2007 Health For Humanity Newsletter

Summer 2007: Values-based Leadership Training Enthusiastically Received in Mongolia

Billions of dollars are spent to improve the health of citizens of the world and even more to improve the general conditions of living for the planet’s population. Yet, those who work in development would generally agree that most of the money spent on development does not produce the intended outcome of improving the quality of life.

Like other sister health development organizations, Health for Humanity focused for a decade primarily on technical training of physicians and health care workers, either in-country or through formal training programs abroad as its major strategy to improve the capacity of local partner institutions to shoulder the leadership for their own progress. While progress was evident and we saw development of capacity, we also came across significant challenges. These challenges included training individuals, who, for various reasons, chose either not to remain in their home countries or, once they were trained, did not serve those in greatest need. Also disappointing were less than optimal return on donations and investments in material resources. So while we were able to witness and document great improvement, the potential for transformation of systems and services fell short of what was possible. As a learning organization, we were committed to experiment with other strategies to improve the quality of our efforts.

After review of over a decade of experiences, we came to the conclusion that a limited approach, emphasizing only material improvements to capacity building is an incomplete strategy. We realized that we had short-changed dimensions of capacity that could greatly improve the quality, quantity and especially sustainability of the outcomes we were seeking. Seeking to address this shortcoming, we introduced values-based leadership training into two HH projects in Albania and Cameroon and experienced remarkably positive feedback. Early this year we began a process of documenting our learning about the addition of leadership training to the usual technical training we are offering to our partners in our newer project in Mongolia.

We have found that people everywhere, even if from very remote regions, have core values that are common to and unite all people. This kind of training provides an environment in which everyone can recall and re-examine those core values that resonate in all cultures of the world. These values have to do with the essence of what it is to be human and how best to relate to the world. It is founded on those universal human values of justice, compassion, service, integrity, honesty, and love. Honoring these noble sentiments and teachings within each cultural setting and inspiring their application to the problems of health permits the conscious choice of creating a solid foundation of human values to govern and guide any advances in medical care and technology. Thus, this training effectively rekindles and re-awakens the core values that reside in a community, and establishes the unity of thought and action that is the necessary foundation for sustainable development.

Our goal is to collect data – both quantitative and qualitative - to evaluate the effectiveness of adding leadership training to the usual technical training we have been offering in health development. To do this we have recruited the assistance of two other institutions: University Nur in Bolivia, where the leadership training we had been using was developed, and the University of Maryland’s Department of International Development and Conflict Management for the research expertise. In March 2007 we conducted a five-day leadership training in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for some 30 doctors, the majority of whom were ophthalmologists.

The feedback continues to be very positive from all levels – the doctors we are working with, as well as those at the Ministry of Health.

Dr. Batsereedene, the State Secretary for Health at the Ministry, remarked, “You (Health for Humanity) have a bigger vision and your focus is not just material improvement. ..........What you are doing (in this leadership course) is precisely what we need. Mongolia is going through a period of great transition. ...... This is exactly what we need now – to make progress without abandoning our values. I am very happy about the work of Health for Humanity and I have personally witnessed the progress in Hospital Number Three."

Dr. Munkhtuya: I learned that listening to others is a very important concept and I am trying to implement it in my life.

Dr. Battuya: I learned a lot. I learned that the world is changing dramatically and that the time we are living in is a time of transition…. I found out where I am myself. Also I learned about leadership and I think this course gave me the beginning of this transformation.

Dr. Bayartogtoh: The main thing I learned is that in order to change society we have to change ourselves.

Dr. Munktsetseg: I learned a lot. I remember what Gandhi said, “If you want to change you should change yourself.” I liked this saying very much. It was a wonderful course…

Dr. Anar: Of course I agree with everyone I learned a lot. My understanding from this course was that transforming myself is not only sitting at home and meditating. Instead we should have regular meetings and talk with each other and learn from each other and exchange our views and ideas…

Dr. Chimgee: Before participating in this course I was thinking that everything is going well. But this course made me think differently. Transforming myself is really difficult. Giving me this knowledge is the big bounty of this course. Personally I have changed. One example is that recently I went to Sukhbaatar aimag (province), and I had never ever traveled on a public bus to another aimag. This time the bus was really crowded with so many people crammed together on the bus and it was really dirty and smelly and so bad. If I had not taken this training I would have complained to people how dirty they were. But because of this training I was thinking they were like me and I saw them with different eyes and I was sitting with them and I was happy being with them. When I think “Those people are like me,” I feel happiness in my heart.

Dr. Munktsetseg: Because of this training many people are starting to talk to each other in my hospital. We used to sit in one room and when work finished we would just run away and never say hello to each other. All who participated in this course have changed. They are starting to understand each other and to sit and talk to each other and have become more united. Especially Dr. --- has changed a lot. He said people have come from a long way and spent a lot of money for us to be united. Therefore we should keep unity among ourselves.

The doctors have enthusiastically requested continued training and have committed to meet together in between training sessions to reinforce the concepts.

We have witnessed that once this new conceptual framework is adopted for the institution, the technical advances have much more beneficial outcomes. We believe this approach to development is inclusive and unifying, and will be accepted by people everywhere. It is unique and transcends ethnic, religious, or national interests.

