Long-term Sustainability Witnessed in Nicaragua

While I saw first-hand the long-term impact of our pneumococcal vaccine program among Nicaraguans in the Managua region, a team of Project HOPE volunteer doctors and nurses were making a difference in the lives of hundreds of Nicaraguans in the remote coastal town of Bluefields.

For ten days, beginning September 16th, HOPE volunteers, along with Navy medical personnel on board the USS Iwo Jima, have provided health care and health education to Nicaraguans in need, as part of the 2010 Continuing Promise humanitarian outreach program. (I hope you have been following the daily blogs from our volunteers on the ship.)

This 2010 Continuing Promise mission is the twentieth humanitarian assistance mission that HOPE has partnered with the U.S. Navy since the response to the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2005. Since then, HOPE volunteers, Navy medical personnel and representatives from other NGOs have cared for more than 550,000 patients and provided health education to more than 115,000 doctors, nurses and other health care workers.

In Bluefields, HOPE volunteers have seen more than 600 patients daily and provided health education classes on topics such as diabetes, hypertension, women’s health and basic hygiene to more than 300 people each day.

Anne Borden, MPH, RN, is one HOPE volunteer who is teaching patients to better manage their chronic diseases. Anne tells her students that the burden of a chronic disease, such as diabetes, may be heavy. But the knowledge gained by learning to live with the disease stays with you forever and helps you to better manage it.

Back in Managua, I had the pleasure of meeting the U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua, Robert Callahan. Ambassador Callahan has visited the USS Iwo Jima and witnessed the truly heroic humanitarian work of the HOPE volunteers and U.S. Navy personnel. I listened as the Ambassador and USAID Director for Nicaragua, Norma Parker, shared their support of a healthier Nicaragua through humanitarian aid initiatives.

Humanitarian aid is often believed to be only related to disaster relief efforts. Yet, this aid comes in many forms, as I have mentioned. A common thread in the humanitarian aid programs HOPE delivers, whether it be in response to a natural disaster or a pressing health challenge – is long-term sustainability. This is being seen in Nicaragua today.

John

Informing Nicaraguans About Pneumococcal Vaccine

I was an unexpected visitor in the homes of Nicaraguans, throughout the country, last Friday morning.

As a guest on the top-rated Nicaraguan morning show Primer Plano with its host, Adolfo Pastran, my message about Project HOPE was beamed into households across the country.

The focus of my message was to let Nicaraguans know about the pneumococcal vaccine program HOPE is conducting with the Nicaragua Ministry of Health, thanks to the generous donation of 1 million doses of vaccine from Merck & Co., Inc.

Communication is a critical element of any public health campaign. While ensuring that 1 million Nicaraguans will not develop pneumonia – Latin America’s #1 killer – is a monumental task, it will not achieve its objective without awareness of the program.

After my live 30-minute interview on Primer Plano, I returned to my hotel for a media briefing with several Nicaraguan television, newspaper and magazine reporters. I spent more than two hours with the reporters enlisting their support to make sure as many Nicaraguans as possible become aware of this vaccine initiative.

One reporter with whom I met with was Oscar Miranda Uriarte, perhaps the most recognized media personality in Nicaragua. Oscar said that 44 years ago he stood on the dock at Corinto reporting as a young journalist on the visit of the SS HOPE to Nicaragua. He told me that on that first historic visit, many Nicaraguans thought the SS HOPE belonged to the country’s First Family because at the time the First Lady’s name was Hope.

I also met with a young magazine journalist, Esther Pirado, from NICASALUD, the country’s organization of NGOs of which HOPE is a member. Esther is the daughter a nurse who received training from the American volunteer nurses aboard the SS HOPE in 1966. To this day, Esther’s mother, as well as the other Nicaraguan doctors and nurses who received training on the SS HOPE, still come together to share stories about their life-changing experience.

One observation made in my blogs from Honduras, holds true in Nicaragua as well. And that is the high caliber of the HOPE staff. Though smaller in number than their Honduras colleagues, the Nicaragua HOPE staff is accomplishing great things with its limited resources.

Under the direction of Dr. Mario Ortega, who has been among the leadership of HOPE Nicaragua for 15 years, the organization is well respected among the country’s health care leaders. So respected are HOPE and Dr. Ortega, that he has been asked to join a Pan American Health Organization team to conduct a countrywide assessment of vaccination programs. This is an immense honor for Dr. Ortega and HOPE.

