It’s hard to believe we’re already halfway through the year! As we reflect on the past six months, we are so grateful for the incredible progress happening across our projects – all made possible through your prayers, generosity, and partnership.

It’s been a while since we shared a big update, so this news item is a little longer as we celebrate some of the most joyful highlights from recent months.

This World Health Day’s theme is "Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures" – a commitment to providing a strong, healthy start in life for every mother and baby. For me, this theme could not be more relevant: I have just got back from a trip to Haiti, where I spent time visiting our maternal and infant healthcare projects. While it was a trip filled with joy, it was also a sobering reminder of the immense need, and of the critical importance of helping mothers and babies to thrive in regions where pregnancy and childbirth are still hugely dangerous.

At Fort Saint Michel, a small but vital health clinic in one of Cap-Haïtien’s poorest neighbourhoods, I met the health workers delivering our community healthcare programme for mothers and babies. This initiative provides antenatal consultations, postnatal home visits, 'Mothers' Clubs' for education, and training for Traditional Birth Attendants to support safer home births. It is a lifeline for women who would otherwise have no access to healthcare during pregnancy.

However, the programme is at risk. Recently, the clinic lost a major international funding source, leaving Community Health Workers unpaid for over a month. Despite this, many continue to work voluntarily, driven by their commitment to protecting mothers and newborns. As we walked through the community, women - having heard about the funding cuts - stopped us in the street to desperately share how much this programme means to them and their families. It was a sobering reminder of the critical need to keep this work going. We are now working with our local partners to ensure that support continues, because without it, too many women and babies will be left without care.

At Justinien University Hospital (JUH), the largest government hospital in the north, it was a joy to see firsthand how our support is saving lives. We have seconded an expert pediatrician, donated five mOm incubators, and are providing medical-grade oxygen and financial support for vulnerable families.

It was here that I met Baby Justinien, who was born prematurely on the street. His mother, who has learning disabilities, was unable to care for him, so a kind stranger brought him to JUH. He was extremely premature and in a critical condition, but, thanks to the incubators and oxygen your support has helped provide, the doctors and nurses were able to stabilize him. They named him Justinien - after the hospital - and in an extraordinary display of compassion, they are now taking turns caring for him as if he were their own.

This World Health Day, as we celebrate "Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures," we are reminded that hope begins with access to healthcare. Without it, too many mothers and babies face unimaginable risks. With it, futures can be transformed.

We want to thank every single person that is joining us on this mission, with a special mention to J&K Wonderland Foundation, whose ongoing support of this work is making incredible things possible, and to Konbit Sante, whose partnership locally is truly invaluable. Thank you for helping us to ensure healthy beginnings – so that more mothers and babies have the future they deserve.

Key Statistics (since opening in September 2023)

• 5600 outpatients seen
• 4000 laboratory tests
• 6200 received health education
• 84 pregnant women registered
• 72 prosthetic & orthotic devices provided
• 36 wheelchairs & trikes given
• 230 physiotherapy sessions provided

Highlights from New Hope Kajo-Keji

• Clean running water is now available in the clinic thanks to the addition of a pump, control unit, insulated water towers and sinks. This is a huge upgrade and will dramatically improve working conditions for our team and their patients.
• Electricity is now available onsite thanks to installation of generator, solar panels and battery storage.
• Prosthetic limbs, and wheelchair distributions taking place at the clinic thanks to outreach mobile clinics provided by our team from New Hope BidiBidi.  
• First baby born at New Hope Kajo-Keji! - although deliveries are usually referred to the government hospital, one baby girl decided to make an appearance quicker than expected. Our amazing midwife stepped in and delivered a healthy baby girl.

Story for New Hope Kajo-Keji: Rose and Solomon

Rose lives in Kajo-Keji with her son Solomon, having returned from BidiBidi refugee settlement in Uganda. Although she has to walk three hours to reach the clinic, Rose has been making use of the services available since the clinic opened in September 2023, and has returned three times with Solomon when he has been suffering from a fever and diahorrea.

Rose and Solomon visited the clinic again in March, when Solomon was diagnosed with Malaria through a rapid test and was given medication to combat the disease. Malaria is the most common case the team seen at the clinic.

