2020 and beyond

A LOOK BACK

For over 20 years, Timmy Global Health has impacted people around the world with Medical Service Trips and a continuity of care model. In 2020, COVID-19 halted world travel and highlighted the need for our mission to further address health disparities in a sustainable way. Whether it is a global pandemic or political unrest that prevents volunteers from safely entering a community, it was very clear this year that we needed to adjust our programs to the changing needs of the communities that we support. 

A LOOK FORWARD

Beginning with proactive community health screenings, providing essential medication and supplies, and continuing with our field teams supporting patients who need further clinical or specialty care, we are moving to increase our impact by supporting and training local community health workers to increase access to care and health literacy in their own communities. We know that many of the diseases that are treated in our partner’s clinics can be prevented with interventions focused on nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and maternal and child health.  Therefore, Timmy works alongside our local partner teams to develop and implement interventions that focus on access to essential resources, like clean water and food, and health literacy in these program areas.

---

What does this look like in the field?

We work with our local partners to identify a community. In the Dominican Republic we work with Dr. Nieves Hiciano and Dr. Mary Gomez at the Banelino health clinic. 

Meet Dr. Nieves.

“A special greeting to everybody at Timmy. I am Doctor Nieves Hiciano, I work in the communities in Mao, Dominican Republic. Our main priority in health services for our patients in the communities is focused on children, pregnant women, the elderly population, and patients with chronic conditions like hypertension and diabetes. We consult with our patients, we give them medications, and we give follow-up to guarantee good health.”

Local community health workers, like Santiago Guzman, are on the frontlines in their community to complete health screenings and  identify the health needs of a community. When a CHW identifies a person who needs clinical attention, they are directed to Dr. Nieves and Dr. Mary at the Banelino clinic. If a patient requires further specialty care, community health workers like Santiago Guzman and Confesora Conteras provide assistance as needed. 

Santiago says, “My work as a health worker happens in the community, where I identify the basic needs. I do home visits to check up on peoples’ health, such as chronic patients, pregnant women, children, and those with other conditions. I give educational lessons with the goal of orienting the population so they can improve their health and I also check blood pressures and blood sugars.” 

Confesora says, “I have been trained to transport people, accompany [community members] to [see] a doctor in necessary cases, facilitate medications, [and] monitor chronic patients. I am attentive to the needs of my community members and I am very grateful to God for allowing me to have such a job that permits me to provide health[care] to those who need it most in my community.”

It is Santiago’s and Confesora’s attentiveness to the community needs, along with clinical data, that help us identify, develop and implement interventions to address social determinants of health. In Napo, Ecuador for example, water, hygiene and sanitation interventions are being created to address the limited access to clean water and high rates of water borne diseases. Our team is developing and implementing a program to install water filters in households and train local community health workers to educate the members on safe water and disease prevention.

CHWs receiving a certificate from a Safe Water training (pre-COVID picture).

Continuous monitoring and evaluation of these interventions helps us understand the impact that our work is having on the health of the community, and make adjustments when needed. 

In Guatemala, the 32 Volcanoes malnutrition program provides nutritional supplements and education to community members. In March 2020, 85 children were acutely malnourished and in November 2020 that reduced to zero! Our partner credits the recent addition of an egg to the chispuditos formula for increased success.

Mayra de Cotom from Valle Palajunoj in Llano de Pinal, whose daughter is in the nutrition program says, “Health means being well, healthy, and eating healthy, more vegetables and fruits in order to have good health against the diseases that are common now, and to strengthen the body’s defenses, and that requires eating a lot of herbs, which are helpful for that.” 

COVID-19 has drastically increased health risks around the world, and see how our partner communities are disproportionately affected. For example, child malnutrition and food insecurity have always been serious problems in certain areas, but have been greatly exacerbated by COVID-19. In Rivers State, Nigeria, our partner Bebor Model Nursery and Primary School has adapted their programming in response to a government order shutdown on all schools. While health program visits to these schools were postponed, Bebor has continued with a socially distanced version of their nutrition program. Bebor has also chosen to divert funding for the health program and student scholarships to go to the expansion of the nutrition program. This expansion includes two additional schools which feed 150 more children.

---

Bebor nutrition program pre-COVID.

Bebor nutrition program since COVID.

None of this work could continue and grow without the support of our Timmy network and donors. Many of the essential medicines that were brought to communities in suitcases by MST volunteers are now being provided by Vitamin Angels, while the remaining is being purchased from Blessings International or from local distributors.  Your donations today are critical to support essential medical supplies and medication purchases. In 2020, we have been able to focus on the hiring and training of CHWs to proactively go out into the communities to screen and care for patients. Your donations are critical in allowing us to hire, train, equip and pay CHWs fair wages, so that we can reach more patients!

TGH student chapters continue to play a vital role in helping fulfill Timmy’s vision of building a healthier world through a community of global leaders. As partners and advocates of Timmy’s international work, chapters are crucial in supporting programs through fundraising and amplifying the impact of our partners. Being part of a Timmy chapter also gives students a chance to make a difference on their campus and in their communities. In October 2020,  the Eastern Carolina University chapter, whose fundraising supports the Dominican Republic patients and programs, completed an advocacy event virtual cooking class.  They discussed access to foods in their communities, our partners communities, and their own lives. After the event, they were able to collect 244 lbs of food for a local food pantry - directly contributing to food security in the United States. 

Timmy continues to connect people around the globe and the TGH Global Engagement staff have adapted to COVID, creating more virtual connections, hosting webinars and a speaker series in the health and leadership space. This has allowed Timmy to reconnect with alumni, one of whom works at LifeStraw and in November 2020 was able to donate a large filter to our clinical partner, the Chontapunta health center, in the Amazon in Ecuador - directly providing clean water to people at the local healthcare clinic. 

The Timmy Global Health network has always come together to improve the health of the communities we support in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala and Nigeria. These communities, and people like Armando and Barbara, need your support now, more than ever, during this time of a global health crisis. Meet the community members that we support.

Armando say, “Health is to be alive and [to have] secure [access to] medications.”

Barbara says, “To me, health is the most important thing; it is number 1 because without health there is nothing.”