HOPE’s objective in Nicaragua is to provide sustainable health care programs to address the country’s most pressing health care challenges. With the expertise of the HOPE staff, and with the support of the Nicaragua Ministry of Health, there are no limits to what we can accomplish together.

John

Renewing old relationships and forming new ones

Life is about relationships. And as far as relationships go, today was a banner day. New relationships were formed, and old ones renewed.

Along a winding, narrow, rocky road on the top of a mountain about two hours outside of Managua sits a small community called San Pedro. The people of San Pedro are fortunate in having a community health clinic operated by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health. This is the setting where several new relationships were created today.

Dr. Samir Aguilar Parrales is the head of the MOH Regional Office in the Nicaraguan state of Chontales, where San Pedro is located. Dr. Parrales is passionate about seeing that Nicaraguans receive the best care possible. This was obvious as we watched him interact with members of the community.

Dr. Parrales greeted me warmly, and there was an instant connection. He said that words could not express the gratitude he felt toward Project HOPE and Merck for the generous donation of 1 million doses of PNEUMOVAX vaccine to protect people over age 50 from the pneumococcal organism, the leading cause of pneumonia.

Dr. Parrales gave me a tour of the bare three-room clinic. He introduced me to his dedicated nursing staff and to the gregarious Don Mario, the community’s leader. Don Mario was trained by the clinic’s staff to encourage San Pedro’s residents to get vaccinated. Don Mario, another new-found friend, is very persuasive. While at the clinic, I witnessed one of his community members being vaccinated.

Less than six weeks into the campaign, nearly 80,000 men and women over 50 have been vaccinated throughout Nicaragua. With spirited leaders like Dr. Parrales, the program will succeed and 1 million Nicaraguans will be less likely to develop pneumonia – Latin America’s #1 killer.

Today also brought the renewal of a relationship that is near and dear to my heart, as I sat down with a great leader and friend, Nicaragua’s Vice President Jaime Morales.

I met the Vice President when on my first visit to Nicaragua three years ago. We were standing on the dock at Corinto waiting for a helicopter to take us to the USNS Comfort where we would visit HOPE volunteer physicians and nurses. As we stood looking at the great white hospital ship in the distance, Jaime turned to me and said this was an emotional moment. Forty-one years earlier, he had stood on the same spot waiting to visit the original great white hospital ship, the SS HOPE. Then and there, a bond was formed between us.

Jaime has a warm smile and a countenance that exudes wisdom. It brought me no small amount of joy to share news of another group of HOPE volunteers, now aboard the USS Iwo Jima, treating Nicaraguans in need and, as well, to update him on our vaccination program.

Life is about relationships. Be they new or existing, relationships enrich our lives and give us the ability to do more for others – like make a difference in the lives of millions of Nicaraguans.

John

HOPE in Nicaragua

Throw a stone any direction in Nicaragua, and it will land on a health care challenge. Dr. Jorge Luis Prosperi, who heads the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) here in Managua, used these words to describe the health status of the country.

Dr. Prosperi has a valid point. Suicide among Nicaragua’s young people is a growing concern. Accidents on the roads are increasingly taking more lives. Pneumonia is the #1 killer in Latin American and a leading cause of death in Nicaragua.

Despite these and other alarming trends, I would offer a slight variation on Dr. Prosperi’s observation. Throw a stone any direction in Nicaragua, and it will fall on someone trying to address a major health care problem.

I will now demonstrate what I mean.

Throughout the past 44 years, Project HOPE has been addressing health care challenges in Nicaragua. Recently, HOPE and the Nicaragua Minister of Health launched an aggressive countrywide immunization program to protect adults over age 50 from the pneumococcal organism, a leading cause of pneumonia. The program is made possible by a generous donation of 1 million doses of the vaccine PNEUMOVAX from Merck & Co., Inc.

Today, Eduardo Cortes, Managing Director of Merck’s Central America and Dominican Republic Region, joined me in going to the homes of three special people in Granada, an hour’s drive from Managua, who had received the PNEUMOVAX vaccine – Jose, Isabel and Juanita. Isabel told Eduardo that he and his Merck colleagues have earned “a special place in heaven” because of this donation.

PAHO is another example of an organization marshalling its resources to make a difference in Nicaragua. Its health workers, under the leadership of Dr. Prosperi, can be found in each of the 17 Nicaraguan states, developing and implementing programs to improve the health of women and children.

