Grounds For Health

Grounds for Health to Peru

staff — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:39:45 +0000

Next stop: Peru (image: wikipedia)

August Burns (Executive Director) and Elisa Vandervort (Senior Clinical Officer) are in the midsts of planning Grounds for Health’s first-ever trip to Peru at the end of February. The purpose of this trip is to explore a potential Grounds for Health expansion to Peru. Similar to many other coffee producing countries, cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women in Peru.

The Ministry of Health of Peru embraces visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) and cryotherapy for cervical cancer prevention, the same model we use in our programs. As such, Peru would be an excellent potential match for our programming. Peru also happens to be one of the original five countries where extensive research and demonstration projects on VIA were conducted, so they are experienced in its use and eager to have support in implementation.

While in Peru, we will visit with potential coffee cooperative, Ministry of Health and NGO partners. We will also have the opportunity to visit with colleagues and supporters at Sustainable Harvest and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.

This trip is made possible thanks to a recent grant from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, as well as financial contributions from many of our supporters. Thank you!

More updates to come!

Health info about Peru:

Training Curriculum in Tanzania

Amanda Eastwood — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:43:26 +0000

Community Health Promoters

At Grounds for Health, we recently developed a new community health promoter (CHP) training curriculum that we will be implementing for future health promoter trainings. It includes simple text and user-friendly, descriptive images that health promoters can use as a job aid when sharing life-saving information with their peers.

In early January 2012, I joined In-country Program Coordinator Annah Kichambati, MD to work with her in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. Here Grounds for Health has begun a new partnership with Kili Cafe and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation to establish a cervical cancer prevention program. During a four-day training of 15 new health promoters, we field-tested Grounds for Health’s new curriculum for the first time. Once the materials are completed, they will be translated into both Swahili and Spanish to use at all of our current sites as we train new promoters.

The promoters-in-training were eager participants, singing and clapping intermittently as they interacted with the material and information, Grounds for Health staff, and each other. Dr. Annah’s morning ‘quizzes’ tested their knowledge each morning and their responses demonstrated that they had mastered the information shared each day. The troop of new community health promoters ended the week with big smiles and enthusiasm to share what they’d learned among their village members.

Two weeks after the initial training, the health promoters gathered again for a pre-campaign meeting. They met with Dr. Annah and were also greeted by Ellen Starr and Rebecca Singer who are in Tanzania for the training of doctors and nurses and community screening campaign. The promoters were extremely successful in their first recruitment. More than 480 women had registered for the community screening campaign.

Clearly, the initial enthusiasm of the newly certified community health promoters has translated into effective messaging and community mobilization. Grounds for Health trainers and the local doctors and nurses will be very busy over the coming days of the clinical training and community screening campaign!

Amanda in action with a community member

Getting to know one another is an important part of building trust

Annah quizzing her eager pupils

An exercise on clear, effective communication ... remember playing 'telephone' as a child? it's still fun as an adult!

A happy, graduated group of CHPs

See all the photos on our Facebook Page »

End of Year Appeal Nets $65K and Counting

Jane Sakovitz Dale — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:19:30 +0000

To close out the books on 2011, we – like so many other non-profits – send out appeal letters to try to garner new support, maintain existing support and coax those who have lapsed in their support to come back on board. This year, we had 100 individuals or companies respond to our appeal, bringing in $65,500 – more than 20% over our goal of $50K.

Twenty-three percent (23%) of those who made donations this year were new supporters – Welcome! Twelve-percent (12%) were lapsed supporters who have rejoined the cause – Welcome back! And the remaining 65% of those who responded to our end of year appeal came from the ranks of our loyal, existing supporters. We literally can’t do this work without you.

Worth special mention this year was the addition of S&D Coffee as a major supporter. Lee Wicker, Senior Vice-President, Specialty Coffee at S&D said. “If we can help a noble cause like preventing cervical cancer in coffee-growing regions, then it brings us all a little bit closer together for the general good. We applaud Grounds for Health and are pleased to help support them in reaching their goals.”

