By Julie Ivy | Director of Individual Giving
Dear Donors,
I hope you’re all doing well and enjoying the spring! I want to thank you for your continued support of GlobeMed at Dartmouth and our partner, the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT).
Since our project focuses on health and health education, I’d love to share with you a little more about KWAT’s work in the field. One of the two IDP camps that KWAT works in has over 1,500 people. In that camp, there would be no health services at all without KWAT. One woman died during childbirth because there were no nurses. So then, KWAT provided two nurses, along with medical supplies, and the camp built a small room for a clinic. Two people at a time can stay there for treatment. According to our contact Mai, people in this camp are now very happy because at least they have the clinic, the medicine, and the nurses.
In addition, in the same camp, there are two families for which the whole family has HIV/AIDS. And on top of that, nine people have tuberculosis (TB). These people were only able to find out about their condition because KWAT was there to refer them for diagnosis. Now, they are taking ARVs and TB medication. This successful treatment is a great victory for KWAT.
Still, there’s more to be done. TB can transmit very easily, especially in crowded camp conditions. However, people there don’t always know that the TB is quickly transmitting, and so, for example, infected people will still stay close to their children (which puts the children at high risk). That’s why KWAT needs to be able to spread more health awareness in the camps, and that’s why we are supporting a school health education program to be implemented by KWAT. Again, thank you for your help with this effort!
Back at Dartmouth, a team of four students is excitedly preparing to work at KWAT for eight weeks this summer. GlobeMed always learns so much more about our wonderful partner on this trip, and we can’t wait to share any new information with you. Stay tuned!
Sincerely,
Julie Ivy
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