Summer 2007: HH’s 15th Anniversary: Introducing HH’s New Mission and Vision Statement

As part of HH’s celebration of 15 years of service, the Board of Directors is pleased to introduce a new mission and vision statement for the organization, which reflects the growth and learning of the last 15 years, and looks ahead to expanding the ways HH will have an impact on the world in the years to come.

Health for Humanity partners with local institutions around the world, providing health development assistance to communities in need. Its aim is to make a unique contribution to transforming the health of humanity.

Health for Humanity is founded upon the conviction that humankind constitutes one global family with a common heritage and a collective destiny. No institution will survive in an increasingly interdependent world without adhering to justice, integrity, accountability, compassion, and service to the common good. These values, found in all cultures, nations, and faiths are what unite humanity into one family and constitute the essence of humanity’s common heritage and future.

Health for Humanity envisions a world in which all members of the human family, even in the most remote regions, have the resources and educational opportunities to address the health challenges of their communities and are able to shoulder the leadership for their own progress.

Health for Humanity works through partnerships with local institutions to identify health problems, plan and implement effective interventions, acquire needed skills, and continually improve by reflecting on learning. Health for Humanity balances technical training with systematic incorporation of universal values through service-oriented leadership training. This unique blend of science and values is Health for Humanity’s distinctive contribution to health development.

Report from HH-Sponsored Albanian Ophthalmologist upon Completion of Retina Training in India

Dr. Ali Tonuzi is an Albanian ophthalmologist who has, since the beginning of our partnership and work in Albania, demonstrated his commitment to serving the people of his country. Dr. Tonuzi was nominated by his colleagues to complete a retina fellowship at Aravind Eye Hospital, one of the premier ophthalmology training institutes in India. Health for Humanity agreed to sponsor his training and Dr. Tonuzi has now completed his 12 month fellowship. Dr. Tonuzi returned to Albania in July 2007 and will be posted at the University Eye Clinic in Tirana, where he will be able to offer retina services for the first time. In fact, Dr. Tonuzi will become the only retina specialist in Albania, Kosovo, and western Macedonia, ultimately serving a population of more than 6 million people.

Dr Tunizi writes: “This is the last month of my fellowship in India, and I want to inform you about my time in Aravind Eye Hospital…. I think that spending time here for 1-year it was a difficult experience but very important for me and for my country. I understand very well that ophthalmology is not [comprehensive] without a retina clinic and vitreoretinal surgery…

I [know of] a lot of patients [in Albania] that are blind [because they lack] one simple surgery. I do not forget one young patient who is blind post trauma: He, after a first surgery in Turkey, [lacked the money] to go again for [removal of] silicon oil and now four years later he is [still] blind…. I have decided to start retina [services] in my country [immediately], because there are residents that need to learn; there are a lot of patients that have [immediate needs]. …. My retina learning does not finish here, but now starts.

It was “Health for Humanity” which made possible my presence in Aravind Eye Hospital. Every time I will remember “Health for Humanity” for what it is doing now for me and what it [has] done before for ophthalmology service in my country. I know that “One thanks” is not sufficient but I have not other thing now. With my work in the future perhaps I will complete this “thanks.” This thanks is from my heart for all you.

PS. Many thanks to Mr. Arthur Kane, who was my sponsor [through the Kane Fund for International Health Development] and I think that [I now] know how to take much better care of [the many] macular degeneration patients in my country. Mr. Kane, please accept my sincere thanks.”

I am so happy to inform you that we received the Accurus machine together with the 24 tubing packs from Swanson Foundation. The equipment now is located in the surgery room of our clinic. It is beautiful and it is hard to believe that we have this equipment now. It all became possible because of your kind help and many efforts. Please extend my thanks to everybody at HH who has been involved in helping us.

I think that I can figure out how to start up, because of my previous training in the USA. I will now work on getting some IO gas from China ASAP.

Health for Humanity Ohio Network Reports on the very successful Smoking and Alcohol Prevention Lectures and Poster Contest, 1997 to 2006

The Health for Humanity Ohio Network was formed by the local volunteers in November 1996. The members chose initially to help smokers quit smoking as our healthcare project. We had weekly lectures and meetings on how to quit smoking. It quickly became apparent that we needed to devote a lot of effort in order to get a smoker quit smoking and did not have the manpower or resources for that.

After consultation, the HH Ohio Network decided to embark on the education of smoking prevention at the grade school level. Phaik Mae Oh, who was a medical student at the local NEOUCOM University, had an award-winning public health project on smoking prevention. With her help and with some slides provided by Dr. Obermeyer, the Ohio Network members put together an education program on the effects of smoking on the body. The Network’s objective was to reach as many students as possible with the message of the harmful effects of smoking on the body. We provided them with the facts and asked them to choose wisely. We showed them the danger of developing the habit of smoking.

At the end of each training session, we asked the students to put what they have learned from the lectures into art posters. The Health for Humanity wellness club members judged the posters and selected five top winners in two groups of students; grades 3 to 5 and grades 6 to 8. We found this to be a good way to reinforce the message of the harmful effects of smoking on the body so that they will make a wise choice when they are tempted by their peers and advertising.