Thank you S&D for taking the step forward into the major support category. It’s great to have you with us.

Flavor & Fragrance Specialties, another of our cherished major supporters, renewed their generous level of giving as part of this campaign. Thanks you FFS for your loyalty and commitment.

Also worth calling out for their increasing their support this year: Batdorf & Bronson, Equator Estates, H.A. Bennett & Sons and Sweet Maria’s.

Finally, our sincere thanks to all our current, lapsed and new donors – whether individual or companies – for making our end of year appeal such a success. We know there is great competition for your giving dollars. Thank you all for seeing the work of Grounds for Health as being worthy of your support. With gratitude to you and encouragement from you, we move forward to tackle the challenges of 2012.

We’ll be updating our on-line list of supporters for Fiscal Year 2010/2011 in the coming weeks (http://www.groundsforhealth.org/supporters) and celebrating the names of all our supporters at coffee trade shows this spring in New York, Charleston and Portland.

If your company’s name is not currently on our list, consider making 2012 the year that you join in the fight to prevent cervical cancer – the #1 cause of cancer death for women in coffee growing communities.

Muchas gracias, Asante Sana, Thank you.

GFH Awarded $900,000 Grant from GMCR during Cervical Cancer Awareness Month

Justin Mool — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:41:01 +0000

GROUNDS FOR HEALTH AWARDED $900,000 GRANT FROM GREEN MOUNTAIN COFFEE ROASTERS, INC. TO TACKLE CERVICAL CANCER IN COFFEE-GROWING REGIONS

Non-profit expands sustainable and effective cervical cancer prevention during Cervical Cancer Awareness Month

January 17, 2012 — WATERBURY, Vt. – Grounds for Health, a Vermont-based non-profit that establishes sustainable and effective cervical cancer prevention and treatment programs in coffee-growing communities, has been awarded a three-year, $900,000 grant by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (GMCR). The funding will enable Grounds for Health to further develop existing cervical cancer prevention programs in Nicaragua, Mexico, and Tanzania, and expand its program into Peru.

“January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, and it’s important to recognize that the greatest cancer killer of women in developing countries worldwide is cervical cancer, despite it being nearly 100% preventable,” says August Burns, Executive Director at Grounds for Health. “With the perennial financial support from GMCR and the coffee industry, we’re working toward a future where cervical cancer in coffee-growing communities is a thing of the past.”

Created in 1996, Grounds for Health establishes community-driven, locally sustainable programs in rural coffee-growing areas that work to prevent cervical cancer through early screening and same-day treatment of pre-cancerous cells. Over the past 15 years, Grounds for Health has screened nearly 25,000 women directly for cervical cancer. The organization’s current focus is on training local healthcare professionals in an affordable, replicable and sustainable cervical cancer screening and treatment method called the Single Visit Approach. To date, Grounds for Health has trained more than 250 local doctors and nurses in this same-day screening model, as well as 400 community health promoters, each of whom now has the skills to carry on this important work in their communities, reaching tens of thousands of women in the future.

“We are proud to contribute to Grounds for Health’s important work in coffee-growing communities,” says Colleen Bramhall, GMCR Coffee Community Outreach Manager. “The partnerships Grounds for Health forges with coffee cooperatives help break down barriers that stand between women and the care they need. We are proud of the accomplishments of our Waterbury neighbor and look forward to continuing our collaboration.”

In the words of Fatima Ismael, cervical cancer survivor and general manager of the Soppexcca coffee cooperative, a long-time partner of both companies, “I think until my last breath, I will be eternally grateful for what [Grounds for Health] has done for us.”

Find Grounds for Health on Facebook (http://facebook.com/groundsforhealth) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/grounds4health).

