Ronald McDonald House Charities, the Weyerhaeuser Foundation, and over 500 work team volunteers. This past year, working with our local partner Curamericas Guatemala, we successfully transitioned into phase two of the USAID Child Survival Program. What exactly does this mean?

We doubled our impact. In 2014 we added an additional 89 communities to our program, extending health services and education to 180 isolated communities with a total population of 90,000. These communities are of indigenous Mayan ethnicity, and due to language and geographical barriers, have had very limited access to health services in the past.

We saw more birthdays. Our researchers found that in these areas, 80% of child deaths

that occurred within the first year of life are primarily due to preventable and treatable causes such as pneumonia, birth asphyxia, and diarrhea. By targeting these problems

we’ve reduced child mortality by 37% and halved child deaths from pneumonia and diarrhea. Through community education

GUATEMALA

Guatemala program enters Phase 2 with great success

A local health worker trained by Curamericas Global conducting prenatal checks in rural Guatemala.

Continued on back page

A LETTER FROM OUR FOUNDER

UNICEF and the World Health Organization are now beginning an initiative to end preventable maternal and child deaths by the year 2035. The goal is to reduce levels of maternal and child mortality to levels that were achieved in developed countries 50 years ago. Reaching this goal will be one of history’s great achievements, and it will require a global effort.

With 32 years of experience and a strong track record of implementing programs that have reduced maternal and child deaths through community collaborations and community-based service delivery down to each household, Curamericas is well-poised to play an important role.

Dr. Henry PerryFounder of Curamericas GlobalSenior Scientist, Health Systems Program, Department of International HealthJohns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health

GRASSROOTS

Rob travelled to Curamericas Global’s project in Bolivia with his father in 2002. Since then he has been back to serve in Bolivia multiple times and also volunteered in Costa Rica, Peru and Haiti. As a leader within the United Methodist Church, Rob currently serves as UMVIM Coordinator for the North Carolina Conference and supports international and domestic missions alike. With expertise in IT and Networking, Rob has pushed Curamericas Global to streamline data collection and analysis with the CBIO methodology in rural settings around the world.

I first learned of Curamericas Global on a mission trip to Bolivia, where I was impressed by the Community-Based, Impact-Oriented (CBIO) methodology. CBIO is a unique approach which empowers communities to take control of their own health and provides them with the tools to accurately identify and address health issues in the community. CBIO is an incredibly efficient model that helps track the health of individuals in communities that typically would not have access to health care.

I have been on numerous mission trips to Latin America as both a participant and a group leader. Two books, Toxic Charities and When Helping Hurts, had a significant impact on the way I view international mission work. Both books describe the potentially harmful nature of short-term mission work, which often provides communities with short-term, inappropriate solutions to outsider-identified problems. These books along with my experience in the field have taught me that when it comes to sustainable international development, you must “teach the communities to fish.”

We’ve all heard the saying, but what does it mean to “teach a man to fish”? Curamericas Global relies on mutual-respect and humility to work with partners from the beginning of each project. Curamericas provides the education, but the communities are responsible for prioritizing and performing the work.

In the US, we have been blessed with countless conveniences for comfortable lives. It is our responsibility to give back to communities in need around the world. But, we cannot assume that we understand the problems in a foreign community and that we have the solutions. Communities must be engaged and participate in their own development projects. This participation not only ensures cultural appropriateness and accurate identification of community priorities, but also creates community ownership of the project which will ensure sustainability after an international development organization leaves. This is the philosophy behind Curamericas Global’s work and that is why I support them.

Curamericas Global would like to extend our deepest gratitude to one of our longest partners:

OCC, of Okemos, Michigan, has been supporting our work for nearly 20 years.

Thanks to friends like OCC, we have invested in communities to create sustainable change in their health and well-being. We would not be

able to do the work that we do without your support!

THANK YOU!