The winners, with their proud parents were invited to an award dinner where they were presented with trophies and cash prizes.

In 2002, the members of the HH Ohio Network wellness club felt that we should also warn the students on the harmful effects of alcohol. So we added the section on the harmful effects of alcohol on the body.

In ten years, HH Ohio Network had educated approximately 20,000 students about the dangers of alcohol use and smoking. More than 4,000 students participated in the poster contests. This had beneficial results not only for the students, but also for their families. At one of the award dinners, a mother told the members and guests, how her son challenged her to quit smoking after listening to the lecture and drawing the winning poster. In 2007, in the State of Ohio, the people voted to ban smoking in all public places. The HH Ohio Network wellness club members are pleased that they contributed, in some small way to the movement to improve the health of the public.

In 2006, HH Ohio Network was approached by the Mahoning County Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services Board to combine their effort and launch a county wide poster contest on smoking prevention among the grade school students in the whole county. This was a wonderful opportunity to reach more students with the important message.

Raymond Butler and Cindy Kutsko were the community project coordinators. Raymond Butler, the first project coordinator from 1997 to 2001, worked tirelessly to coordinate with the schools to launch the project. He now serves on the on the public affairs committee to coordinate the county wide poster contest for the Mahoning County Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services Board. Cindy Kutsko, the project coordinator, guided the project successfully from 2002 to 2006.

This effort is a brilliant example of a grassroots effort that had great impact, went through an organic process of growth and became sustainable.

Summer 2007: Academic Article Highlights HH-Supported HIV Research in Guyana

The March 2007 issue of the International Journal of STD and AIDS featured the article “Knowledge and attitudes of young people in Guyana to HIV/AIDS” co-written by Brian O’Toole, Roy McConkey, Karen Casson, Debbie Goetz-Goldberg, and Arash Yazdani. The article summarized the results of the survey of young people’s attitudes and knowledge about HIV/AIDS conducted in Guyana by the Varqa Foundation with assistance from Health for Humanity. The critical importance of understanding and integrating the local culture and ethical framework to successful public health interventions was highlighted by the significant influence of religious teachings in the teenagers’ behavior. The article concludes that, “As in many previous studies, the findings suggest marked differences among Guyanese males and females in their attitudes, knowledge and sexual behaviours. These emphasize the need for gender-appropriate programmes aimed at HIV/AIDS prevention, although to date this issue appears to have received little attention in low-income countries. Likewise, there were some indications of differences in attitudes among youths living in urban and rural areas. This variable is likely to represent a variety of socioeconomic factors that impinge on young people’s health and decision-making, and illustrates the complexity of implementing a national prevention programme that can adequately address the different life situations of young people. Hence, the content and delivery of educational inputs must be capable of being adapted to local contexts preferably by persons who are very familiar with those situations. In this respect, peer-education would appear to offer some promise. Moreover, indigenous research is all the more necessary if we are to create a more complete understanding of human decision-making with regard to health-promoting behaviours.”

Health for Humanity celebrated its 15th anniversary of service by hosting its Third Annual Opera Gala on Saturday, March 31, 2007 at the Swissôtel in Chicago. The event honored the seven Founders of La Leche League International on the 50th anniversary of that organization’s founding. The “Evening of the Arts” also featured opera performances by artists from the V.O.I.C.Experience Foundation under the direction of world renowned baritone, Sherrill Milnes.

Every year Health for Humanity’s Opera Gala honors Chicago community members who have demonstrated their commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of their communities. This year, seven women, the Founders of La Leche League International, received this prestigious award for their 50 years of helping women around the globe breastfeed their babies. The seven Founders of La Leche League are: Marian Tompson, Mary White, Edwina Froehlich, Viola Lennon, Mary Ann Cahill, Mary Ann Kerwin, and Betty Wagner Spandikow. As seven ordinary women living in the metropolitan Chicago area in 1956, they had a simple dream: that women who wanted to breastfeed should be able to find the necessary support and information. They created a model of a facilitated and participatory group dynamic, mother-to-mother support that validates the experience and knowledge of women while motivating them to learn more. The mother-to-mother support model has been very effective in initiating and changing behavior. Over fifty years, LLL has grown to be an international organization in 69 countries, with over 7,000 volunteers. The inspiration and dedication of the Founders to their cause has had a significant impact on the health and well-being of millions of women and infants around the world. For more information about La Leche League International see www.lalecheleague.org. Health for Humanity was pleased to honor these seven extraordinary women, who have so effectively embodied Health for Humanity’s founding principles of the nobility of humanity, the equality of men and women, and the importance of local leadership for sustainable community health development.

The evening’s entertainment -- the “Voices Around the World” opera performance featuring artists from the V.O.I.C.Experience Foundation under the direction of well-known baritone, Sherrill Milnes, and his wife, Maria Zouves –also highlighted and honored volunteerism and service to others. Triple Grammy winner Milnes is internationally recognized as the leading Verdi Baritone of his time. Having sung in every major opera house and with every major symphony of the world, his remarkable voice, artistic integrity, commanding stage presence, and forty-two year career has led him to legendary status. Milnes and his wife, soprano Maria Zouves, have now dedicated their time to helping young, talented opera singers find their own career direction. The charity they established, V.O.I.C.Experience, is committed to the education and development of classical singers throughout the theatrical and operatic world.