About Grounds for Health

Grounds for Health is a 501(c)(3) organization that establishes sustainable and effective cervical cancer prevention and treatment programs in coffee-growing communities. Founded by a member of the coffee industry, the organization’s goal is to decrease the rate of cervical cancer in coffee regions. Grounds for Health was the recipient of the 2011 Sustainability Award from the Specialty Coffee Association of America.

Contact Information

Contact: Justin Mool
Phone: 802.241.4146
email: justin@groundsforhealth.org

Giving (Heartfelt) Thanks

Jane Sakovitz Dale — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:41:51 +0000

As we near the end of the calendar year, and in this season of Thanksgiving, we are mindful of all the individuals and companies who have made the work of this past year possible. Of course we are most grateful to our 250 financial supporters, but there are many others who have supported our work non-monetarily to whom we also want to send out our heartfelt thanks. In no special order, they include:

We thank all our current co-op partners for their commitment, efforts and graciousness, including:

CESMACH, Fina Triunfo Verde, Ramal Santa Cruz and La Comon Yaj Nop Tic, Chiapas, Mexico
SOPPEXCCA, Jinotega, Nicaragua
CECOCAFEN, Matagalpa, Nicaragua
PRODECOOP, UCPCO, CORCASAN and UCA San Juan, Madriz, Nicaragua
Kanyovu Cooperatives, Kigoma, Tanzania
Kilicafe, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Our work is their work and together we are seeing an impact that is sustainable and beneficial for women who grow coffee and their families.

Field Intern Rachel Ballester (left) with partner cooperative La Comon Yaj Nop Tic at their new clinic right in their co-op!

Thanks to our most recent collaborative partners, ICAP (International Committee on AIDS Prevention) and EGPAF (Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation) in Tanzania for their support and collaboration which has allowed us to roll-out a program with much greater geographic impact than our resources alone would have made possible. In Tanzania ICAP had the sense to support the new trainees in developing and utilizing their skills.

Thanks to our stalwart Field Interns, Amanda Eastwood and Rachel Ballester, whose outstanding labors have contributed greatly to a successful year, as well as to our Office Interns, Meghan Costello, Anne Bayerle, Julia Wejchert and Lily Wies, all of whom donated their time and talents to advance this work.

Thanks to the Boston University School of Public Health for incorporating placements in our program into their curriculum for Master Candidates.

Thanks to all our Coffee Auction Donors who donated almost 27,000 pounds of green coffee, setting us up for our most successful on-line auction ever.

Thanks to our coffee friends who welcome us in-country when we travel for campaigns, provide us with transportation, meals, conversation and who generally make us feel at home when away from home. This year that included ECOM, Zephyr, Sustainable Harvest, and Café Africa.

ECOM and Allegro at a tasting that featured GFH Auction coffee

Additional thanks to our friends at ECOM who not only gave us a generous grant but also paid the attendance of our intern, Amanda Eastwood so she could attend RAMACAFE (and thanks to Henry and Gabriela for the discounted attendance rate and to supporters Café Imports and Strategic Coffee Concepts who squired Amanda around the event.)

Thanks to the coffee trade magazines Fresh Cup, Coffee Talk, Barista, and Roast who provided us with free ad space.

Thanks to Barry Chouinard and Custom Colors for providing us with our first-ever Grounds for Health polo shirts, which are much appreciated and even coveted by our traveling and in-country staff. Oh and of course the car wash T-shirts …

Speaking of the car wash, thanks to all the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Volunteers, Ben & Jerry’s for the free scoops, Gigi’s Cleaning for the detailing, and The Growlers for the great music.

Ben & Jerry's Homemade at the annual GMCR/GFH Car Wash

Thanks to NCA (the National Coffee Association) and CoffeeFest for providing us with free booth space at their trade shows as well as to Buffalo Blends, Faracafe and Scolari Engineering/Texpak who sponsored our SCAA events.

Thanks to all the coffee shops that have done promotions to benefit Grounds for Health. Whether large or small, these efforts matter and buoy us up on the sea of public awareness.

