Support Tahlia in Tanzania

Hello friends, family and colleagues!

I'm happy to share that I am now on a 6 week journey through Tanzania in an effort to find myself by losing myself in the service of others :)

I will be participating in a 4 week volunteer nursing/midwifery placement in the city of Arusha working alongside midwives, nurses and doctors at Mt. Meru Hopsital, organized through a multinational organization called Projects Abroad.

This project has been a longtime goal of mine that I hope will catapult me into developing a more enriched and diverse perspective of birth and it's many meanings for women and communities around the world.

I'll be staying with what appear to be a very welcoming and lovely host family in Arusha who will help me appreciate the daily life and customs in Tanzania as well as learning Swahili :)

Why Tanzania?

Tanzania has shown commendable progress in reducing child and infant mortality rates; however, strides in decreasing maternal and neonatal deaths have been slower. According to the 2015-16 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey, maternal mortality rates persist at a concerning 556 deaths per 100,000 live births. This enduring challenge can be attributed to various factors including inadequate quality of services, limited access to emergency obstetric care, and the barriers women face in independently accessing healthcare. Direct causes such as postpartum hemorrhage, eclampsia, and sepsis exacerbate this issue.

Additionally, neonatal deaths, constituting 38% of under-five mortality, underscore the urgency in addressing primary causes such as asphyxia, prematurity, and sepsis. Tackling these challenges demands comprehensive strategies aimed at improving healthcare accessibility, enhancing service quality, and prioritizing maternal and neonatal health interventions.

UNICEF further reports that in Tanzania, only 42 percent of children receive exclusive breastfeeding for the recommended six months, and just half are breastfed within the crucial first hour after birth, which is when newborns benefit most from the immune properties of breast milk. Despite the fact that extended breastfeeding until 24 months, coupled with appropriate complementary feeding, offers the best nutrition for growing children, nearly half of those aged between 20 and 23 months are no longer breastfed, indicating widespread malnutrition among children.

This leaves a lot of opportunity for growth and improvement in maternal and newborn health. I hope that by operating under a post-colonial lens, I can share some of the knowledge about the importance of skin to skin, early initiation and sustained breastfeeding and supporting positive breastfeeding experiences for moms and newborns. Community engagement, infection prevention and education will be key goals under the program. I'm also very excited about the exchange of medical knowledge that will occur so that I can see firsthand how cultures around the world support labouring women and birth.

Why Projects Abroad?

ProjectsAbroad is an organization with over 25 years experience and has supported more than 115,000 volunteers from around the world contribute their skills and expertise ethically and responsibly. ProjectsAbroad works to ensure that skills are matched to need and provides transparency on how fees are allocated to local community support members with impact reports published annually.

In the wake of so many "voluntourism" organizations that exploit local communities for social media/publicity gain, I've felt confident in my choice of ProjectsAbroad as an ethical organization, with mission values that align with my personal and professional goals.

Why fundraising?

I'm so grateful that you've read this far! It speaks to the special relationship that I currently treasure with you and hope we can continue to cultivate. My current knowledge and skills will benefit not only the local people in Arusha but maybe one day you or your family in maternity or beyond :) I hope this experience will shape me into a better nurse and midwife for you and everyone. Your support helps makes this trip and future similar trips a possibility for me. Thank you so so much! Asante Sana

I've shared some more information about our project goals at Mt. Meru Hospital and Projects Abroad/Funding Allocation below. To follow along on instagram, join me here: https://www.instagram.com/tahlia_e_fletcher?igsh=MXV3ZHpraGQzNjgyeA==

Funding Allocation:

Projects Abroad, published a report on how their volunteer fees are distributed and spent.

29% of their fees went directly to the volunteer costs, or in other words "support for volunteers from start to finish". This includes accommodation, food, donation to placements, airport transfers, equipment and materials, and even insurance for individual participants.

24% of their volunteer spendings were used for recruitment and communication, which includes office utilities, print and digital marketing materials, recruitment training, and postage for informational materials.

22% went to indirect costs, which supports their local staff members’ salaries, and covers local office rent, utilities, their communication infrastructure, government registration fees, and their operations team.

13% went to organizational costs that covered applications, program changes and cancellations, HR services, communication systems, and the salaries of their IT staff.

Lastly, 5% went to taxes and 7% was saved for “excess revenue over costs,” to be used for emergencies and to pay shareholders who support and fund their business.

Project Goals and Daily Tasks

ENCOURAGE AN UNDERSTANDING OF MEDICAL PRACTICES AND PROMOTE AN EXCHANGE OF MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE

IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF HEALTHCARE PROVIDED TO PATIENTS

IMPROVE HYGIENE STANDARDS

IMPROVE ACCESS TO BASIC HEALTHCARE FOR DISADVANTAGED GROUPS

MEDICAL RELATED TASKS