Living Goods

Week 27: Living Goods

Hello and Happy Monday! This week’s organization is Living Goods.

Their mission is to “empower people to improve the health of their families, friends and communities”. Their innovative model is to support door to door health entrepreneurs who teach families how to improve their health and wealth and sell life-changing products such as “simple treatments for malaria and diarrhea, safe delivery kits, fortified foods, clean cook stoves, water filters, and solar lights”.

This model simultaneously has a tremendous impact on public health, lowering child mortality, and providing a livelihood for thousands of enterprising women.

Living Goods health entrepreneurs hone in on goals and projects that prevent childrens’ death and can be addressed at a low cost: “treating childhood diseases, offering free pregnancy and newborn check-ups, improving nutrition, and promptly referring acute cases to qualified facilities”.

My mind was blown when I learned that the average cost of a treatment from a Living Goods ‘Health Promoter’ costs only 50 cents.

This remarkable combination of business acumen and public health makes Living Goods an organization that I am very excited to share with you.

Have a wonderful week!
Jodi

Every Mother Counts

Week 26: Every Mother Counts

Hello! This week, we are supporting Every Mother Counts, an organization whose mission is to“make pregnancy and childbirth safe for every mother, everywhere”.

“In some parts of the world, women have to walk an average of 8 miles to reach the nearest public health facility, even during labor. Mothers who are able to reach a clinic, may find there is no healthcare provider to care for them. Clinics staffed with skilled birth attendants often lack basic and lifesaving supplies.”

Every Mother Counts supports maternal health programs around the world to eliminate these issues and to lower maternal mortality rates.

For example, they provide 50 rural health centers with solar powered electricity and give transportation vouchers to pregnant women to ensure they can arrive there safely. They train health workers to prevent deaths and disabilities from postpartum hemorrhage. They support comprehensive pregnancy care, delivery care, postnatal and newborn care, as well as patient education.

They have a campaign called Pass the Orange Rose. "It’s a symbol of maternal health and is a powerful reminder that safer motherhood is possible. It represents a beautiful, vibrant and strong life, like that of a mother who has been supported through pregnancy and childbirth."

Let’s work together towards better maternal health, globally.
Have a wonderful week.

Passing you an Orange Rose,
Jodi

Heifer International

Week 25: Heifer International

Hello and welcome back to GIVE52! In honor of Father's Day, this week, we are giving to Heifer International to help fathers around the world.

Heifer International's mission is to "work with communities to end world hunger and poverty and to care for the Earth". One aspect I love about Heifer is their philosophy that partners who receive gifts share the training they receive and "pass on the first offspring of their livestock to another family". This extends the impact of the original gift, and also means that a family who was once impoverished gets to become donors themselves and help further impact their communities. The goal of every project is to help families achieve self-reliance. 

This Father's Day, Heifer is aiming to prevent the need for fathers to leave home and earn a living to send back to their families. Heifer is helping these dads build businesses in their own communities so they can earn a living without sacrificing time with their kids. 

Here's to strong fathers. May we know them and support them.
 

All the best and more,
Jodi