Rose commented that the team have really helped and cared for her and she was grateful that HHA have empowered a local team. Our team provided Solomon with more than just medication – they also showed him love, and gave his mother hope in difficult circumstances. Ultimately, this is what HHA’s work is all about, and what we strive to achieve with every beneficiary that we see at New Hope Kajo-Keji.

Throughout May 2024, we are running our Matched May Appeal where all donations towards our global disability work will be doubled by a generous donor. This is an amazing opportunity for your donations to go twice as far. Get all the info here.

A few more of the things we’ve bought that have made a real difference…

Battery chargers - enabling us to keep vital equipment (like blood pressure machines, thermometers and calculators) working, even with limited access to electricity

Zip ties - helping our technicians to make specialised adaptations to wheelchairs, to make sure that beneficiaries are comfortable and well-seated, and most importantly to help avoid pressure sores 

Footballs and coloured chalks - for students at Amazing Grace School

LED light strips - used for our sensory classroom at Amazing Grace and in New Hope Rehabilitation Center BidiBidi - to create safe, inclusive and educational spaces for children and adults with disabilities

Post-partum maternity pads - to provide dignity to new mothers at our clinic in South Sudan

Coloured chopping boards - to help improve food hygiene standards in our staff kitchens in both BidiBidi and Kajo-Keji

Safety glasses and ‘quality’ power tools for our workshop, where we custom-make prosthetics and orthotics

Brackets and wallplugs (particularly difficult to buy in-country) that enabled us to construct shelves in our pharmacy in Kajo-Keji - keeping the space organized and tidy!

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this campaign making the purchase of these small, but hugely important, items possible.

1. GLOBAL DISABILITY CARE

We continued to provide empowerment, dignity, and support to people with disabilities in Haiti, Uganda, and South Sudan. Last year, we provided over 1,450 wheelchairs, more than 300 prosthetic and orthotic devices, and thousands of rehabilitation sessions. We also opened a new rehab garden for patients with spinal cord injuries in Haiti, hosted another wonderful 'Night to Shine' for young people with special needs, and got a new vehicle in Uganda, enabling us to reach more people through mobile clinics.

HHA are taking part in this global day of charity where, for 24 hours, every donation will be worth more. The fundraising platform Global Giving is offering $1.2 million of ‘incentive funds’, and the more we raise on the day, the more of these funds we receive. This is an amazing opportunity for us, a great way to kick off our Christmas campaign, and can have a huge impact on our year-end fundraising (last year we received over $20,000 in incentive funds alone, just from this 24 hours of fundraising!)

If you are able to make a donation to HHA this Giving Tuesday, and increase the value of your gift at no extra cost to you, please make your donation directly through our Global Giving project today! 

We will be using this opportunity to raise vital funds for our maternal and infant health projects globally. Pregnancy and motherhood should be a time of joy and hope - something we are reminded of at Christmas, when we celebrate the birth of Jesus. But for thousands of women and girls around the world, it is simply a time of fear: a girl in South Sudan is more likely to die in childbirth than finish secondary school; 1 in every 39 babies born in Haiti will not survive their first month. 

We provide maternal and infant healthcare in Haiti, South Sudan, and Uganda, to make pregnancy, birth and childhood safer, happier, and less scary. This includes community outreach to identify and refer high-risk pregnancies, expert maternal and neonatal care at our dedicated clinics, training and resource provision within communities to make home births safer, and nutritional support and vaccinations in early childhood. With our new clinic in South Sudan, rapidly expanding community outreach projects in Uganda, and growing awareness of, and demand for, our services in Haiti, we have more capacity than ever to improve outcomes for mothers and babies. But we desperately need funds to be able to do so. 

Giving Tuesday kicks off our period of festive fundraising, and is a great opportunity to make your Christmas donation go further. But don't worry if you can't donate  today - we'll be sharing other ways to support our maternal and infant health work very soon, so stay tuned!

As a result of these grants, the team of CHAs has increased from two to five and undertake regular household visits to these communities. Since May, the CHAs have carried out 1,217 antenatal and postnatal checks, 306 malnutrition consultations and have provided education on childbirth, breastfeeding and nutrition to 724 households - a key step towards increasing understanding and improving maternal and infant health. Lastly, the CHAs have provided 1,883 vaccinations for children and pregnant mothers.

