While most of the team was celebrating at SCAA in Portland, Grounds for Health Executive Director August Burns traveled to Geneva to take a seat at the table as a technical adviser to the World Health Organization. We were singled [...]]]>

August Burns (center) at WHO to revise to revise International Guidelines on Cervical Cancer Prevention

While most of the team was celebrating at SCAA in Portland, Grounds for Health Executive Director August Burns traveled to Geneva to take a seat at the table as a technical adviser to the World Health Organization. We were singled out to participate in updating the global recommendations on cervical cancer control because of our dedication to community-based, sustainable solutions, and particularly for our experience and success in engaging the community as key players in prevention efforts.

“Being able to bring the voice of the rural poor to the table was such an honor and an opportunity” said Burns. “It’s a voice that is rarely heard, and even more rarely reached with services, but we will never beat this disease without including this important population.”

As a result of August’s participation, Grounds for Health will lead the development of global guidance on outreach and community mobilization. As always, thank you to the coffee industry for making our work possible.

During one whirlwind week in April, you could clearly see how Grounds for Health has been having an impact on a global level. From April 22-28, Grounds for Health was doing work on both coasts, sitting at the table at the World Health Organization and championing cervical cancer prevention [...]]]>

April 22 - 28 Retro Diary

During one whirlwind week in April, you could clearly see how Grounds for Health has been having an impact on a global level. From April 22-28, Grounds for Health was doing work on both coasts, sitting at the table at the World Health Organization and championing cervical cancer prevention with six countries on four continents.

Here’s a little retro diary of that crazy week.

Sunday, April 22 – Portland, Oregon

Development Director Jane Sakovitz Dale, Communications Specialist Justin Mool, and Operations Manager Katherine Parcell take some time to have breakfast at Mother’s Bistro to reflect on an amazing week at the SCAA Event. It has been an inspiring few days with our most ardent supporters. (Read Jane’s article HERE.)

Monday, April 23 – Chiapas, Mexico

In-country Coordinator Dra. Lupita Jovel Sanchez conducts additional community health promoter trainings with the Triunfo Verde and CESMACH cooperatives. These locally led trainings will mean that the communities can hold their own campaigns to screen and treat women for cervical cancer.

Tuesday, April 24 – Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

In-country Coordinators Dr. Annah Kichambati and Amanda Eastwood conducted a refresher training for Community Health Promoters from the farmer groups of Kilicafe to support their growing knowledge of cervical cancer prevention.

Wednesday, April 25 – Cajamarca, Peru

Even though Senior Clinical Officer Elisa Vandervort isn’t physically in Peru, she is working the phone lines in preparation for the upcoming launch of our new program in the northern region of the country, checking in with our four new coffee cooperative partners, arranging meetings with the National Cancer Institute, and making plans with our coffee industry supporters on the ground.

Thursday, April 26 – Waterbury, Vermont

Grounds for Health interns Corrie Wilcox and Michelle Paquette jump in to help Senior Clinical Officer Ellen Starr, who is busy getting ready for the second campaign in Kilimanjaro Region in May. She will be heading back on her own to continue to strengthen the program we began in January with partners Kilicafe and EGPAF (the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation).

Friday, April 27 – Geneva, Switzerland

Executive Director August Burns finishes five days of meetings with the World Health Organization to revise International Guidelines on Cervical Cancer Prevention. She had been selected by WHO to join this technical advisory group, and leaves the meetings with a request that Grounds for Health author the guidelines on community outreach and education.

Saturday, April 28 – San Juan del Rio Coco, Nicaragua

Program Manager Kayla Moore and Senior Program Officer Rebecca Singer hold a wrap-up meeting with In-Country Coordinator Barinia Osejo to review a fruitful campaign and plan next steps. For the entire week, the team had been visiting Grounds for Health-trained providers at their health posts in the Madriz area. The local doctors and nurses have shown great progress and, together with the help of co-ops and community health promoters, are providing access to care for hundreds of women who have never been screened.

