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Grants Awarded June 2009

mothers2mothers, Mozambique

Project Overview
mothers2mothers has been awarded a two year $170,000 grant to work in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and other key stakeholders to establish a PMTCT support program in the northern provinces of Nampula and Niassa, Mozambique. m2m envisages providing PMTCT education and psychosocial support services in 24 sites by the end of the first year of the project, in those health facilities with the largest volumes of PMTCT program participants. Services will be provided by HIV-positive mothers (Mentor Mothers), recruited from local communities surrounding the sites and who have recently had direct experience of PMTCT services themselves. Using its unique curriculum (tailored for the specific Mozambique context), m2m will train these mothers to provide critical education and support services at the selected health facilities. The provision of services to clients attending the facility will be complemented by active client follow-up in surrounding communities. m2m’s impact will be two-fold: as well as improving the health and lives of HIV-positive pregnant women, new mothers and their infants, m2m will also be building the capacity of HIV-positive mothers by providing them with key skills and knowledge, the opportunity to earn a living and to be positive role models in their communities.

Overall Goal
The overall goal of this project is to enhance the delivery and improve the effectiveness of PMTCT services in Nampula and Niassa provinces, through the provision of peer-based education and support to HIV-positive pregnant women, new mothers and their infants.

Project Concern International, Guatemala

Project Overview

Project Concern International (PCI) has been awarded a $160,000 two year grant in support of Project BIRTH – Better Infant and Reproductive Total Health II, a project aimed at expanding the impact of Project BIRTH I (2008-2009), also funded by the Foundation. Project BIRTH I was designed to address the gap in peri-natal care in rural Guatemala with a focus on improving infant and young child health outcomes at both the facility and community levels in the Department of Huehuetenango in the rural highlands of western Guatemala. Project BIRTH II will incorporate lessons learned during the past year and strengthen the project monitoring and evaluation component in order to maximize the impact of the project and save more lives. At the facility-level PCI will work closely with the MoH hospital in Huehuetenango to increase the availability and accessibility of low-tech neonatal services, particularly the Kangaroo Care Method, and strengthen the hospital’s patient record keeping system.  At the community-level, the Casa Materna staff will provide hands-on instruction to 50 midwives and traditional birth attendants in birth weight tracking, improved neonatal care and referral alternatives, and strengthen the trainings provided to community women’s groups. 

C. Overall Goal

The goal of this program is to reduce infant and young child morbidity and mortality in high risk communities in the Department of Huehuetenango, Guatemala.




World Education-Bantwana Initiative, Swaziland

Project Overview

The World Education-Bantwana Initiative is in response to the urgent health care needs of vulnerable school aged children in Lubombo region of Swaziland, World Education-Bantwana Initiative has been awarded a $160,000 two year grant to scale up the School Health Outreach Program (SHOP), and to increase access and quality of basic healthcare to an additional 37 schools in the Lubombo region of Swaziland.  Building upon and leveraging existing investments and relationships with schools, community-based partners and policy makers, SHOP will increase access to vital, basic healthcare for up to an additional 14,800 vulnerable youth. To achieve this goal, SHOP will: 1)Build the capacity of the Lubombo regional school health outreach team to provide primary health care to 14,800 children in 37 schools in Lubombo; 2) Strengthen the capacity of teachers and community health outreach volunteers in basic first aid and universal precautions; and 3)Improve coordination between technical line ministries to expand access to primary healthcare, health education, and urgent referrals for children. By building capacity at the community, school, and government levels, enabling more effective coordination between line ministries responsible for children’s’ care, and collaborating with existing mobile and stationary community health clinics, SHOP aims to develop a program model that can be scaled up in other regions in Swaziland. 

C. Overall Goal
The goal of this program is to improve access and quality health care for up to 14,800 vulnerable school-aged children in Swaziland’s Lubombo region


Umkhuseli Fund Management, South Africa

Project Overview
Umkhuseli Fund Management has been awarded an $80,000 one year grant to supplement the second year of an innovative Izumi funded pilot for a community based MDR-TB treatment program in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. In addition to home based treatment supported by the KZN-DOH, the grant will provide for critical elements necessary for a successful community-based MDR-TB program including early detection of side-effects from MDR-TB drugs (e.g. hearing loss), aggressive management of side effects (nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea), and nutritional supplementation. In addition, an evaluation will be included to assess the effectiveness of the piloted model. Overall, this project will not only provide humane and quality care to 500 MDR-TB patients, but it will also provide a potential model for expansion across South Africa and to other settings necessary to alleviate the suffering of thousands more and contain an emerging epidemic. If proven successful, the model will likely be expanded to include all of KZN and South Africa.

C. Overall Goal
The overall goal of the project is to ensure successful out-patient treatment to MDR-TB patients in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, that fall outside the capacity of the conventional in-patient MDR-TB program, and to evaluate this treatment model for the purpose of using it in other settings strained with increasing MDR-TB burden.