We have also been able to recruit 20 Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) Traditionally, TBA’s are individuals within the community who possess knowledge and skills related to childbirth and maternal care, often passed down through generations. They provide assistance and support to pregnant women during childbirth and the postpartum period but are largely untrained, using traditional methods, cultural practices and their own accumulated wisdom, which is common in Haiti. Now, these 20 TBA’s have been trained to identify high risk pregnancies and refer them for hospital care and have been given safe birthing kits. These TBAs have so far helped 49 women to have safer, cleaner births.

The success of this project to date means that over the next year, we expect the Community Health Agents will support over 2,000 households through ante and postnatal checks, health and nutrition guidance and malnutrition screening and will provide over 6,000 infants with vital childhood vaccinations whilst the Traditional Birth Attendants are expected to assist over 200 vulnerable women and babies. 

We are so grateful to the two foundations that funded this work for their incredible support, which will have a lasting impact in these communities.  

This has been an HHA dream since we first visited Kajo-Keji in 2016 – a dream that we were forced to put on hold when the brutal civil war devastated the community just months after our visit. Our new clinic will provide life-saving care for an estimated 500 patients each month, through maternal health consultations, community outreach, and wheelchair, prosthetic and orthotic provision. It will provide health, hope and dignity to a community that has desperately needed it for too long.

Stay tuned for updates on the clinic as we embark on this exciting journey! In the meantime, on behalf of the thousands of mothers, children and people with disabilities that this clinic will serve, thank you for helping us to finally make this dream a reality. 

Out of over 1,600 entries globally, Hope Health Action East Africa (HHA EA) and 16 other organisations have recently been awarded a notable Innovation Fund grant to improve the lives of displaced people and host communities.

An increasing number of refugee families are returning from Uganda to South Sudan’s Kajo-Keji, but they’re finding their communities completely devastated. There is no infrastructure or adequate health services for returnees. For example, there were 49 health facilities in Kajo-Keji before the conflict. Now only 14 exist and they offer only very basic services. Whilst this carries implications for every returnee, this adversely affects women and children in particular, as well as people with disabilities or chronic illness.

The solution? A new health clinic that will improve outcomes for returnees in Kajo-Keji. This clinic will initially serve up to 500 patients per month, with CRADLE providing coverage for around 17,300 women of child-bearing age. Additionally, around 2,300 households with a person with a disability will be supported by community-based rehabilitation services.

Our Rebuild Hope Appeal began the fundraising process with tremendous success, thanks to our lovely supporters. This UNHCR Refugee-Led Innovation Fund award, alongside the Rebuild Hope Appeal results, will help push the clinic forward with breathtaking momentum. In fact, preparations are well underway! Refurbishment of the clinic building will begin in May, and recruitment for key staff positions is already in progress. We hope to open the clinic in Autumn of this year, and we are thrilled to bring you with us on the journey to opening day.

Designed by refugees for refugees, the Innovation Fund is creating a way forward for displaced people. We are honoured to play our part, with the help of this funding, by supporting South Sudanese returnees in Kajo-Keji with this new health clinic.

Check out this Tweet from UNHCR highlighting two of our HHA EA staff, and hear how HHA EA hopes to transform lives in South Sudan.

58 countries were represented among the record high 169 submissions, and the four winning projects house operations in Mexico, Myanmar, and Uganda (2).

The one-to-one nature of our work is one of the things that captivated the judges. They remarked, “HHA EA is doing incredible work, often one-to-one in a project led by people with their own experiences of forced displacement." Furthermore, they noted HHA EA’s innovations included the involvement of whole households, teaching skills for running businesses, agricultural self-reliance and evidence of community effectiveness that is commendably community-based and holistic.

"The project’s ultimate goal is that the most vulnerable refugees become more self-reliant," says EA Program Manager, Isaac. "This is done in part by providing them with the support and assistance that they need to ensure lack of accessibility is not a barrier. This support looks like equipment and services such as mobility aids, wheelchairs, artificial limbs, therapy services (occupational and physiotherapy) and opportunities to learn new skills through our agricultural project. All of this well aligned with the Ockenden goal of advancing self-reliance. Winning this award has given us as a team more energy to press on and work harder as we strive to continue transforming the lives of persons living with disabilities. Seeing our goals become reality and having the resources we need helps us to continue to seek out more vulnerable people that we know we can help."