Giving Back the Right Way

FINANCIAL INFORMATIONFY 2013-2014

Net assets: $51,615

Support and Revenue

Total Support and Revenue: $1,413,532

Expenses

Total Expenses: $1,367,193

Rob Pavone and fellow volunteers from Fuquay Varina UMC on a mission trip in Bolivia.

Program Expenses84%

Management and General

15%

Fundraising1%

Federal Grants42%

RMHC24%

Donations23%

In-Kind Services and Materials

8%Other Grants

2%

Service Fees/Other Revenue

1%

BY ROB PAVONE

SPRING 2015

Since 2013, Curamericas Global has enjoyed a thriving partnership with Carolina for Kibera (CFK), a North

Carolina-based nonprofit dedicated to alleviating poverty in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya. With funding from Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC), we’re creating a community-based healthcare system within the slum.

The program focuses on Maternal and Child Health, Nutrition, and Family Planning. Over the next two years, we will:

• Increase deliveries by skilled birth attendants by 18%• Increase the number of households with hand-washing stations to 5,000• Decrease diarrheal diseases in children under 5 by 20%• Increase exclusive breastfeeding of children between 0-6 months by 15%

We are thrilled to continue working with CFK and RMHC to bring lifesaving health services to women and children in Kibera!

In 2014, Curamericas Global launched a new program to combat the Ebola outbreak in Liberia. In just six months, with

generous support from Feed the Children and in partnership with Ganta United Methodist Hospital and the United Methodist Liberia Annual Conference, this project has reached more than 12,000 people with Ebola awareness and prevention messages.

Thanks to a longstanding relationship between Curamericas Global’s Nehnwaa Project and the communities in Nimba County, our program was quickly accepted and supported by the local population. We recruited and trained key staff, initiated contact with all community leaders, introduced our program to community members via letter distribution and public assemblies, and completed a census and mapping project of seven communities.

As the project continues, we will reestablish Care Groups in all 11 communities, expanding our reach to the entire target population. To learn more about our program in Liberia, visit our website www.curamericas.org.

KENYA

Improving maternal and child health in Kibera

Carolina for Kibera staff participating in a training on Care Groups led by Florence Amadi, Curamericas Global Program Manager for Africa.

LIBERIAFighting Ebola in Liberia

Left: A chlorine stick hand washing station – one of many low-cost, effective interventions used by our partners to decrease the spread of Ebola.

Above: Curamericas Global staff demonstrating chlorine water use during a training on Ebola prevention.

GRASSROOTS SPRING 2015

efforts we’ve nearly doubled the percentage of women giving birth in health facilities, helping to decrease maternal mortality rates by 63% and eliminate maternal deaths from infection and eclampsia.

We made some bubbles. Hand washing may seem trivial to some, but to our communities it can mean the difference between life and death. Thanks to our education efforts, the percentage of mothers who know how to properly diaper and dispose of infant feces has increased by 44% and over a third of local households now have hand-washing stations, up from just 2% before our program began! Proper hygiene and hand washing is vital to preventing the spread of communicable diseases and preventing childhood deaths from diarrhea, pneumonia, and related malnutrition.

We empowered others. To achieve sustainable, long-lasting and effective programs we work with on-the-ground partner organizations, which are staffed and directed by locals, to increase their capacity and knowledge to serve their

communities. To this effect, our Guatemala program trained 16 Health Educators, who trained 84 Community Facilitators, who then trained 259 Care Group Volunteers, reaching thousands of mothers in 2014. These community groups are integral in

empowering local women to participate in family health decisions, and as a result women’s participation in health-related decision making in these communities has increased by 27%, resulting in happier and healthier women and children.

Guatemala (cont.)

259 Care Group Volunteers

84 Community Facilitators

16 Health Educators

We trained

Curamericas Global partners with underserved communities to make

measurable and sustainable improvements in their health and well-being.

Your gifts make a lasting impact on the health of communities around the world.

Thank you for your support!