The HH office can provide “how to” manuals and personal support for members to organize and host any of these activities in support of HH: - Community Garage Sales - Bowling Breakfast Parties - Golf Outings - Introduction to HH Events - And more…

Health for Humanity depends upon public donations to continue its work. You can help! Making a credit card donation through our secure server is fast and easy, and when we receive your donation, we will send you an acknowledgement in the mail for tax purposes. Click the button on the “Support HH” page of the website to make a donation.

Whenever you give in honor or in memory of someone, HH will send your designee a card in acknowledgement of your gift. This can be a way to honor a friend or family member who has modeled loving service or embodied some of the principles of HH in their lives. This is also a great way to celebrate weddings and other special events – in lieu of presents, guests can make donations to HH in your honor.

After twelve years of service with Health for Humanity, most recently as the Financial Coordinator, Bonnie Taylor is retiring at the end of July, 2007. Her kindness, keen mind, and spiritual core will be greatly missed in the HH office, where she has shared her gifts so freely. We interviewed Bonnie and asked her about her service with Health for Humanity over the years:

I recall several “assets” that appealed to me initially, the most significant being that HH is a service organization that was designed with the intent of providing aid to those who need it most. It feels good to be spending time doing this work. At the time, the office was a few blocks from my house, so transportation was often a short walk or bike ride. (Not being a morning person, that meant I could sleep later—definitely appealing!) Then, I knew several of the people who were working with HH, and assumed that certain principles—freedom to consult, mutual respect—would all be common practice.

When I first started, Diana Harris was the only other person in the office on a regular basis. We both did anything that we could. Gradually, we set some division of labor—I like numbers, so I got the job of handling finances. Anything that has to do with money came by my desk—paying bills, making deposits, bookkeeping, receipting donors, preparing financial reports, budget proposals, tracking donor information for the HH database, etc. There are lots of other tasks that came up, too, but the financial matters took up most of my time.

I have most definitely enjoyed hearing the results coming back from our projects, and seeing those fruits. Some of the stories still bring tears to my eyes. And, I have truly appreciated watching HH grow, mature, develop clarity of vision and the wisdom of experience. It has been said that “everything of importance in this world demands the close attention of its seeker. The one in pursuit of anything must undergo difficulties and hardships until the object in view is attained…” If I ever need to convince anyone of the need for perseverance, I will tell them about history of Health for Humanity!

I will miss the people with whom I’ve worked so closely: staff, Board members, members and supporters, volunteers. That has been wonderful. I will miss the challenge of finding within myself capacities and abilities that were needed by Health for Humanity, and that I didn’t know I had. And, I will miss the challenge of making all those numbers add up correctly—especially since there are those in my family (who shall remain nameless) who didn’t think I knew how to balance a checkbook.

Well, I certainly wouldn’t want to miss the great Health for Humanity garage sale. So, I hope to volunteer for that and other local events when I’m needed. Also, I’ll try to keep my membership current, and will keep HH in my thoughts and prayers often.

The next HH Member Conference will be held near Washington, DC, over a weekend in late May, 2008. The conference will be hosted by the Metro DC Network, and will be an opportunity to engage with HH’s unique vision for the transformation of the health of humanity. It will be held near the time of the Global Health Council Conference. If you are interested in volunteering with the Conference Planning Team or with the DC Network’s hosting activities, please contact the HH office, information@healthforhumanity.org, 847-425-7900.

Dr. Michael Goldberg represented HH at this year’s GCH Conference in May, 2007, and presented a paper on the development of a successful partnership with an indigenous non-governmental organization, BASED/PersPective, to effectively fight river blindness in Cameroon. The presentation was an opportunity to share HH’s model for health development in light of the conference’s overall theme of Partnerships Working Together.

HH Invited to Present on Leadership at 2008 International Association for the Prevention of Blindness Conference

Health for Humanity has been invited to offer a course on leadership in the context of health development at the Eighth General Assembly of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness to be held in August 2008 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A team is being put together for this great opportunity to share HH’s learning.

Balancing the Social and Spiritual Determinants of Health – This year’s BMAC conference is not to be missed!

A team of physicians in the Montreal area are hard at work getting ready for the November 9 to 11, 2007 conference of the Baha’i Medical Association of Canada. The conference, located in the heart of downtown Montreal, will see physicians from across the nation joining hands with international colleagues to advance medicine from a new perspective. For the first time, the BMAC conference will look at the aspects of medicine that are linked to the social conditions of life.

How are principles such as prejudice, education, and extremes of wealth and poverty linked to health and medicine? Why do physicians need to address problems of violence and how? What are the social determinants of health? How are these determinants linked to spirituality? How do materialism and medicine interact? What are the new ethical dilemmas faced by physicians in the medical environment of today? These questions and more will be addressed in the upcoming conference.

This event will be CME and AMA accredited, and there will be a children’s program so families are welcome.

