Steps in the Journey

 

One of our top priorities as HHI grows is to stay as transparent as possible to our supporters and let you know what is happening within the organization.  This blog will be the main source to carry that out, so check back often to see how we are tracking towards our first surgical care trip to Guaranda, Ecuador in Fall 2013, as well as how we are working to get the word out on our mission and grow our support base.

So Where Are We Now?

Last week was a big step for HHI; we submitted our Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service.  Basically, we filing for 501(c)(3) status, making donations we accept tax deductible (...like yours?!).


David's excited to get this in the mail

Hopefully the application process will move along fairly quickly...

We've also received a ton of support from friends and family (THANK YOU!!) in helping raise funds for our application fee, having a website created/hosted, etc, as well as offering their time and ideas to get the word out about HHI.  Our next step is working to develop our brand (if you or someone you know has experience (or a willingness!) in logo design, we'd love to talk to you) and putting together the details for our first trip, which is less than a year away. 

We're also having conversations with groups that will be able to help HHI work on a larger scale; meaning more annual trips and caring for hundreds (hopefully thousands) more people in need to surgical care that they don't currently have access to.  More on that to come...

That's pretty much it for now.  Hopefully this shows you a little bit about how we'll be using this blog moving forward.  We'll aslo be sharing profiles of ourselves and both community and medical mission volunteers, as well as some of the people that HHI will be caring for.  Please contact us at info@humanitarianhealth.org if you would like to be involved in any way with HHI or have any questions.  For more information on what we're about, check out our website (and find us on facebook and twitter).

Introduction

HI EVERYBODY!  We’re Humanitarian Health International.  But you can call us HHI.  We’re on a journey to close the gap in the inequality of surgical care provided in the global health community.  We established in Fall 2012 with a small group of dedicated people who believe that, despite the overwhelming numbers of the underserved when it comes to access to surgical care, we can make a difference in lives and communities throughout the world.  A 2010 study by the Harvard School of Public Health estimated that there are 2 billion people around the world without access to proper surgical care.  That’s nearly 29% of everyone on earth!  Furthermore, the poorest 1/3 of the world’s population receives only 4% of the 234 million surgeries performed around the world every year.  Even in developing countries where surgical care is available, it almost always located in the urban sprawls within mostly rural environments.  


Sorry for all the numbers, but the more we consider them we realize that those types of statistics typically don’t change until people work together with the specific purpose of turning them around.  So what does HHI think can be done?  Well, it starts with action.  We are in the beginning stages of the process of creating a network of both medical professionals and community volunteers who want to help change these numbers and change lives.  While we realize we can’t magically create access to surgical care for the 2 billion people lacking it now, we can start making a life changing difference to individual people who desperately need it.  

Guaranda, Ecuador

We want to focus on basic surgeries that we may take for granted in the US.  These interventions can make a life and community changing difference in many parts of the world.  This is exactly where we plan to start.  We are currently working towards taking our first trip to Guaranda, Ecuador in the Summer of 2013 to provide cataract removal surgeries, which can restore sight to those currently without.  There is a lot of work to do before this trip, and we have a lot to learn, but we couldn’t be more excited by the journey we’re setting out on.  If you feel like you would like to be involved, whether it’s as a medical professional, community volunteer, or through donations, please contact us.  We’ll be updating the website regularly with where we are in our journey, along with profiling volunteers and some in the host community of Guaranda.