Finally, Dr. Sonia Castro, Nicaragua’s Minister of Health, is leading a full-court press to address her country’s most pressing health needs. Don’t be fooled by her ever-present smile. Behind Dr. Castro’s smile is a passionate and determined leader who is driving the health care agenda of the country’s President, Daniel Ortega. Top on her list of priorities are:

• Emphasizing “human warmth” in health care
• Making access to health care a right for all Nicaraguans
• Improving health care to women and children

You can see there are a number of health professionals, as well as organizations, standing shoulder to shoulder addressing Nicaragua’s health challenges. And HOPE is one of them, looking forward to continuing its 44-year legacy in the country for years to come.

Check back for more tomorrow,

John

Dedication Brings HOPE to Honduras

For more than 28 years – more than half of the 52 years Project HOPE has been in existence – HOPE has shared health education and humanitarian assistance with the people of Honduras. While we have made great strides in advancing health in this Central American nation, our work here is yet unfinished.

After Haiti, Honduras is the second poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean region. Nearly 65 percent of Hondurans live in poverty. Forty-two percent are considered living in extreme poverty.

Despite the poverty, as I look into the faces and hear the voices of the Honduran people, I see and hear hope. A hope that Project HOPE is uniquely positioned to deliver. Why am I so optimistic about the future of HOPE in Honduras? Let me tell you why.

For 23 of the 28 years HOPE has been in Honduras, our current Country Director, Marco Antonio Suazo, has had his steady hand in our work here. From coordinating humanitarian relief efforts in response to the devastation from Hurricane Mitch in 1998, to overseeing a successful HIV/AIDS prevention program, to leading the successful Village Health Banks program, Marco has his eye focused and heart open to implementing the best possible health programs for his fellow Hondurans.

And Marco is not alone in his commitment to Honduras. The average tenure of HOPE’s senior leadership in Honduras is 18-20 years. And several of the “younger” HOPE staff members joined the HOPE family after graduating from our Village Health Banks – a testament that our micro-lending program is working in giving new opportunities to the women and their families who participate.

Along with the HOPE Honduras staff, I know another Honduran deeply dedicated to the health of his country – Honduras’s Minister of Health Dr. Arturo Bendana Pinel. How do I know this? I sat with Dr. Pinel in his office at 10 p.m. discussing what we could do together to make a difference in the lives of Hondurans.

In between his meetings with the President of Honduras and running a number of the country’s health care programs, Dr. Pinel still practices Obstetrics and Gynecology. He is very supportive of HOPE’s programs for women and children, and is particularly pleased with the success of our Village Health Banks program. I look forward to working with Dr. Pinel to address several of the country’s health challenges.

With a heavy heart, I leave Honduras. But I leave with confidence – in both the HOPE staff and in the Honduran health care leadership - that our work will continue to make a difference for years to come.

Now, it’s on to Nicaragua for the second chapter in my Central America visit.

John

Tortillas of HOPE and Health

I have traveled the world with Project HOPE. I have seen many of the world’s health challenges first hand. But today, I did something I’ve never done before in my life. I made a tortilla!

What does making a tortilla have to do with global health? Well, I made the tortilla with a new friend Candida. Candida is a grandmother and member of Project HOPE’s Village Health Banks, our micro-lending program. Like some of the women I introduced you to in yesterday’s blog, Candida’s life and health have changed because of the generosity of Joe and Teresa Long – major supporters of HOPE’s program in Honduras.

Candida is one of the hardest working women I know. She rises every day at 5:30 a.m. and makes more than 1,000 tortillas each day… seven days a week… 365 days a year. The math is easy. That’s more than 365,000 tortillas a year. In between making tortillas, Candida attends the health training provided by HOPE and makes sure her family and other women in her community benefit from her training.

Speaking of friends, today I met a courageous young man who is battling testicular cancer at the Emma Romero de Callejas National Cancer Center. Diego was in the last year of medical school when he was diagnosed with cancer. Diego is studying to be a pediatrician and shares my passion to help children through education and access to care. We made a promise that when Diego defeats his cancer, he will visit me at Project HOPE, and together we will make plans to help the children of Honduras.