Montreal, November 9-11, 2007 “Balancing the Social and Spiritual Determinants of Health”. Mark this date in your calendar. For more information or to request registration materials, visit www.bahaimedicalassociation.ca.

Winter/Spring 2007: Health for Humanity Celebrates 15 Years of Serving the Global Family

January 19th, 1992 was the date Health for Humanity was conceived. On that cold Chicago winter Sunday, about twenty physicians gathered together to make decisions about an initiative many had been discussing for several years. Two physicians flew in from out of town to participate in the historic event. All knew that it was time to act; they had fantasized long enough about “how wonderful it would be if…” It was time to make it a reality. Five people were elected by secret ballot to officially establish the organization and obtain legal status as a recognized charity. It seemed as though once that step was taken, like a gentle push of a toboggan on an icy slope, another force took over and brought HH rapidly to its birth on March 21st, only two months later. That original group of five was passionate, unified, and shared an incredibly inspiring vision of an organization that would create effective models for health development that successfully combined proven best practices together with a firm ethical foundation based on universal human values.

Over the ensuing years, the “best practices” part of this vision founded on scientific evidence proved to be a lot easier to implement than the ethical/values-based foundation. And so, HH experimented with different approaches, mostly with good success, but also with significant challenges. While HH projects prospered for the most part and demonstrated development of capacity overall, we knew we had not yet tapped the full potential of what was possible.

There was an important dimension that was not being addressed – one having to do with the common core values found in all cultures. As an organization, we struggled with how to best assist the systematic application of those core values that formed the essence of the HH vision. How do we assist our partners and ourselves to “develop capacity” beyond technical training alone? Almost a decade of experience demonstrated that technical training by itself is inadequate to address the most significant challenge of development – moral leadership within an ethical values-based framework. True and lasting change would depend on how successfully we could utilize, measure, and document the efficacy of what some call “spiritually-based” indicators, such as transparency, truthfulness, trustworthiness, justice, equity, equality of women and men, etc. And so, among the various strategies HH utilized, was training in leadership skills based on ethical principles, universal human values, and in the spirit of service to the common good. These are the core spiritual values that are found in and resonate within all cultures of the world. We were fortunate enough to partner with Nur University in Bolivia, where a very effective training program was developed. It is called “Moral Leadership Training for Effective Development.”

Over the past five years, HH, together with partners at Nur, field-tested this leadership training program and found it to have great potential for the work in which we were engaged. Our partners in Albania and in Cameroon responded very positively and we found it very helpful for our own internal administrative processes. Last year, the HH staff and a few select volunteers were trained as trainers. Recently the Board took the decision to document the effectiveness of this leadership training program through HH projects and make it the highest priority.

And now we are embarked on a different and unique pathway – to improve the outcomes of health development by focusing not only on what we do, but how we do it. We might think of what we do as the breadth of our activities based on approaches guided by scientific evidence. How we do it has more to do with the “depth” of our strategies and the core values we employ. At this important turning point in the history of Health for Humanity, there is a renewed dedication to explore the depth and learn more about and share the new evolving strategies based on ethics, core human values, and service, in addition to utilizing the best practices espoused by the World Health Organization and the community of sister non-governmental health development organizations.

We might look at this milestone as evidence that we have arrived at the threshold of maturity. We know who we are and where we need to go to make a unique contribution. We have experimented with all kinds of approaches and various internal structures. We have learned many lessons and achieved a few victories. However, our greatest challenges have been most instructive in leading us in this new direction. We know from experience that true sustainability is not achievable in its fullest expression without the indispensable foundation of ethics and universally accepted values. Many of these core values have already been endorsed by the community of nations in documents such as the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, among others.

Today, 15 years later, we see that vision that led to the founding of Health for Humanity in sharper focus. Through experience and struggle with numerous challenges, we have also acquired some tools to better implement strategies that will bring us closer to that inspiring outcome for which we are aiming – a unified, healthy human family that celebrates its diversity and honors its collective heritage.

Winter/Spring 2007: Why I am a member of Health for Humanity
– Reflection by Jennifer Chapman, MD

Truth in advertising: while I am a big fan of Health for Humanity, I stepped sidewise into the organization when I attended the 1995 conference in Tirana, Albania, on my way to Swaziland. In the years following the conference, I slowly became involved by attending the annual conferences. My focus was primarily on my medical training in pediatric emergency medicine. But over time, my enthusiasm has grown greatly and I can now be listed as an official cheerleader/advocate.

Working with Health for Humanity has helped me reflect on the broader picture of health. As a physician, I have been trained and train others in specific skills: listening and taking a history of the symptoms, performing a physical exam, and thinking through the information to arrive at a diagnosis and a plan of treatment. Physicians spend many years developing these skills. So it is a source of great frustration to see the same patients suffering from illnesses that are serious but can be well controlled with lifestyle changes or medication. In my line of work, a common example is caring for a child in the Emergency Department for the fifth time for his asthma attack (I knew quite a few of these kids and parents by name). That child suffers from a series of problems, including insufficient parent education about the disease of asthma, the important lack of parental confidence that the disease can be controlled, inadequate access to their primary care physician to monitor the disease, and poor living conditions that may include asthma triggers such as second-hand cigarette smoke, dust, pollution, cockroaches and household pets. Controlling the child’s asthma then requires a broader and more comprehensive approach. Unfortunately, physicians are not sufficiently trained in this way of thinking and we continue to try very diligently but sometimes ineffectively to help patients stay healthy. My association with HH has helped me think of health in this broader way. The aim of health development is to think of a larger unit, a community, as our patient. There is still a process of diagnosis and treatment, but the timeline is much longer and the process requires larger alliances to develop a shared vision of both the problem and the solution.