Finally, thanks to all the hard-working Grounds for Health board members, who bring us immeasurable guidance and support.

To all of you, we wish the best in this season of Thanksgiving.

Your involvement makes everything possible. Thank you.

GFH Trainees Become National Trainers

August Burns — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 23:59:27 +0000

Here’s yet another Kigoma success story: We recently learned that three of our star pupils from Kigoma—Grencia, Leonarda and Bernadetta—have become National Trainers and just finished their second cervical cancer training campaign in Pwani, Tanzania, a region that has had no cervical cancer prevention programs until now. They trained 12 providers for six sites: the Regional Hospital, four district hospitals and a large health center.

The three of them also held training sessions for an NGO called IMA in Mara Region and recently Leonarda trained for EGPAF in Tabora. They are now popular trainers.

Further proof that Grounds for Health is having a real, tangible impact.

Leonarda with her GFH certificate, June 2009

Bernadetta receiving her certificate from master trainer Dr. Cheryl Gibson, January 2010

Grencia and GFH volunteer Susan Hollinger

Click on the Markers to see region names or view Training Sites in a larger map.

Great VIA/Cryo Video

Elisa Vandervort — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:24:58 +0000

Single Visit Approach materials

Recently we came across a great video on VIA/Cryo and the Single Visit Approach, which the short segment calls “see and treat.” This BBC video focuses on the cervical cancer prevention work of an organization in Rwanda called UJAMAA Medical Connections.

This segment focuses on the same approach that Grounds for Health uses in its cervical cancer prevention programs in Mexico, Nicaragua and Tanzania. Similar to this organization, we train local doctors and nurses in simple life saving techniques (VIA and cryotherapy), so that they can continue screening and treating women at risk for cervical cancer.

We feel as though it’s important to note that this segment does not mention a component that Grounds for Health has found to be vital in the success of our programs: community involvement, ownership and education. In the Grounds for Health model, the coffee cooperatives and their members break down many of the barriers that stand between women and the care they need.

In the near future, we will be working on posts of our own that describe this involvement and show why it’s so effective.

Legwork in Tanzania

Justin Mool — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:26:39 +0000

Dr. Annah Kichambati

On Friday October 21, Executive Director August Burns and Senior Clinical Officer Ellen Starr departed for the Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania. They are currently in the process of meeting with the Association of Kilimanjaro Specialty Coffee Growers (Kilicafe), the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and the Tanzania Ministry of Health to finalize plans for launching our new program in this region in January 2012.

Grounds for Health field staff Dr. Annah Kichambati has been in Moshi for a few weeks, making connections in advance of our arrival. Over the coming days, Ellen and August plan to spend some time with Annah, further developing her materials for use in training community health workers in the region.

Follow Grounds for Health on Facebook and/or Twitter to get all the latest updates as they happen!

Tanzania

Green = New site in Moshi
Blue = Previous campaign site in Kigoma

View Tanzania in a larger map

Renewals and New(als)

Jane Sakovitz Dale — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:26:36 +0000

Caribou Coffee

We were delighted to close our fiscal year (which ended September 30) with a substantial gift from long-time supporter Caribou Coffee. Based on the number of coffeehouses, Caribou Coffee is the second largest premium coffeehouse operator in the United States. As of July 2011, Caribou had 554 coffeehouses including 147 franchised locations, in 20 states, the District of Columbia and nine international markets.

They have supported the work of Grounds for Health since 2005. In making the gift, Chad A. Trewick Sr. Director of Coffee & Tea, said: “Again, it is with pride that I get to share this news with you. I know how important and impactful this work is and I am thankful for the opportunity for Caribou Coffee to be a partner.”

The Minneapolis-based Caribou is a publicly traded company. Learn more about their good works at http://www.cariboucoffee.com.

