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Thanks!

Afghanistan Women’s Clinic Cause on Facebook

What women in Afghanistan are up against….

A woman in Afghanistan is often not permitted to be alone in a room with a man who is not her husband, nor does her husband allow her to leave the house on her own. Many of those women who choose to see a doctor anyway, are forced to sit behind a curtain and describe their ailments to the doctor and receive a diagnosis based on the information they give. This imprecise consultation often leads to misdiagnoses and prolonged illnesses among women. Furthermore, because Afghan women have been barred from educational opportunities since the 1990s, the presence of female doctors is slim to none.

For natal care in Afghanistan , the situation is even worse. Only 14% of births are assisted by skilled attendants, leading to a maternal mortality rate of 1,600 to 1,900 deaths per 100,000 live births. Women and men alike lack information about health concerns surrounding childbirth – it is considered a “dirty” practice in Afghanistan , and women are often forced to give birth in barns and other highly unsanitary areas. They are discouraged from breastfeeding during the first week after childbirth to keep the child “clean.”

In 2007 and 2008, Women for Women International conducted a baseline survey of 2000 Afghan women to learn about health awareness and identify key knowledge gaps. 98% of the women indicated that colds cannot be prevented. When asked to identify the signs that immediate care should be sought for a sick child, nearly 25% of women could not identify any signs to seek medical care for their children. Women who are often married as early as age 12 or 13 and have children at very early ages. However, a majority (over 90%) indicated that they had very little or no ability to determine the spacing of their children. Only 8.5% indicated that they use clean water and 8% wash hands with soap after using the rest room.

Women for Women International’s Afghanistan chapter is working to dispel the myths and change these statistics. From 2003 to 2008, Women for Women International – Afghanistan (WfWI-Afghanistan) trained thousands of women to become skilled birth attendants. Over 2,000 women graduated from WfWI-Afghanistan’s health and traditional birth attendant training program. The participants take weekly classes to learn basic information about the prevention and transmission of communicable diseases, personal hygiene, and the proper disposal of waste and rubbish. They’re also taught about AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, first aid, and the pathology of the digestive system. The women who participate in the Traditional Birth Attendant classes gain knowledge of basic health topics and receive specific training about the genital and urinary systems, the different phases of pregnancy, and how to care for infants.

The benefits of the training continue to multiply after the fact, because one of the core components of the training is encouraging the participants to share their knowledge and take their learning back to their communities. The participants included women from 15 communities in Kabul , Parwan, Kapisa, and Wardak Provinces . Rapid rural appraisals of the communities showed that at least 53 Traditional Birth Attendant graduates are actively providing assistance to villagers in Kabul , Parwan, Kapisa and Wardak. Sweeta Noori , the Country Director for WfWI-Afghanistan, believes that one of the biggest weaknesses in many communities is the lack of knowledge about preventative health and the spread of diseases. “By encouraging the women to share their knowledge, they are reaching more community members and trying to solve this problem,” she says.

WfWI-conducted surveys also report an increase in preventative care to avoid illnesses such as diarrhea, coughs, and general colds. Women have been keeping their living spaces clean, burying their household waste and covering their windows with cloth to keep insects out. After learning about proper disposal of human waste and garbage, one graduate of the training compelled her husband to build a hygienic toilet for her family and their neighbors to prevent them from getting sick.

Surveys have also indicated women are more likely to deliver their babies in local clinics or under the guidance of local midwives. The women who graduate from Traditional Birth Attendant training are given midwifery kits that include first aid supplies and other tools to ensure healthy, safe and sanitary births.

The work of Women for Women International is ensuring that women no longer have to wait to receive medical attention, and are not met by barriers to health and wellness simply because they are women. Gender discrimination is fatal when it means women die as a result of poor or non-existent healthcare. In many rural communities in Afghanistan , a husband taking advice from his wife is unprecedented. But, like the woman whose husband built a hygienic toilet based on her suggestion, the graduates of the training are now sources of knowledge in their communities, giving the women new-found respect among all community members, even men. The health training also empowers women to help one another. They are able learn from each other and build community among themselves, giving them strength and hope to live each difficult day in conflict-ridden Afghanistan .

Cold Hard Facts

Source

A little about the program we are sponsering….

An article from Women for Women International about the Health training / birth attendant program.