Grounds for Health was so gratified to be able to participate fully in SCAA’s Symposium and Trade Show in Portland, Oregon last month. For five days we interacted with old friends and supporters, producer groups with whom we work in country as well [...]]]>

The team: Katherine, Elisa, Emma, Jane and Justin (he took the photo)

Grounds for Health was so gratified to be able to participate fully in SCAA’s Symposium and Trade Show in Portland, Oregon last month. For five days we interacted with old friends and supporters, producer groups with whom we work in country as well as with new friends. Thanks to our loyal supporters, we were able to attend the show, have a booth and hold a reception all at minimum cost to us.

As always, our philosophy is to ensure that donor dollars go where they are needed most: to support the creation of sustainable cervical cancer screening, treatment and training programs that save lives and empower coffee communities.  Our Executive Director, August Burns was absent this year since she was in Geneva, Switzerland participating, by invitation, in a Technical Advisory group of the World Health Organization, revising international guidelines on cervical cancer prevention. Talk about having a seat at the table to make a lasting difference in the fight against this preventable global killer. Thanks to all of our coffee supporters, we do.

Special thanks to the following:

Kerri Goodman-Small and Miles Small of CoffeeTalk Magazine who hosted two nights of “craps” at their suite in the Hilton. Participants bought chips by making a donation to Grounds for Health, and then let it ride, netting $1,520 in donations.

Zephyr Coffee / LDC hosted a get-together at the iconic McMenamins Kennedy School on Thursday night. There they raffled off a new iPad to benefit Grounds for Health, raising $1,100 in the process.

Farmer Brothers / Coffee Bean International was the marquee sponsor for Grounds for Health’s reception, Friday evening at The Heathman Hotel. About 100 friends, supporters and could-be supporters showed up for some great food and drink. A short presentation featured Grounds for Health donor Adam Pesce of Reunion Coffee and a 3-min video, “A Mother Is Waiting” which can be found right on our home page: www.groundsforhealth.org.

Portland’s own Boyd Coffee Company commissioned a piece of art that they sold in their booth and at their plant tours with 20% of the proceeds ($191) coming back to Grounds for Health.

And last but not least, thanks to Howard Weiss, Scolari Engineering, who helped underwrite costs associated with having a booth at the Trade Show.

We left SCAA buoyed by the swell of increasing support and understanding for the mission we share.

Thank you all for a great visit to Portland. See you in Boston in 2013.

Bob Hager from Monin presenting a $25K donation to Grounds for Health

The booth, underwritten by Howard Weiss, Scolari Engineering

Incredible spread at our reception, which was hosted by Farmer Brothers / Coffee Bean International

Swing by Booth 7077 to get your invite to our reception at the Heathman Hotel on Friday night at 7pm. There will be free drinks and appetizers! Thanks to Farmer Brothers for generously sponsoring the event.

Late last month, Ground for Health staff, including Executive Director August Burns and Program Manager Kayla Moore, traveled to Chiapas, Mexico with the primary goals of developing a six-month work plan to transition full ownership of the cervical cancer prevention program to co-op partners and secondly, to evaluate [...]]]>

New trained Trainers proudly display their certificates

Late last month, Ground for Health staff, including Executive Director August Burns and Program Manager Kayla Moore, traveled to Chiapas, Mexico with the primary goals of developing a six-month work plan to transition full ownership of the cervical cancer prevention program to co-op partners and secondly, to evaluate the success of the project.

Since beginning work in the region, Grounds for Health has trained 53 local healthcare providers and approximately 100 community health promoters on cervical cancer prevention, screened over 5,000 women, and provided same-day treatment to over 81% of women testing positive during screen-and-treat campaigns in Chiapas.

