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| Harvard
Chapter Shows Up Strong | | Chapters
lie at the heart of FIMRC's mission to provide medical care to children
worldwide. This year, Dennis Zheng and the entire Harvard University
Chapter went above and beyond by securing 23 large cases of donations,
storing them over the summer months, and shipping them to current
volunteers across the country who hand-delivered the materials to
project sites in El Salvador and Uganda! The donations
consisted of toothbrushes, toothpaste, Bacitracin, non-latex gloves,
gauze, all-purpose sponges, Tylenol, Motrin, children's Tylenol drops,
Q-dryl, pregnancy tests, allergy cream, bandages, and other items imperative to clinic operations and community outreach that were
enthusiastically received by ecstatic site staff. In Las
Delicias, El Salvador, the Tylenol and Motrin supplemented the
pharmacy's shelves and were used in treatment of patients 0-12 years
old. The pregnancy test kits,
which are very expensive in Uganda, were an invaluable addition to the
new Maternal-Child Health (MCH) program at Project Bumwalukani. According to a study conducted by the World Health Organization the perinatal mortality rate in rural Uganda is 36 per 1,000 pregnancies. Early detection of pregnancy can help combat this. In addition, the toothbrushes and toothpaste were distributed in conjunction with oral health education outreach. |  The
entire FIMRC team has been inspired by the scale of the Harvard
Chapter's actions and the initiative taken by Dennis and the chapter as a
whole. We extend a heartfelt thank you for their efforts; they are a model to chapters and student leaders everywhere!
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| Project
Limón Implements Dynamic Health Curriculum | | The aim of the Kids in Focus Program is to provide local
children with meaningful, dynamic, age-specific lessons to improve public
health. The lessons are presented to
groups of children during regular school hours and cover such topics as: hand
washing and microbes; latrine use; mosquitoes, dengue and malaria; recycling,
composting and proper garbage disposal; and proper nutrition. Facilitators of the program present the
information of each lesson using non-formal education techniques, incorporating
games, hands-on activities, and community outreach. Reinforcement of the newly acquired knowledge
is approached in the same enjoyable format.
Three different scholastic levels exist: preschool, 1st to 3rd
grade, and 4th to 6th grade. The lessons are engaging with an emphasis
placed on participation from students, teachers, and FIMRC Global Health
Volunteers. The schools from Cuascoto,
Las Salinas, Limón #1, Limón #2, and Virgen Morena graciously welcomed
the program's curriculum into regularly scheduled school hours. Classes typically range from 20-30 children,
who all receive the initial workshop and follow up activity within the same
week. To date, more than 150 children
have participated in the workshops. The
designated student body from Limón #1 has successfully completed the entire
program. |
The Kids in Focus Program is one community outreach activity FIMRC Global Health Volunteers can support when on site by adding creative, participatory activities to the existing
framework. This continuity helps FIMRC
maintain a presence in the community and provides meaningful outreach
opportunities to Global Health Volunteers. A special thanks to Maria Freudenberger, an intern from Foundation for
Sustainable Development, Yanira Obando, FIMRC Community Coordinator, and Rob Orton,
FIMRC Field Operations Manager, for their vision, implementation, and ability to
effect positive change.
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FIMRC
Outreach Events at Local Area Universities
| University of Pennsylvania Student Agencies invited FIMRC to participate in the
2010 Student Employment Fair on September 13th. Global Operations Manager Anna DiColli set up
a table in Houston Hall and shared with numerous individuals how to become
involved with FIMRC and gain invaluabl e experience abroad through the Global
Health Volunteer Program. Anna designed
outreach material for the event which is now available for FIMRC Chapters and
Young Professional Networks (YPNs).FIMRC will be participating in another outreach
event on October 22, Drexel University's Global Health Opportunities Day. Global Operations Manager Anna DiColli will represent
FIMRC and educate attendees on different ways in which FIMRC can accommodate
their global health interests from 10 am to 3 pm at the Drexel University
Health Sciences campus. Naomi Rosenberg
from Partners in Health will get the event underway with a keynote address at
10 am. |
| Finish
for Kids Runners, Lace Up Your Sneakers! |  Finish for Kids runners are less than a month away from
lining up at the start line of the world-renowned Marine Corps Marathon, hosted
in our nation's capital. FIMRC and The
Carefree Foundation partnered to create Finish for Kids, a charity sponsor for
the annual running of the Marine Corps Marathon. This is the sixth consecutive year Finish
for Kids has participated. The total
amount of support this year is the highest in recent memory thanks to all 50
participants! Good luck to everyone and
we'll see you at the conclusion of 26.2 miles of runner's bliss.
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FIMRC
in the News
| Harvard
Magazine Recognizes Global Health Volunteers in Uganda
Harvard
Magazine's September-October edition references FIMRC and the Global Health
Volunteer Program in Bumwalukani, Uganda.
"The Social Epidemic: Battling HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa" goes into
depth on various organizations and individuals involved in addressing the
plight faced by so many in that region of the world. To access the article, click here.
 Project Peru's "Viviendas Saludables" Makes Headlines FIMRC's
Project Peru made international news with one of this year's legacy projects, Viviendas Saludables. A local media outlet in Trujillo,
teveotrujillo.com, highlighted the work FIMRC field staff and Ambassadors are
implementing alongside national partner, JUNTOS. To read the article in Spanish, click here. |
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FIMRC
Spotlilght of the Month
|  The FIMRC Spotlight this month is on the newest member of
the FIMRC family, Global Operations Manager Anna DiColli, mentioned in last
month's newsletter. Her in-depth experience
working with FIMRC in the past before coming on full-time has allowed her to
hit the ground running. Thus far in her
short stint Anna has more than doubled FIMRC's catalog of outreach material,
proposed concrete ways on how to increase customer service, and cultivated a
rapport with universities as FIMRC spokesperson for student fairs. Look for Anna's imprint to spread as she
settles in to her role.
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