Afghanistan Health Training and Literacy Programs

Health and Traditional Birth Attendant Training
The initiative consists of Health Education/Awareness and Traditional Birth Attendant (TBA) classes in order to increase participants’ knowledge of community health issues and provide them with a viable income-generating skill. The health training program was launched in December 2003, and to date nearly 1,500 women have completed the training in communities in and around Kabul. Currently, there are 500 women enrolled in the health education classes and 120 enrolled in the birth attendant classes. The Health Education trainer has 6 years of experience in the community and in field, while the TBA instructor is a doctor’s assistant with 15 years of hospital experience.

The Health Education/Awareness classes concentrate on a variety of health topics, with preventative health being the primary focus. The goal of the course is to educate women on basic health issues, while giving them a foundation for good personal health practices for themselves and their families. The courses will take place over a one-year period and the trainers use a detailed 333 page manual, which covers topics below. Each topic also contains about 10 sub-topics to thoroughly cover each general theme.

Topics the Health Education/Awareness Classes are covering are:

• Prevention and Transmission of Communicable Diseases
• Immunizations
• AIDS/Epidemiology
• First Aid/Pathology of the Digestive System
• Community Health Awareness (Personal Hygiene, Safe Water Supply, Safe Disposal of Waste/Rubbish and others)

While the Traditional Birth Attendant classes cover the topics above, they also focus on basic child delivery and child care in order to provide women with a skill they can use to earn income and benefit their communities. Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world, and education on birthing and child care among women, particularly those in rural areas, is desperately needed. By providing women with education in these areas, Women for Women International hopes to encourage women to dispel myths regarding childbirth — childbirth is considered a “dirty” practice in Afghanistan, so women are often forced to give birth in barns and other highly unsanitary areas, and are discouraged from breastfeeding during the first week after childbirth to keep the child “clean.” In addition to basic health topics, The Traditional Birth Attendant classes also cover these areas with a separate 120 page trainers’ manual:

• The Genital and Urinary Systems
• Different Phases of pregnancy (from the first week until birth), including delivery
• Care of Infants – Children of 2 years

Both classes use a variety of methods to convey information to participants. Visual aids such as first aid kits, posters and demonstrations are often used in the classroom and the TBA classes include a visual delivery model of the genital and urinary systems. Information is also reinforced through the use of group work, question and answer sessions, games and role-playing activities. Women are encouraged to discuss themes both in the classroom and with each other outside the classroom to ensure understanding of the topics. We are also currently pursuing a partnership with the US Department of Health and Human Services to distribute nearly 3,000 “Leapfrogs” – electronic educational tools – to women and/or trainers in the health training program. The Leapfrogs will provide audible information on a variety of health topics that women can also use in conjunction with the training program, and as a tool to educate other women in the communities.

Midwife Training Program

The Women’s Clinic is up and running again…YEAH! We have teamed up with Women for Women International and will now be raising money to support classes that train Afghan women to become midwives. These classes will not only benefit the city populations but also the rural areas that need the most help. The cost of funding this program is $12,000 / 100 students.

Currently, they do not have enough money to fund this program which is where we come in. Our goal is to raise enough money to fund two of these programs a year. Not only will it decrease the infant and maternal mortality rate through better training but it also gives women a way to make money for their families and not rely solely on their husbands.

What we need to really make this work though is some volunteers. I unfortunately can’t do all of this by myself. It is such a great cause though that I can’t just let it fall to the wayside. I need everyone to spread the word about what we are doing. If you are know of someone or you yourself can write and apply for grants that would be SOOO beneficial.

Glamour Magazine will be running an article in the next couple of months about the clinic and all that we accomplished. Hopefully this will generate some much needed revenue.

Also…just a quick update. We will soon be 501c(3) qualified so all donations made will be tax exempt. This will probably be happening within the next few weeks.

Let’s spread the word and help these women have a fighting chance!

Thanks for all the continued support and check out Women for Women’s International website to learn more…

Greetings everyone!

As I’m sure you are all wondering what is going on with the clinic, I thought I would give you a quick update. We ran into some issues with the Army. They didn’t want to be associated with the clinic so I was not allowed to continue being a spokesperson for the work that we were doing over there. We are also not allowed to use the APO address anymore. With that said … I am now back in the United States and in the process of working out some issues so we can ensure that the women and children continue to get the care that they need so badly. I’m trying to find an aid organization that will get involved in our cause and let us use their shipping address so we can continue to send these items.