During this last trip, after various meetings and interviews with co-op leadership and members, we came away with some encouraging findings:

• Our projects have led to increased awareness of cervical cancer among co-op members and a heightened importance of screening
• Co-op leadership now recognizes cervical cancer prevention as an essential service for ensuring the well-being of their members and that it has a positive impact on the financial success of the co-op
• Training of community health promoters contributed to the recognition of women as leaders in a number of communities. After becoming Community Health Promoters, some women were elected as delegates to represent their community’s interest in the co-op.

We also received great feedback that while the program has been far-reaching,  there are still some women who have not accessed services. Reasons include shame, fear of a positive result, their husbands prohibit it, or other cultural beliefs. The co-ops believe other strategies could be employed for outreach in these mostly indigenous communities, such as conducting talks with the men, repeat visits, and one-on-one talks that directly address the woman’s fears. There are also women in very remote areas that have not been reached because of their location.

Grounds for Health and our in-country staff will continue to monitor and evaluate the program to make sure the co-ops can assume complete ownership by a projected Fall 2012 handover. A few of the activities planned for the next six months include:

• Two mini-campaigns in Siltepec, a particularly remote region with a large unscreened population
• Training for additional doctors and nurses to be conducted by newly trained local trainers
• Radio spots and talks with Dra. Lupita to correct misinformation about cervical cancer prevention and treatment
• Additional community health promoter trainings and community outreach and education
• Developing tools to improve and assess the effectiveness of community outreach activities

Women waiting to be screen, many for the first time

Not a bad classroom

Small groups hard at work

Silvia, Manuel, Lupita and Kayla on the patio at CESMACH after the training of trainers

View all the photos on Facebook »

We will be attending the NCA Annual Convention in Charleston, South Carolina on March 22-24.

If you will be there, come by Table 22 in the Exhibit area to learn how Grounds for Health, with coffee industry support, is reducing deaths from cervical cancer in coffee-growing communities and how you can help support this [...]]]>

NCA Conference

We will be attending the NCA Annual Convention in Charleston, South Carolina on March 22-24.

If you will be there, come by Table 22 in the Exhibit area to learn how Grounds for Health, with coffee industry support, is reducing deaths from cervical cancer in coffee-growing communities and how you can help support this work by:

• Direct contributions
• Initiating an employee giving program
• Donating and/or purchasing green coffee at our 4th Annual On-Line Green Coffee Auction, June 5 & 6

Exhibit participation made possible by NCA with attendance generously underwritten by Scolari Engineering.

We’d like to take this opportunity to send out our thanks to the participating employees of Green Mountain Coffee [...]]]> The work of Grounds for Health is supported by more than 250 coffee companies and individuals.  Among the individuals who choose to support our work are the employees of three of our most vocal and loyal donors.

We’d like to take this opportunity to send out our thanks to the participating employees of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Royal Coffee, Inc and Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee, Inc for their incredible and growing generosity. Employee giving—through automatic and tax-deductable payroll deductions—from these three companies alone will add up to more than $15,000 this year!

That’s a lot of cervical cancer screening, treatment and training to benefit women in coffee-growing communities. These individuals give from their own paychecks without fanfare or great recognition. We applaud them for caring enough to make a difference in the lives of women coffee farmers. They know that even a few dollars per paycheck adds up. We know that we are lucky to consider them among our supporters.

See the highlights of the past year in our 2011 Annual Report.

Click on any image below to zoom in and read more detailed captions. You can see more photos by visiting Grounds for Health on Facebook.

Mother and daughter [...]]]> If you’re connected with us on Facebook, you might have seen these photos already. We asked Amanda Eastwood, our in-country staff, to select a few of her favorites.

Click on any image below to zoom in and read more detailed captions. You can see more photos by visiting Grounds for Health on Facebook.

Mother and daughter sharing a laugh.

Ellen during a training session

Still smiling!

The start of a new day of screening.

Mamas listening intently.

The waiting room.

Area leaders at the official inauguration.

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 [...]]]>

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:

• http://www.who.int/countries/per/en/
• http://www.paho.org/english/sha/prflper.htm

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, [...]]]>

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 »