While at the Cancer Center, I also met Dr. Flora Duarte who told me about a quiet crisis afflicting women in Honduras. Cervical cancer accounts for more than 23 percent of all cancers – the highest prevalence of any cancer in country. I was distressed by this information, but inspired by Dr. Duarte’s dedication to address the challenge. I assured Dr. Duarte that HOPE would explore intersections of interest among our many corporate partners to assist her in her efforts to make a difference in the lives of Honduran women.

During my visit to Honduras, I have been impressed by the dedication and determination of the country’s health professionals. Dr. Duarte and Dr. Hugo Godoy, the Hospital Director at Hospital Maria, a soon-to-be 178-bed children’s hospital on a hill overlooking Tegucigalpa, with whom I met today, both received advanced medical training in the United States. Yet both chose to return to Honduras to improve the lives of thousands in their home country. It is with dedicated health professionals like Drs. Duarte and Godoy that HOPE will be working with in the future to enhance health education and care for the people of Honduras.

Check back for more tomorrow,

John

Witnessing HOPE's Impact in Honduras

At the top of one of Tegucigalpa's seemingly countless hills, I met some of the most extraordinary and inspiring women. These exceptional women came from very humble circumstances and have built small businesses through their participation in Project HOPE's Village Health Banks micro-lending program.

I had the pleasure of meeting nearly 20 of these women to hear their inspirational stories. A woman named Pradith told me she was one of the original HOPE Village Health Bank members when the program started in Honduras 17 years ago. With her micro-loan, Pradith grew her business from selling fruit and candy on the street to now operating two small buffet-style restaurants and a fried chicken stand.

Two other women I met with shared something in common - both had had their lives changed because of a generous donation to support the Village Health Banks program from HOPE supporters Joe and Teresa Long. The first woman, Mirian, told me how she was able to save the money she made by selling clothes to pay for critical laboratory tests and an MRI scan for her daughter who suffers from epilepsy. Mirian had sought loans from other institutions to fund her business, but had always been turned down because she lived in a high-crime neighborhood. Through HOPE's Village Health Banks, Mirian found an organization that believed in her and gave her the confidence she needed, not to mention a low-interest loan - to help her fulfill her dream.

I then heard the incredible story of Yolanda - another beneficiary of the Long's generosity. Yolanda spends her entire day each Wednesday making tamales. Then beginning at 6 a.m. through 9 p.m. on Thursday, she sells her tamales to federal workers at the congressional offices in Tegucigalpa. Yolanda has five children. The loan she received helped her get her business off the ground. Now, with a gleam in her eye, she told me she can pay her bills and buy the food and medicines her children need to lead healthy lives.

Following my conversations with these exceptional women, I witnessed their dedication to the health of their community at a health fair they organized. More than 200 women and children in the El Carrizal community received eye exams and eyeglasses, breast and cervical cancer screenings, diabetes screenings and blood pressure checks.

The day ended at the HOPE office in Tegucigalpa where Pfizer Fellow Eduardo Heidelberg presented his recommendations on taking the Village Health Banks in Honduras to the next level. HOPE programs around the world have benefited from the knowledge and expertise of Pfizer employees who have graciously lent their talents to enhance the organization. Eduardo's keen insight and first-hand observations will contribute to the success of our Village Health Banks program for years to come.

Over the past 17 years, HOPE's micro-lending program has invested more than $40 million to help improve the lives of more than 24,000 women and their families. If only you could have seen the faces of the women and their families that I saw today. You would agree that this investment is paying dividends in healthier lives and stronger families. Not a bad investment.

Check back for more tomorrow,

John

Visiting HOPE sites in Honduras and Nicaragua

I hope you can join me virtually as I visit Project HOPE sites in Honduras and Nicaragua next week.

Over the past 17 years, Project HOPE has helped more than 24,000 women and their families through our Village Health Banks – a micro-lending program. I will meet with some of the women whose lives have changed as a result of the program. I look forward to sharing their stories with you.

In 1966, the SS HOPE docked in Corinto, Nicaragua, beginning a 44-year relationship with the people of this important Central American country.

Recently, thanks to a generous donation of 1 million doses of a pneumonia vaccine from Merck & Co., Inc., HOPE launched a campaign in collaboration with the Nicaragua Ministry of Health to vaccinate men and women with chronic diseases. I will share first-hand updates with you, from one of the vaccination locations.

While I wish you could join me in person, I hope you will join me online to see how your support is making a difference in the lives of the people of Honduras and Nicaragua.

I’ll see you online.

John