In the meantime, if you would like to continue to donate items, you can send them to the address listed on the website and I will hang on to them until we can get the mailing situation worked out. I’m hoping to have this resolved quickly.

Thank you again for your continued support of the clinic. Just because I’m home doesn’t mean that the work over there is finished, if anything I can fully devote my time to ensuring that these women are getting the care that they need, despite the circumstances that they are facing.

Thanks everyone!
Michelle

First Heartbeat Heard

Thursday’s are usual a slow clinic day for us.  However, today was crazy.  We had a pregnant woman travel over 4 hours to go to the women’s clinic.  Along with her however, came a whole van ful of women who all had something wrong with them.  We were extremly busy for the 2 hours that we were there.  SSG Jarrin had her hands full dealing with a little girl who’s mother seemed to be indifferent to her well being.  She wasn’t being fed, she was filthy,  and the mother left her lying on the floor with flies crawling all over her.  Jarrin fed the baby and wanted to take her home with her.  She was so malnourished that her legs were as big as two of my fingers.  The baby was only 6 months old. 

Yesterday we got to use the Fetal Doppler Heart Rate monitor that was donated by Dynamic Doppler.  We showed the mid-wife how to use it and she was able to use it on the pregnant woman that was waiting to deliver her baby.  The mother was quite excited to hear her babies heartbeat for the first time.  It was her first child, so I’m sure it was reassuring to know the baby had a good heartbeat.  Thanks to Dynamic Doppler for donating the monitor, it will make a HUGE impact on the heath care that these women will be able to provide to their patients. 

As always, thank you so much for support of the clinic.  We wouldn’t be able to do any of this without your support!

LaSalle Newspaper Article

SPC Jessica Moshage had time for an interview while she was on leave.  It is a great article about the clinic.  Enjoy!

Section A-1 - Section A-3

SPC Jessica Moshage talks to Matthew Baker of the News Tribune about her experiences

The Gift of Shoes

We had an overwhelming number of people at clinic today.  We worked right up until it was time for us to leave.  The highlight of the day was when a mother, who’s baby we delivered a few days ago, brought back in the baby because it wasn’t feeding.  I wish everyone could understand what a HUGE deal that is.  We are finally getting through to these women, just how important breast milk is for the babies.  Little Kafia, kept throwing up all the milk so we went over some basics with the mother and told her to come back if Kafia wasn’t getting any better.  It really makes my day when we see healthy babies that we delivered coming back in for check-ups. 

We had 2 women come in today that were given shots (shots of what they do not know) and had gotten infections from the needles.  One had a VERY swollen arm from her shoulder down and the other had infected looking scabs on both arms.  It really shows though, just how basic hygienic medical standards could make a world of difference for these women.  The more time we get to spend with the locals, the more time we have to educate them.

We also got to hand out some more shoes today.  I think that is one of the highlights of the clinic……giving a kid his first pair of shoes……the excitement that they have is so awesome. 

I decked my favorite baby out in clothes that where donated. I gave him his first pair of shoes and I wish I had a video of him looking at his feet like “what the heck are these things.” He wasn’t sure if he wanted to eat them, play with them, or take them off. It was hilarious.

I know I say this alot but thank you for all the support! I really mean it ….we couldn’t do any of this without all of you!

Something New

We tried something new on Sunday for clinic. We wore head scarves in the hopes that it would make the new women that we are seeing a little more comfortable. After getting a class on how to put the scarf on, we were good to go. We thought that since the mid-wives will be leaving soon and we will be handling all their patients, head scarves would take away the initial shock that we still get sometimes from some women. I have a feeling that once the mid-wife leaves we will be VERY busy delivering babies. I can’t wait

Nothing to exciting happened at clinic. We saw some babies with fevers and the typical malnourished baby that their mother’s aren’t giving them breast milk. We have become very suspicious about the number of women who supposedly can’t produce breast milk and we are trying to figure out why that is. Most of the women who can’t produce, it sounds like they try a few times and then just give up. We have been working with the mothers (and fathers sometimes) to try and educate them on how much better breast milk is than formula. Hopefully we can make some progress in this area.

As always, I want to thank everyone for their support – we couldn’t be doing any of this without your donations! THANKS!!