While the financial award will provide a great boost to East Africa operations, the nomination itself is a great encouragement. Jemina, East Africa Country Director, shared, “For our work to be recognized in this way is a true honor and a celebration of the incredible impact delivered by our passionate team every day." We are so proud of HHA East Africa and hopeful for the future.

For more information about this award and the other winners, visit the official Ockenden website: https://www.ockendenprizes.org/2023-prizes/.

Our initial plans in Kajo Keji, South Sudan, were abruptly interrupted by the devastating civil war, which left our South Sudanese team fleeing for their lives as refugees into Uganda. Since then, our East Africa response has mainly focused on the refugee crisis in Uganda, saving and transforming the lives of thousands of people. Today, with reducing food rations in the refugee settlements, some families are making the difficult decision to return to South Sudan, but are finding their communities devastated. Within Kajo Keji there are very limited health services and a critical need for support. The local community have called upon HHA to help and have identified a derelict building which they need our help to transform into a new health clinic. In many ways, it feels like the original Haiti dream is starting again.

HHA CEO, Carwyn Hill had the privilege of visiting this community just over a month ago and the urgent need for our support was obvious to see. On the morning of his visit, he was heartbroken to hear about a tragic massacre that had happened just 35km to the north, needlessly claiming the lives of 30 people. Within a few hours, the compound where our new clinic will be based was flooded with displaced families desperately needing support - including many women and children - who’d fled this massacre empty handed, some coming bare foot, not even having the chance to put on shoes as they fled their homes. Pastor Edward, Chair of the HHA East Africa board welcomed them with open arms and has since been providing emergency relief to around 600 individuals. It was incredibly humbling for Carwyn and the team to see the critical needs of these families. 

Having seen God’s faithfulness in Haiti, we’re confident that with your support this new health clinic will be able to provide for families in 2023 - ensuring mothers, babies and persons with disabilities have the care they need.

This month we were blessed to have Pastor Edward and Isaac (our East Africa Program Manager) visit the UK. They had a busy trip speaking passionately to many of our partner churches, helping to launch our Rebuild Hope Appeal with first-hand accounts of life as a refugee and the needs of returning refugees in South Sudan. Thank you so much to all the churches and partners who hosted Edward and Isaac allowing them to spread the word and pray together.

Edward and Isaac also had the chance to experience some other parts of life in the UK such as trips to watch some live rugby and football (a particular highlight for sports fan, Isaac). They also enjoyed chips at the beach in Brighton, and a day with the UK team. It's been a pleasure to have Edward and Isaac with us and we pray for their safe return to Uganda with renewed strength to take on the work to come in South Sudan.

If you can support our Rebuild Hope Appeal with a regular gift or a one-off donation, it would be a huge boost as this important work begins. If you'd like to discuss anything about the work of this appeal, please get in touch.

This past month, thanks to a generous donation, we’ve rapidly improved our solar capacity at the hospital, reducing our reliance on fuel and providing power when it’s needed most. Our Community Health Agents (CHA’s) continue to shine, providing health and wellness clinics, vaccinations, and baby checks to the most vulnerable communities. We were able to travel with them one day, with dozens of young mothers bringing their babies to be seen. One particularly young and anxious couple just had twins – surprise! Their response after our CHA’s did the babies’ first checkup was heartwarming and the relief they felt was evident to all.

We were also very fortunate to have Pastor Steve Burston from Church Crawley in the UK with us. Steve provided several days of leadership training for both hospital staff and our HHA Team. It was incredibly encouraging for everyone and much needed to help us refocus the why behind our efforts. And finally, the latest development – cholera, has reared its ugly head once again. HCBH has taken on the challenge and have recently opened a Cholera Treatment Center, providing immediate life-saving care in a time of crisis.

Please join us in prayer as we continue this important work. If you’d like to learn more about what we’re doing in Haiti and how you can support us, feel free to reach out directly and I would be happy to share more: michael@hopehealthaction.org.

Michael Goldsmith

Haiti Country Director