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Solar Power Illuminates a Bright Future for the Bachuma District Hospital

We are overjoyed to share this update about the successful completion of a collaborative effort to bring solar power to the Bachuma District Hospital, thanks to the unwavering support of the community, the Zonal Government, Suntransfer Tech, the Solar Energy Foundation, Water Engineers for the Americas and Africa and the Village Health Partnership. This project, which began with the dream of providing consistent electricity to the hospital’s operating room theatre, labor and delivery and neonatal intensive care unit, has become a shining reality. The journey began in January, 2023, when the solar panels were manufactured in Germany. After an expedition… Read More »Solar Power Illuminates a Bright Future for the Bachuma District Hospital

Meretu’s story: A life transformed

Meretu, a resident of Dandi Gudi Kebele in Ethiopia, endured seven years of hardship living with a vesicovaginal fistula (VVF). Married at a young age, she suffered complications during her first childbirth, resulting in a fistula and constant urine leakage.Living with the fistula, Meretu’s life became a daily struggle. The constant wetness and odor caused shame and isolation. She feared social interactions, avoided gatherings, and felt ostracized by friends and family. Drinking less to control leakage led to concentrated and foul-smelling urine, further deepening her isolation.The maternal health crisis manifests in conditions like fistula, a hole between the birth canal… Read More »Meretu’s story: A life transformed

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Denver doctor returns to Ethiopia to make childbirth safer

As a young girl growing up in rural Ethiopia, Dr. Migs Muldrow helped out at a village health clinic run by her father. Muldrow, who lives in Denver, remembers being struck by how many women died or experienced severe complications while giving birth. Decades later, she’s working with communities in Ethiopia to make labor and delivery safer. Dr. Muldrow is being honored today for her work at the International Women’s Day event in Denver, sponsored by WorldDenver. Listen to the full radio segment here.

Ethiopia Nurse Midwife Program:

The VHP – Ethiopia Nurse Midwife Program: An Analysis of Test Scores, 2021 – 2023 (with implications for mentoring) by Peter Van Arsdale, VHP (Executive Summary, December, 2023) Introduction: As noted in the Village Health Partnership (VHP) October, 2021, trip report, a number of nurse midwives (NMWs) in the remote Suri region of s.w. Ethiopia’s West Omo Zone (WOZ) were not passing the most basic skill checks.  Others also were struggling.  Five from Suri were sent to the Mizan Tepi University Teaching Hospital (MTUTH) for training, but failed the certification test.  At that time, in consultation with our MTUTH colleague… Read More »Ethiopia Nurse Midwife Program:

Pregnancy in Conflict Zones

Setyelem, a 29-year-old mother of two, faced a harrowing journey during her third pregnancy in Ethiopia. Due to inter-communal fighting in her hometown of Ataye and the subsequent war in Tigray, she couldn’t attend antenatal check-ups, risking potential complications. The conflict damaged health facilities, leading to shortages of essential medical supplies and disrupted hospital referrals. At seven months pregnant, Setyelem experienced intense pain and sought medical attention twice after her water broke. Thanks to a Abiyot, a midwife trained under a United Nations Population Fund project, she was rushed to a hospital where an emergency Caesarean section was performed, after… Read More »Pregnancy in Conflict Zones

The Safe Clinic Toolkit

Using Data to Monitor, Evaluate, and Reflect on Our Work It is vital that the work we are doing in rural southwestern Ethiopia is monitored and evaluated so that we may learn what is working, what is not, and what the path forward should be. To this end, Village Health Partnership has launched a new app with our longtime partner, Water Engineers for the Americas and Africa (WEFTA). The app, called the Safe Clinic Toolkit, is a data collection tool that monitors and evaluates infrastructure for WASH (Water, Sanitation, & Hygiene), infection prevention controls, equipment and supplies, and clinical skills,… Read More »The Safe Clinic Toolkit

Maternity Waiting Areas

In rural Ethiopia, pregnant women seeking assistance with delivery often have to travel long distances over rough terrain through areas of active conflict to access care. When they arrive at their destination, there is nowhere for them to stay. Healthcare clinics are in remote areas and beds are typically reserved for patients actively delivering babies or experiencing complications. Our early needs assessments revealed that pregnant women, if they are able to make the journey to a healthcare facility, are often forced to sleep outside under trees, in the rain with no food or water, as they go into labor and… Read More »Maternity Waiting Areas

In From The Field

Greetings to you from Aira. Thank you very much for your email. I am sorry for being silent for so long. I was out in field for mobilization, screening and sending women with gynecological complication of childbirth to Aira. In the field/in rural areas, there was/is no access to internet connection at all. Whenever, I was back to my home/Office, there was no either internet connection or Dembi Dollo was in blackout.  I am very happy that STTP 2023 is in an excellent progress. So far, more than 175 and 15 had been treated (including those treated in excess under… Read More »In From The Field

Conversations with Together Women Rise

Village Health Partnership is honored to be the May 2023 featured grantee of Together Women Rise, “a powerful community of women and allies dedicated to achieving global gender equality.” Together Women Rise is funding VHP’s Skill Check, Training, and Mentorship Program and our BEMONC training in 2023 and 2024. Read more about how they are supporting VHP and other organizations working towards gender equality. Watch Laury Bowman, Chair of the VHP Board of Directors, and Kaye Wattawa, Development Coordinator, have a conversation with Quinn Hayes of Together Women Rise about Village Health Partnership and its programs: In this video, Laury… Read More »Conversations with Together Women Rise

Alone on the Front Lines

In the rural areas of Ethiopia, nurse midwives face the crisis in maternal health alone.  Most pregnant women receive no antenatal care. Most women deliver at home, and many die in childbirth. Many more infants die. There are no doctors, and the nearest hospital is hours away. Nurse midwives, with minimal education, no supervision or mentorship and little in the way of equipment and supplies, deliver babies in rural health facilities. If the delivery is complicated, babies often die and sometime mothers die. Supporting Nurse Midwives Through Mentorship In 2021, we tested nurse midwives working in health facilities in the West Omo Zone, one… Read More »Alone on the Front Lines