Working with Health for Humanity has changed my understanding of health development. As a well-meaning physician, I have thought of helping in underserved areas primarily in terms of providing direct health care. While this is well intentioned, short-term health care does not lead to sustained improvement in the health of a community. Once the practitioner leaves, there is no more medical help for the community being served. In developing countries, there also can be unintended consequences to this approach. Patients often prefer to see the American trained physicians over their own, even though we are less familiar with local disease patterns. The net effect is to undermine local practitioners. In the country of Armenia, for example, there is a condition called Familial Mediterranean Fever that is so common that it takes the name “Yerevan Fever” after the capital city. I have only read of this condition in textbooks, and have no first-hand experience with its diagnosis and treatment. Yet, a couple brought their son in for a long consultation with 2 of us trained in the US. The conclusion was that their doctor had already made this diagnosis and was monitoring the child appropriately for long-term kidney complications. It was very striking to me that my approval was necessary for a treatment course decided on by a fellow Armenian pediatrician with much better knowledge about the condition.

Health development is a very different way of thinking from medical training, in which we want to jump in and help individuals. Development requires a long-term commitment, on the order of 3-5 years, to a project. A project is more likely to be successful if it begins very small. As small goals are reached, there begins to build a stronger sense of trust among participants that makes ongoing success more likely. This slower, deliberate approach allows a project to grow organically through processes of reflection, consultation, and action.

Health for Humanity is interested in adding something different to the arena of health development. There are many organizations that do similar work and do so with dedication and innovation. So the question may be what is different about being involved with HH? It has taken some time for me to understand the answer. I feel that this organization can add something new to understanding what successful development means. Thus far, health development has been measured using concrete measures that include material improvement in a community. HH wants to contribute to this discussion by exploring a much newer area, namely using spiritually-based indicators to measure successful development projects. This is still largely conceptual work, but is finding interest at the highest levels of organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank. An example might be exploring a way to measure the true integration of women and men in a project in support of the principle of the equality of the sexes. Health for Humanity not only wants to contribute to this academic venture, but also, very importantly, wants to see how this knowledge is applied in the field. The projects we pursue with HH, then, can be the laboratory in which we explore how to practically measure these spiritually-based indicators.

Finally, I have enjoyed being part of Health for Humanity because of the interesting people I have met. There is a lot of laughing and learning in traveling on projects and in attending the annual conference. This feeling of dedication and of commitment fosters a culture of learning within the organization, where we are encouraged to develop new projects in consultation with the board and staff. Looking back at 10 years of my association with HH, I see that I have learned and grown in my understanding of health development, and I have worked with terrific people. Beyond the learning, it is the people that keep me coming back.

Winter/Spring 2007: The Work Within
Reflection by Teresa Henkle Langness, PhD, 2006-07 HH Board Chair

Pewter blue and white patches of sky hung like a Dutch platter over the tilting shelf of the Adriatic Sea. No one else walked about in the small Italian village where we were scheduled to set sail. Even the lunch cooks had gone to sleep, making the wide alleyways so silent, the footfalls of cats jumping down from restaurant windowsills might as well have been crashing cymbals. Finally, we found an open coffee shop where we could stir small cappuccinos until the ferry docked to take us from Italy to Albania. What did this little town know that we did not know? What kept the people inside, invisible, even beyond the midday rest, away from the adventure of sea travel?

When at last the ferry arrived, we boarded, hoping for a calm ride, but the storms at sea were the least of our worries. As we walked up the ramp, we realized that the ferry was not empty, like the streets, but teemed with well-armed soldiers. The war between the Serbs and the Albanians had created the very turmoil that made it necessary to find new pathways into the country, for all but military means of travel had been shut down, and the airport into Tirana closed. Travel we did, but not alone. We rubbed shoulders with young men in camouflage-colored uniforms, glaring suspiciously at these three foreigners as if we were spies, come to lace their rations with anthrax. We were there, in fact, to make arrangements for a group of UCLA physicians to travel to the refugee camps, to forge new alliances with NGOs, and to further the work of the Tirana university’s ophthalmology training program., which Health for Humanity had nurtured, bringing eye surgery to thousands in a country which had almost none, through the repeated training visits of May Khadem and other Health for Humanity volunteers, hitherto by plane in more peaceful times. My husband, David, was concerned about modes of travel for the future doctors and various health care workers who would soon come to provide services in the refugee camps. I wanted to make sure we also had a chance to deliver messages of hope and friendship to children in the refugee camp, sent by children in the HH-supported Children’s Enrichment Program, who were learning to become the next generation of helpers, healers, and ambassadors of peace.

