It is hard to believe it has only been two weeks since I arrived in Rwanda. I landed late Thursday evening and was taken directly to the Nyamata hospital guest house where I will stay the next three months. I started work in the hospital the next day at 7:30 am and I have been busy ever since.
The past two weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. After overnighting in Antigua I took a small bus for five hours up the winding mountains into the western highlands, finally arriving in Quetzaltenango. Quetzaltenango was and still is a principle center of Maya Ki'che and is often referred to by its Ki'che name Xelaju and abbreviated to Xela. Xela is a large city seemingly disconnected from the surrounding cities but by small winding dirt roads which the revamped and repainted yellow school buses ride along. Most women in the city still dress in traditional Mayan clothing, which becomes even more prevalent as you head out into the country side. Every morning we take the unmarked school bus from the bus stop at the Calvario Church into the mountains of Tierra Colorada Baja. Outside the church, venders sell flowers freshly cut from the mountains and beans and eggs out of street charts.
Next Big Nashville: How Can Artists Help
Oct 09 2009
Today, Charlie Peacock moderated a panel on How Artists Can Help Charities, especially given the current economic climate -- when money is tighter than ever. Panelists included Billy Cerveny, Brite Revolution; Kenny Alphin, Love Everybody; Jenny Dyer, Hope Through Healing Hands; Andrea Howat, Hanson’s Walk/Tom’s Shoes; Derek Webb, Blood:Water Mission; and Barrett Ward, Mocha Club.
Global Health Leader Amelia Wood arrived a couple weeks back at Kijabe with her husband Jim and baby Josiah. She is serving as a neontologist there, bolstering health care delivery and training.
We have now been in Kijabe a full week. We arrived to homemade zucchini bread and an invitation to watch "So you think you can dance" from the wonderful Davis family (our neighbors just below in the Sitaplex guest house). Not having a TV at home, we were way less in the know than some of the long term missionaries here. Kijabe is like summer camp for doctors. And although there may be some sacrifices in being in Africa (like broccoli free of aphids) our overwhelming sentiment is, "man, don't we feel at home!"
We have now been in Kijabe a full week. We arrived to homemade zucchini bread and an invitation to watch "So you think you can dance" from the wonderful Davis family (our neighbors just below in the Sitaplex guest house). Not having a TV at home, we were way less in the know than some of the long term missionaries here. Kijabe is like summer camp for doctors. And although there may be some sacrifices in being in Africa (like broccoli free of aphids) our overwhelming sentiment is, "man, don't we feel at home!"
HTHH Global Health Gathering: At the Frist Home
Sep 30 2009
September 30, 2009
by Jenny Eaton Dyer, Ph.D.
Last night we had a really fantastic Global Health Gathering at the Frist home. Welcoming all Nonprofits who were dedicated to Global Health issues (or Millennium Development Goals) in Tennessee, we had an array of groups who attended who had traveled from as far away as Johnson City or Memphis.
These great groups, all who have joined the Tennessee Global Health Coalition, provide aid and service around the world. They provide beds, shoes, education and clean water for the world's poorest. Some offer leadership training, mental health services and a haven for child soldiers. We have groups who fight trafficking in all forms, and we have groups who train community health workers to provide better health care in forgotten corners of the world.
by Jenny Eaton Dyer, Ph.D.
Last night we had a really fantastic Global Health Gathering at the Frist home. Welcoming all Nonprofits who were dedicated to Global Health issues (or Millennium Development Goals) in Tennessee, we had an array of groups who attended who had traveled from as far away as Johnson City or Memphis.
These great groups, all who have joined the Tennessee Global Health Coalition, provide aid and service around the world. They provide beds, shoes, education and clean water for the world's poorest. Some offer leadership training, mental health services and a haven for child soldiers. We have groups who fight trafficking in all forms, and we have groups who train community health workers to provide better health care in forgotten corners of the world.
Partnerships are Key, Frist Says
Sep 25 2009
A UMNS Feature
By Tim Tanton*
September 25, 2009
Dr. Bill Frist was flying low in a Cessna Caravan above the treetops in southern Sudan, an area routinely bombed by government forces during the country’s ongoing civil war.
The year was 1998. Frist, a U.S. senator, was entering Sudan surreptitiously as part of a medical mission sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse. Sudan had no diplomatic relations with the United States, which had identified the African country as a sponsor of terrorism.
In the remote Liu area, Frist flew over a site where bombing had claimed a rural hospital.
“It had been destroyed,” he recalls. “There was fighting all around.” However, his team was able to work in a makeshift clinic.
“I came back the next year, the fighting had stopped,” Frist, 57, says. “I came back the next year, and there was a little tiny village, maybe a hundred … huts there. And then I came back the next year, and all of a sudden the church, which had been bombed, was blossoming. There was a school there. There was a hospital there. Nobody was fighting.
