Thursday, November 29, 2007
Letter from the Executive Director
LEAVING AN IMPACT
One of the great parts of my job at Doctors of the World-USA (DOW) is the opportunity to participate at many of the beginnings and endings of our projects. And while many people can understand my excitement at being part of the launch of a new initiative, or an assessment mission to investigate an exciting opportunity, they seem puzzled by how happy I am at the close of a project. “But it must be so sad to say good bye to staff and see a good work end,” they say. It is sad to say good bye to staff and partners. But, such partings aside, project completions are big occasions to celebrate at DOW.Why? Because when our part in a project is over, it doesn’t mean an end to the services that began or became improved during our involvement. Our projects close when we transfer them to the local partners and providers with whom we’ve worked for years, and who continue to deliver services, to provide information, and to advocate on behalf of their communities long after we’ve gone.
One example of many is our recently completed TB Control Project in Romania. In 2003, we partnered with Romania’s National TB Program (NTP) to address gaps in care for Roma communities, who suffer from discrimination and high rates of TB. With local partners, including the head of the NTP, Dr. Stoicescu, we conducted technical trainings for health providers and mobilized a corps of Peer Health Educators to raise TB awareness in the Roma community. In cooperation with the government, we launched nationwide media campaigns and a national TB education strategy to promote TB control. After several years of partnership, we successfully transferred full control of the project to the Romanian Ministry of Health.
Dr. Stoicescu was initially skeptical of the influx of NGOs in Romania that followed the collapse of the communist system. However, DOW’s collaborations with local organizations and health providers made a strong impression on him. Stoicescu became one of our closest partners. He recently remarked, “DOW has shown that an NGO can play an important role in TB control alongside the government. DOW has taught me things I thought I knew.”
After the close of one project, we’re also smarter and better equipped to help communities elsewhere tackle similar problems. Lessons learned in one community are adapted to meet the needs of communities around the globe. As we finished our work in Romania, our attention turned to disturbingly high rates of TB among the indigenous communities in Chiapas, Mexico, with whom DOW has been working since 1994. TB is an endemic problem for many of these communities, and we have begun using the lessons we learned fighting TB in Romania to meet the needs of this region. Our focus is on training local organizations and health providers, and ensuring the communities have access to WHO-recommended TB services.
Our mission is to ensure access to health care for all people – especially excluded populations. The human rights of groups like women and children are so often violated, impacting their health. We aim to develop replicable solutions that benefit these groups everywhere. Models for social services and outreach programs that we first developed for street and at-risk children and youth in Russia are now benefiting this population in Ukraine, and we are assessing their potential in Vietnam. Our MAMA+ project for HIV-positive mothers in Russia has been replicated throughout Ukraine and is now operated independently by a local NGO, ensuring that thousands of women will benefit for years to come. By creating sustainable models and building the capacity of the communities we work with, the scope of our impact is almost limitless.
To change a single life is incredibly rewarding, but the ultimate satisfaction comes from the knowledge that when our involvement comes to an end, the impact of our efforts will continue for years to come.
Tom Dougherty
Executive Director