VOLUME XX NO. 1 SPRING 2012 How You Can Help Honduras: A Story of Collaboration Make a financial contribution Wampusirpi, in the department of through our website, or by sending a Gracias a Dios in Honduras, has no check. Consider making a recurring potable water, no electricity, and no monthly donation by credit card. paved roads. It does have a small maternal/infant clinic, led by a Promote our nebulizer campaign. dedicated doctor who trained at the If you don’t have one to donate, Latin America Medical School (ELAM) in please help spread the word. Visit our Cuba, but until recently it had only one website, globallinks.org, for details. nebulizer in the community for treating Enroll your business in 1% for the asthma, and had run out of syringes. Planet and designate Global Links as And, due to its location, bringing in the beneficiary. medical supplies is challenging, risky, and expensive. Photo by Karen Calderón Volunteer to help sort and pack supplies or prepare furnishings. Global Links Program Officer José Henríquez arrived in Gracias a Dios shortly after donations of medical aid from Global Host a baby shower. Collect new Links reached eight small health centers in the region. The 40-foot container traveled to baby items that are appropriate in Puerto Cortes on an ocean freighter, and was then transferred to a smaller freighter for the countries where we work. Details the trip down the coast. On reaching Brus Laguna, the container was opened on the available at www.globallinks.org. ship – at sea, as there is no dock – and the contents unloaded into smaller boats, long and narrow, called pipantes. Exam tables, beds, large cabinets and equipment, along Attend a tour to learn more about with box after box of supplies, were all carefully handed down to the small vessels tied what we do and how we do it. alongside the freighter. Transport of the sea container from Pittsburgh to Brus Laguna was underwritten by the Honduran Ministry of Health as well as a private grant for support of facilities where Global Links is a Pittsburgh-based ELAM graduates are working. Once the pipantes headed inland through the mangrove medical relief and development swamps, however, the municipalities themselves were paying for transport. Every box was organization dedicated to precious. promoting environmental stewardship and improving health José describes the area as in resource-poor communities, primarily in Latin America and the having a “culture of water – Caribbean. Hospitals and clinics whatever they do, they do in under-served communities often along the water.” Rivers serve as lack the supplies and equipment necessary to provide even basic roadways, and this most recent care to their patients. At the same donation of medical aid traveled time, the US healthcare industry in seven or eight narrow pipantes generates a staggering amount for about eight hours to reach of medical surplus which, without intervention, is destined to pile up Wampusirpi. Once there, the in our landfills. Global Links’ innova- town came out to unload it. tive model of recovery and reuse connects these two social prob- “They were very careful with lems in a way that helps to solve both, creating a “virtuous circle” everything,” José remarked. “I that converts an environmental was impressed. Everything was in burden to a life-saving purpose. The town of Wampusirpi perfect condition.” (continued on page 3) Staff Increasing Capacity for Cardiac Care in Havana Kathleen G. Hower “You can really see the CEO and Co-founder impact,” said Program Officer Marisol Valentin after visiting the Angela Garcia Deputy Director Institute of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery in Don Tinker Havana, Cuba, in December. Bookkeeper “Investing in this hospital has Charity M. Grimes made such a difference.” Administrative Assistant The hospital provides Henry Goodwin Custodian cardiology services in the territory of Havana, and is a INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL AID national reference facility. Sixteen hours after cardiac surgery, this patient’s Sally Fishback Toward the end of 2009, it recovery – in a bed from Global Links – is progressing Inventory Specialist began rebuilding the well. Dr. Fausto Rodiguez, next to the bed, is head of cardiovascular surgery section José Henríquez the new surgical ward. Program Officer, South and with four new state-of-the-art Central America operating rooms and a 32-bed Marisol Wandiga Valentin critical care post-surgical patient ward. Program Officer, Caribbean Region At the end of the first phase of construction in 2010, the first two operating rooms were Ellen Wilson complete, but the new ward could not open because there were no patient recovery Suture and beds. After the Ministry of Health advised Global Links of the need, we responded with a