“So then I said that, basically, there is something to this – that medicine or health is a currency for peace,” he says.
That idea became the foundation for his global health nonprofit, Hope Through Healing Hands. For the surgeon and former U.S. Senate majority leader, health care has a role to play in building communities – and building peace.
“You don’t go to war with somebody who has just saved the life of your child,” he explains.
For FULL VERSION: CLICK HERE.
P&G Dinner: Frist delivers award to World Vision
Sep 25 2009
September 23, 2009
P&G Dinner: The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) honored partnerships that have helped the company achieve three life-saving commitments at their "Live, Learn and Thrive" Awards event. Held at a VIP reception in conjunction with the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in New York City, the Awards recognize partners CARE, PSI, UNICEF and World Vision for their help in improving the lives of more than 40 million children, by providing vaccines and safe drinking water to help those in need.
Senator Bill Frist was one of four who presented awards to the partners. While there, we took several photos featured below.
P&G Dinner: The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) honored partnerships that have helped the company achieve three life-saving commitments at their "Live, Learn and Thrive" Awards event. Held at a VIP reception in conjunction with the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in New York City, the Awards recognize partners CARE, PSI, UNICEF and World Vision for their help in improving the lives of more than 40 million children, by providing vaccines and safe drinking water to help those in need.
Senator Bill Frist was one of four who presented awards to the partners. While there, we took several photos featured below.
Frist Leads Health System Discussion at CGI
Sep 25 2009
September 23, 2009
This morning I participated in an Action Network Workshop that focused on Health Systems. This past month, I wrote an Op-Ed for the Boston Globe, "Global Healthcare Needs More Than a Pill." In that, I argued that we need to consider a "systems-approach," looking at health systems as a whole - beyond just preventing and treating infectious disease. This would include considering the renovations of health clinics, providing good roads for transportation to those clinics, access to clean water, treating chronic disease, addressing child survival, and partnerships across governments, NGO's, and the private sector to make this work. Given this framework, a discussion followed about how to move forward horizontally and vertically with infectious disease, chronic disease, and maternal and child health.
This morning I participated in an Action Network Workshop that focused on Health Systems. This past month, I wrote an Op-Ed for the Boston Globe, "Global Healthcare Needs More Than a Pill." In that, I argued that we need to consider a "systems-approach," looking at health systems as a whole - beyond just preventing and treating infectious disease. This would include considering the renovations of health clinics, providing good roads for transportation to those clinics, access to clean water, treating chronic disease, addressing child survival, and partnerships across governments, NGO's, and the private sector to make this work. Given this framework, a discussion followed about how to move forward horizontally and vertically with infectious disease, chronic disease, and maternal and child health.
Frist at CGI: Opening Night
Sep 25 2009
September 22, 2009
This afternoon, the 5th annual Clinton Global Initiative commenced with the Opening Plenary led by President Obama. It is such an exciting event for global issues with the world's elites--governmental, nonprofit leaders, private sector leaders, and celebrities to name a few--who are committed to health, infrastructure, women and girls, development, and the environment.
This afternoon, the 5th annual Clinton Global Initiative commenced with the Opening Plenary led by President Obama. It is such an exciting event for global issues with the world's elites--governmental, nonprofit leaders, private sector leaders, and celebrities to name a few--who are committed to health, infrastructure, women and girls, development, and the environment.
CGI: Frist Presents Commitments
Sep 25 2009
September 24, 2009
Senator Frist was the Commitments Presenter in an Infrastructure Breakout Sessions Seminar: Infrastructure of Recover: Good Jobs and Smart Growth.
Global recession has slowed private sector investment and caused rampant job loss. In response, governments around the world are investing in economic recovery though forward-looking public works projects. This new generation of infrastructure investments -- from broadband networks to transit systems to clean energy technology -- is laying the ground word for global deployment of advanced technology and private sector innovation. The response to to the economic crisis has set the stage for a new generation of smarter infrastructure empowered by better use of information and more efficient use of resources. Outdated development patterns are being "leap-frogged." This session provides an opportunity to reflect on progress one year into the economic crisis and to examine the relationship between the public and private sectors.
Senator Frist was the Commitments Presenter in an Infrastructure Breakout Sessions Seminar: Infrastructure of Recover: Good Jobs and Smart Growth.
Global recession has slowed private sector investment and caused rampant job loss. In response, governments around the world are investing in economic recovery though forward-looking public works projects. This new generation of infrastructure investments -- from broadband networks to transit systems to clean energy technology -- is laying the ground word for global deployment of advanced technology and private sector innovation. The response to to the economic crisis has set the stage for a new generation of smarter infrastructure empowered by better use of information and more efficient use of resources. Outdated development patterns are being "leap-frogged." This session provides an opportunity to reflect on progress one year into the economic crisis and to examine the relationship between the public and private sectors.