Grateful for what May humbly professed to be her “few words of Albanian,” we boarded the ferry. Her words became our saving grace. At first, the boarding guards resisted letting us onto the vessel. We could not tell quite what they had in mind as they spoke to us in rising voices. As May’s sweet voice became sweeter, they gradually calmed down, and we soon had the sleeping berth we needed to escape the staring eyes and hands clasped on guns that seemed to follow us everywhere we went, perceiving our only escape hatch to be jumping overboard. Our conversations drew us closer and closer over the next few hours as we huddled in the berth. What if we weren’t given passage off the ship and could not understand their requests for bribes? What if we angered one of the hundreds of soldiers, not understanding that we had committed some wartime faux pas? Our imagination, perhaps, exceeded the necessities of reality.

The weather turned. The waves rocked. We looked out the porthole and saw that the cerulean sky, with its dark cloud, watched us like a third eye with a dark circle. We spoke of service—its risks, in particular—and spoke about the act of making a conscious decision to give your life in service if called upon to do so. The details of our conversation became too intimate for me now to share, but I can only comment that obviously, we were not called upon to give our lives that day, and yet that day and that hour were life-changing.

The night passed with only some chiding by the guards about how to use the showers, and the next day we disembarked with only some raising of fists and voices, which we correctly interpreted as a request for more money to leave the ferry. We then spent pleasant days meeting with aid workers and physicians and NGOs and witnessing the presence of many nations who had set up tents in the camps. We met with dedicated local physicians in training. We listened to stories of traumatized patients. We passed out paper hearts made by the American children to the displaced children who had no belongings, who held the treasures to their breasts like mementos of long-lost friends. We passed bunkers and hay carts along with Italian-owned Mercedes Benzes, and we noted the marriage of tribalism and modernity, of extreme revenge and ultimate compassion, everywhere we went.

Surprisingly, neither the evidence of these cultural schisms, nor the weight of the war-inflicted suffering, nor the preparation for service to come, nor the celebration of service rendered by so many was impressed as deeply upon my soul as was that moment of truth in which we moved from detached analysis to self-evaluation and questioned the extent of our own commitment. The act of self-examination cannot be quantified or reported except within the human heart, and this is where it continues to live, for all of us. The motives for our unbiased service, the level of our love and devotion, and the detachment with which we serve are questions we may continually ask ourselves, whatever the project, whatever the day. Perhaps that is why, in moments of discouragement or weariness, this memory sustains me. It is, therefore, this Health for Humanity reflection that I cherish most, as I think of the wan light that suddenly waxed luminous on the face of my then-anointed soul sister, May Khadem, sitting under the porthole window, the voices of gulls and soldiers stilled for a moment.

Winter/Spring 2007: The Pathway to Sustainable Development
- Rick Czerniejewski, MD

How 15 years have flown by! I was blessed to be there in the beginning, when a committed group of Chicago area people would meet and contemplate how we could employ our skills and willingness to serve to address the huge health problems growing in the world. The first act was for six volunteers to travel in the dead of winter to the newly opened country of Albania. What
a fabulous experience! No food, no heat, no vehicles in the downtown of the capital city! From that austere beginning, so much has emerged. It must have been faith and perseverance that led to such marvelous victories there and in Cameroon, China and so many other spots in the US and abroad.

We knew we were on the right pathway to sustainable development when, years later, our Albanian partners offered to serve, teach, and learn from their beleaguered neighbors in Kosovo and Macedonia. As lessons were learned and shared, HH developed to the point that we now have a systematic process to share, that puts health development on a continuing upward trajectory. Now in Mongolia, our partners are requesting leadership training and it seems the resources are coming forward to document and carefully assess its potency.

When we went through the relentless struggles of the past 15 years, we often wondered why we had committed to this ridiculously arduous, thankless task. Money shortages, surviving with a skeletal staff, surviving deadlines for reports and newsletters, wondering if we'd ever see the "light at the end of the tunnel," losing cherished warriors along the way, all will be treasured wounds that just testify that we were there, once the coming victories arrive. No great
accomplishment is achieved without struggle. In fact, the greater the struggle, the more sweet the victory!

Winter/Spring 2007:Capacity Building and Training in HH’s Mongolian Eye Project

As part of the Mongolia Eye Project, HH sponsored two Mongolian Ophthalmologists, Dr. Burenjargal from Hospital Number One and Dr. Batchimeg from Bolor Melmii Hospital to attend the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, NV in November 2006. At the AAO meeting, Drs. Burenjargal and Batchimeg were able to attend symposia, instruction courses and interface with other international ophthalmologists, as this was a Pan Asian Joint Meeting.

Immediately following the AAO Meeting, Drs. Burenjargal and Batchimeg attended the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (ASOPRS) Fall Symposium with the scholarships donated by ASOPRS and the Non-Profit ASOPRS Foundation, formed to further global oculoplastics subspecialty education. Mr. Jim Perez of Porex generously offered to support the project, especially in development of oculoplastics in Mongolia. On behalf of Porex, Mr. Perez also provided scholarship funding for a third Mongolian ophthalmologist, Dr. Arana, to attend the ASOPRS Symposium.

