Combat Health Disparities for Kachin Women (2)

Dear donors,

Before our updates, we at GlobeMed at Dartmouth wanted to take a moment to thank those who donated to our Mother’s Day Individual Givings campaign. For this day alone, we raised over $500 for our partner organization, the Kachin Women's Association Thailand (KWAT). Every dollar makes a great difference to the internally displaced persons (IDPs) helped by KWAT. Both of our organizations truly appreciate your generous donations from the bottom of our hearts. 

KWAT has an excellent record of providing much-needed medical services to its beneficiaries, most of whom have been displaced by war and conflict. From July to December of 2015, KWAT interacted with 12,861 cases, including 8138 patients in their Out Patient and In Patient departments of their clinics, 1782 cases in Village Health Outreach, 475 women to which they provided maternal health care education, anti-natal care, delivery, and post-natal care, and hundreds more for various other educational, training, and laboratory testing services. KWAT's clinics ran in five areas: Maijayang, Loi Je IDP camp, Lana Zupja IDP camp, Danai Awng Lawt village in Kachin State, and Hupyet Hka San Yang village in Northern Shan State.

In addition, KWAT was able to play a crucial role in saving the lives of 11 refer patients with serious medical conditions that needed to be transported to a hospital in order to receive the necessary care. These patients included a 9 month old child with a hernia who was not responding to the conventional treatments at KWAT's clinics and had to be transported to China in order to get an operation done. The boy, from the Pa Kahtawng IDP camp, luckily survived. Another included a 43-year old woman with complications and bleeding during her pregnancy due to an unknown tumor in her uterus. Without the work of KWAT, these individuals would not have gotten the required medical treatment, and we are very grateful to be able to support KWAT in their valuable work, especially since the Burmese Army still poses a threat for the KWAT staff who work in the IDP camps.  

Our goal for 2016 is to raise $9,000 by June this year, and this money funds KWAT's valuable projects, which have a target outreach of 30,000 people (up from 22,000 in 2015). KWAT’s projects include, namely, the creation of an Emergency Fund, Community Village Health Outreach efforts, Adolescent Reproductive Health Training, and a Clinic Laboratory. These efforts are estimated to reach at least 1,203 direct beneficiaries and 2,820 indirect beneficiaries. The Emergency Fund is specifically for mothers who need emergency cesarean sections and emergency surgeries. In addition, KWAT health staff travels to around 8 to 10 villages (visiting around 1,00 villagers) that would otherwise have no access to healthcare. Furthermore, KWAT hosts 4 health education campaigns each year at IDP camp schools, village schools, as well as city schools. The trainings provide valuable information and guidance on reproductive health, anatomy, sexually transmitted infections, family planning, and personal hygiene. Lastly, the Ctinic Laboratory at the Ja Reng Yang clinic tests patients for tuberculosis, Hepatitis B and C, HIV, sexually transmitted illnesses (STIs), blood type, and malaria. In the last six months of last year, KWAT received 884 people who were tested for diseases and were able to be successfully referred for the necessary treatment.

GlobeMed at Dartmouth continues to work to fundraise for our partner organization. On campus, we have been conducting regular fundraising events such as crepe sales and special event item deliveries. The highlight last February was the annual Benefit Dinner for KWAT, which was a resounding success. Not only did we raise funds, but we made a special effort to raise awareness about KWAT and advocate for those suffering from the civil conflicts in Burma. Moreover, we provided a platform for community members to engage in constructive conversation about global health.

Thank you so much for your role in this work. In order for KWAT to continue being a positive impact on the lives of so many, we rely on the support of donors like you. All the efforts by KWAT to improve the health and lives of women and children IDPs in Burma would be impossible without your help.

Sincerely,

GlobeMed at Dartmouth