Communications Manager donation of 31 hospital beds and mattresses that arrived in June. Thanks to this donation, ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP IN the ward was opened in November of 2010. HEALTHCARE These ICU beds can be more easily adjusted for fragile patients, speeding recovery and Hayley Brugos increasing patient comfort. In addition, the beds weigh at least 400 pounds apiece. Medical Outreach Manager This translates into well over 12,000 pounds of equipment that is highly desirable and yet David Davis would have piled up in a landfill in the United States. Warehouse and Logistics Manager Kyle Kline In 2011, the cardiology service performed 400 operations, with all patients recovering on SCA Green Cities Fellow beds from Global Links. The hospital expects to add the final two new operating rooms in 2012, with each room handling about 200 operations per year, greatly increasing Robin Checkley cardiology services in the country. Jason Katsos Mike Smith Global Links is continuing our long-term commitment to better healthcare in Cuba by Warehouse Assistants working with these dedicated partners on new projects in 2012. COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND EDUCATION Abdul Ahmed Volunteer Coordinator Environmental Impact Christina Gerstel Volunteer Program Manager In 2011, Global Links recovered over 280 tons of surplus materials from healthcare Jennifer Novelli facilities (hospitals, senior living facilities, and the community). All of these materials Community Outreach Manager would have piled up in landfills in the United States, but were redirected to underserved areas to save lives and improve health. Eileen Weiner, Esq. Director of Organizational Initiatives Shannon Black Katie Gascoine Health Corps Members GLOBAL LINKS NEWSLETTER, SPRING 2012 2 Continued from page 1 It would be much easier to provide medical aid only to the big hospitals in Tegucigalpa and other major cities in Honduras, but these rural areas are underserved and in dire need. And the municipalities themselves have clearly demonstrated how invested they are in working with Global Links to improve healthcare resources in their communities. “Your support shows a high human sensibility,” commented the mayor of Wampusirpi to José. He was amazed at how precisely the donation addressed the community’s needs, having never worked with Global Links before. If every health center had basic equipment – blood pressure units, baby scales – many health problems could be detected early, before they become complicated and require hospitalization and the disruption of life and family that usually entails. Photo by Karen Calderón The container from Global Links is unloaded at Global Links will continue to work in the Gracias a Dios department because sea onto smaller boats. of the extreme poverty and need, and because providing basic materials in a community such as this pays big dividends in terms of health and dignity. Now the health institutions of Wampusirpi have four nebulizers – essential for treating the respiratory diseases prevalent in the area. The health centers have new beds, chairs, office equipment, stethoscopes, thermometers, and over 100 boxes of supplies – enough to last almost a year. The value of this project to the people in these communities was obvious to José. “The poverty in the area is profound,” he remarked, “There are many reasons to despair. But I found reasons for optimism as well. ELAM graduates are committed to helping their own people raise themselves out of poverty The mangroves allow only small boats to pass. and live healthier, better lives. And Global Links is committed to backing their efforts. That’s a great decision. We all have the same goals here.” Working with dedicated partners is the best way to ensure that projects such as this recent one in Wampusirpi improve healthcare – and life – in the area. Dr. Karen Calderón, an ELAM graduate, in her Two ELAM graduates in the clinic in Cauquira, Dr. Gisele office in Wampusirpi. Echeverría and Dr. Mayra Haylock. GLOBAL LINKS NEWSLETTER, SPRING 2012 3 Board of Directors Students Sharpen OR Skills while Providing Mimi Falbo, DNP, RN, Chair Essential Service Executive Consultant, Mimi Falbo LLC On certain Monday mornings at Global Links, Jeffrey Ford, C.P.A. the main sorting table is piled with intricately Vice Chair fashioned, gleaming stainless steel surgical instru- Partner, Grossman Yanak & Ford LLP ments, all being examined by surgical technology students and faculty from Sanford-Brown Institute. Charles Vargo Treasurer Executive Director, The Washington “Those are vascular clamps . those are ear Physician Hospital Organization, Inc. curettes. Oh, neuro likes these . .” Instructor Donna Grubbs stands over the table. “The Eugene F. Lauer, S.T.D. students see things here they’ve never seen