Drs. Burenjargal and Batchimeg then traveled to Portland, OR to spend two weeks at the Casey Eye Institute at Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU). They were able to observe out-patient care, surgery and management of eye services in all the subspecialties of ophthalmology. With the help of HH members, they also obtained critical instruments for cataract surgery that were donated by Mr. Bowens, a representative from Alcon.

The Mongolian physicians also experienced some American traditions by celebrating a Thanksgiving dinner with HH members and friends in Portland before heading back home to Mongolia.

Winter/Spring 2007: Progress and New Developments for Pediatric Rehabilitation in China

Dr. Jan Cockrell, HH Project Champion for the Pediatric Rehabilitation Project in Chengdu, China, made her annual visit to Chengdu in January 2007. The purpose of this visit was to follow up on the progress of program development and to explore new resources and training for the children’s orthotics. Orthotics are custom-made devices like casts and braces that are worn to speed the rehabilitation of the child.

The Neurodevelopmental (ND) Program is growing tremendously. Dr. Cockrell had previously worked with seven of the therapists, but the staff has now grown to twelve. In addition to the new staff, the treatment area has been expanded to accommodate the growing program. They are treating 70 patients per week—an all time high. In spite of the expansion, space continues to be at a premium, and they will soon be moving into a newly constructed wing of the hospital adjacent to the neurology department.

The need for pediatric rehabilitation services continues to grow even as the clinic grows. Currently the clinic is treating six patients from Tibet who have no other access to these critical health services. The staff is contemplating how best to do outreach for this referral base, as the journey from Tibet is arduous even though there is a new train. The excellent reputation of the facility is increasingly attracting these patients in spite of the great distance. Dr. Luo hopes to have a training conference in about a year to train doctors and therapists from other facilities in pediatric rehabilitation.

Winter/Spring 2007: The Financial Resources Page: Wealth for Health for Humanity

The HH Board has reorganized the task of fund-raising, under the direction of a recently appointed Financial Resources Committee. The committee has been very active and has set new goals and targets for the next year. These include:

1. Learn effective strategies: Four Board and staff members have attended training sessions at the Chicago-based Donor’s Forum. Topics covered include “Soliciting Donations from Major Donors” and “Soliciting Donations from Major Corporations”

Increase Board member contributions by 33%
Double the number of fund-raising events in 2006-2007
Create “how to” handbook and mentoring for fundraising events
Create a “financial resources” page in newsletters to educate and recruit people to hold fundraising events in their communities

3. Improve the year-end appeal: All individuals on HH’s mailing list received the year-end appeal letter sent by the Financial Resources Committee chair Rick Czerniejewski. The generous response resulted in contributions of $48,891, representing an increase of over 17% above last year. Thank you to all the generous supporters and partners in the work of HH!

4. Establish Legacy Society: We are so pleased to report that HH has been remembered in the Will of a woman that HH had never previously had contact with, yet she generously supported HH’s work in this final act of selfless, anonymous devotion. The FRC, inspired by her act, has decided to create the HH Legacy Society, which will welcome all others to remember HH in their Wills. As individuals notify us of this decision, they will receive (with their permission) special recognition and benefits, such as complementary tickets to the Opera Gala, etc. A number of individuals have previously made this commitment, and the office will be contacting them about their wishes for inclusion in the Legacy Society. Please consider joining!

Winter/Spring 2007: Guide to HH’s Domestic Health Promotion Service Activities

Health for Humanity is starting a new initiative to increase the domestic health service activities of its members. “How To” manuals and support information for many of these activities are available through the national HH office. If you are interested in organizing a health promotion activity in your community, please call or email the office today.

Health awareness: small activities which promote awareness and education in easy and enjoyable ways.
Health education: workshop or classroom style activities with teaching and learning as the main focus.
Health outreach: drives or fairs that promote healthy behaviors.

Suggested Health Awareness Activities
1. Breast Cancer awareness: easy-to-organize activities to promote breast cancer awareness and to educate the community about breast cancer prevention.

2. HIV/AIDS awareness: simple activities to promote HIV/AIDS awareness and to educate the community about HIV/AIDS prevention. Optional add-on: educational sessions about HIV/AIDS abroad.

3. Pre/Post-natal awareness: small activities to promote healthy pre- and post-natal behaviors and to educate the community about health concerns that can occur pre- and post-natally.

Suggested Health Education Activities
1. Discussion on global health: lectures, panels, discussions, or debates about global health with education being the main goal.

2. Smoking Prevention: using the model created by HH groups in Ohio and Portland, these presentations provide smoking prevention programming to youth and adults.

3. Wellness lectures: using the model created in Ohio, wellness lectures provide education and awareness about a number of health-related issues.

4. Asthma education: workshops given to youth and their parents about living with asthma as well as prevention tips.

Suggested Health Outreach Activities
1. Community health fairs: to educate the community about many different health topics. These fairs provide educational displays or free health screenings through booths set up by various health organizations in a local community.

2. Vision screening drive: to eliminate avoidable blindness. This is a health outreach event where volunteers provide free vision screenings in the community, either in isolation or through a health fair.

3. Blood Drives: to help ameliorate the blood shortage in America. The volunteers’ main responsibilities would be organizing and publicizing a blood drive in partnership with a local blood bank.

2007 Newsletter Articles