ReliefWeb

HealthRight International has recently partnered with CaringCrowd, a new crowdfunding website by Johnson and Johnson dedicated exclusively to public health that allows non-profit organizations to raise funds for local initiatives without any overhead costs. With CaringCrowd, we aim to raise funds for small projects that improve the access and quality of essential health care in Kenya.

HealthRight’s Mobile Clinic project supplies materials and funding so that a team of nurses can travel to remote villages and offer essential health services. These clinics offer a wide range of services, including prenatal care for pregnant women; game-changing measles and polio immunizations for newborns; first aid; treatment for deadly childhood illnesses such as diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria; and family planning services. Mobile clinics are critical in Elgeyo-Marakwet County where access to basic services is very limited. The chief of the village of Kaberewo explains, “because of the bad terrain here and the heavy rains that cause havoc in this area, our roads are impossible and the nearest health facility in Kaptalamwa is 40 km away.” Those living in villages, like Kabarewo, had never received immunization services. The Mobile Clinic Project eliminates these barriers and improves the health of rural Kenyans. HealthRight will use all CaringCrowd donations to provide the teams with first aid supplies, refreshments, and fuel. Please consider a donation to our project by clicking the donate button below.

Our second CaringCrowd project provides solar-powered phone chargers for community health volunteers (CHV). The benefits of the chargers are two-fold. First, volunteers in remote communities have reliable cell phones to call staff at the health centers for advice and to report emerging health issues quickly. Secondly, the CHVs use the solar chargers to generate small amounts of income by allowing community members to charge their own phones for a small fee. One villager explains, “My children can now study very well and I no longer spend my money buying [lamp fuel]. I am also able to charge my phone and that of my neighbors comfortably.” This results in greater retention and improved morale for the CHVs, as they are more easily able to sustain their work as volunteers. A $25 donation pays for one charger and allows a volunteer to provide service to twenty families. A $100 donation would, therefore, improve the health of eighty families, giving them more reliable and better quality services. Please consider a donation to our project by clicking the donate button below.

CaringCrowd offers HealthRight an opportunity to reach individual donors quickly and effectively. We hope that the new platform will be a lifeline for small projects that can achieve lasting access for health in excluded communities around the world.