Healing Hands of Joy
Pilot Project Prospectus (Pdf opens in new window)
Pilot Project in Tigray Region of Northern Ethiopia, Mekelle:
- We will open a Healing Hands of Joy Project Center in Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region, to initially serve as a half-way house to feed, house, counsel, and train the women who are recovered fistula patients and wish to be part of the program.
- We were led to the Tigray region of Ethiopia for a number of reasons. The birth rate is an average 5.1 per women, 82% of women home deliver their babies and 15% of all pregnancies need emergency assistance. Early marriage is also prevalent and the maternal mortality rate is 1 per 148 deliveries. Because Tigray is extremely rural and mountainous many women don’t receive skilled maternal care and continuously suffer from obstetric fistula.
- The Mekelle Hamlin Fistula Hospital recently opened to serve rural women who are suffering from obstetric fistula.
- We will work with staff at the Mekelle Hamlin Fistula Hospital to predetermine possible candidates for the Healing Hands program who are outgoing fistula patients who have received treatment or are incurable.
- We will work with women on an individual basis to determine their education level, psychological, financial needs and future goals in order to support them.
- We will start by hiring a midwife to staff the Healing Hands of Joy Project Center to work with women who are part of the Healing Hands of Joy program. Some will be trained as fistula advocates if they so desire.
- The midwife will also assist village traditional birth attendants, government health extension workers and will train and help integrate former fistula patients who wish to become midwife or skilled birth attendant aids.
- The midwife will hold bi-annual fistula advocacy workshops at the Mekelle Fistula Center for cured patients returning home to their villages.
- Women in the HHOJ program will be taught to locate fistula patients in their area for which they will receive compensation.
- We will work with the Mekelle Health Bureau and regional Women’s Associations and Fistula Support Groups.
Program Development: Empowerment, Micro-financing and Fistula Advocacy
We will aim to provide a range of options to empower women as they reintegrate back into their communities:
- We will provide psychological care and create Fistula Support Groups.
- We will establish a micro-financing program to assist former fistula patients and provide business or trade skills and small loans.
- Other women will be trained as community volunteers to assist the Health Extension Workers with maternal health services (the govt. of Ethiopia has trained 30,000 HEW to work in health centers around the country). Currently, 2 women serve 5,000 people.
- We will train fistula advocates to find other women suffering from fistula, mobilize transportation and to organize community education and outreach.
- We will teach the women how to produce Safe Motherhood Kits to be distributed to Traditional Birth Attendants and Health Extension Workers in their villages. The women will receive compensation for every kit produced as a source of income to encourage them to remain active in assisting to improve maternal health care.
- We will help women locate education options and enroll them in local schools or provide scholarships for night school.
- Some women will be trained as nurses’ aids to assist the Hamlin Midwives who will be working in Health Centers stationed in rural communities surrounding the Mekelle Hamlin Fistula Hospital.
Phase 2: To start implementing our pilot project we need to establish a US board of directors, fundraise for Phase 2 and travel back to Ethiopia to accomplish the following: Estimated Costs for Phase 2: $75,000 (detailed budget available) Healing Hands of Joy
3101 N Hampton Drive
#1517
Alexandria, VA 22302