Baronet Coffee Roasters

And we also welcome new supporter, Baronet Coffee Roasters of Hartford, CT. Baronet Coffee has been importing and roasting high quality coffee since 1930 under the supervision of three generations of the Goldsmith family. We met current president, Bruce Goldsmith at the NCA Fall Seminar in September in Washington, DC and are grateful to have him so quickly come on board as one of our newest corporate supporters.

Learn more about the rich history of Baronet Coffee at http://www.baronetcoffee.com.

Cafe Grumpy

And on the retail side, Cafe Grumpy – one of the trendiest coffee shops in NYC – is holding a November promotion to benefit Grounds for Health. They will donate $1 for every bag of Aragon, Guatemala coffee they sell. With four city locations, Cafe Grumpy is a magnet for urban coffee aficionados who want to sample the best the coffee world has to offer. This month, customers can do so while also contributing to help the women who grow the coffee. Find out more about the November promotion at http://www.cafegrumpy.com/2011/10/buy-a-bag-of-beans-support-grounds-for-health/.

Thanks to all our supporters who helped us exceed our fundraising goals this Fiscal Year. Quite literally, we couldn’t have done it – or any of the work we do – without you.

Trip Report: Nicaragua – September 2011

Kayla Moore — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:26:32 +0000

Amanda, Kayla, and August with San Juan de Rio Coco coop collaborators

From Sep 21- Sep 30, 2011, Grounds for Health trained a new cohort of 11 doctors and nurses on cervical cancer screening using Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) and Pap, and treatment of pre-cancer with cryotherapy. Of the 11 providers, nine received certification in VIA and five of those also received certification in Cryo. Two received certificates of participation only. Grounds for Health will support the trained providers as they put their new skills to use over the next several months, ensuring that they have the material and personnel resources needed to continue offering screening and treatment at their respective clinics,

During the course of the campaign, a total of 306 women were screened, 93% of whom were within the target age group of 30-55 years of age. The high percentage of women seen in the target group is one indicator of success for the promoter training conducted previously. Of the total women screened, 24% had either a positive pap, positive VIA test or both and 14% received same day treatment with cryotherapy. All (100 %) of high-grade paps were confirmed with VIA.

Smiling faces after a talk on cervical cancer while waiting to be screened

This marks the first training / campaign at our new program site, San Juan del Rio Coco in the department of Madriz, Nicaragua, where we expect to continue working for three years. The event was carried out in close collaboration with our four co-ops partners at this site, UCA San Juan, UCPCO, PRODECOOP and CORCASAN. This collaboration with local, community groups, will ensure that thousands more women receive the information and access to life-saving health services long after Grounds for Health leaves.

Highlights:

Launched new screen and treat training program and campaign in San Juan del Rio Coco, Madriz.
Established the first treatment center in the region
Co-op coordinators demonstrated impressive management and coordination skills
Co-ops and SILAIS commitment mobilize local resources to help women requiring further diagnosis and treatment

Next Steps:

Follow up on biopsy results and next steps for patients who require additional treatment
Donate cryo equipment at Hospital Primario Luis Felipe Mocado and one additional site staffed by provider trained to competency in cryotherapy
Donate biopsy punches to SILAIS Somoto
Establish schedule of supportive supervision for new provider cohort and conduct monitoring and supervision visits
Complete pilot project with SOPPEXCCA/SILAIS Jinotega and document results
Develop proposal for Master Training Program in Esteli and present proposal to PRODECOOP management during the pre-Assembly (later in 2011)
Conduct follow-up meeting with co-op coordinators to develop work plan for next phase focused on community outreach and education, including mentoring for community health promoters
Expand on the current Co-op Coordinator’s guide; develop a comprehensive resource for co-op coordinators focused on community mobilization
Work with curriculum development experts to modify the Trainer’s guide and package it for use in the Master Training Program

Making good use of readily available materials to practice Pap and VIA

Amanda & Dra. Barinia

Volunteer team

GFH preceptors and trainees