welcome welcome home: October 2014

Friday, October 24, 2014

Inside ARC - 10.24.14 - Changemakers, Zero Transmissions

Hi jay,

Here's an update for you - the latest from ARC around the world. Feel free to get in touch if you ever have any questions about these items or anything else.

-Daniel

Daniel Wordsworth, President

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*Winner of the 2nd Annual Changemakers Award*

The Changemaker’s Award is an ideas competition whose goal is to generate new and fresh ideas from our 1,000+ staff members around the world. This year we asked them: In one simple way, how would you make the people we serve feel more valued, joyful or powerful? 226 staff submitted amazing ideas, including: timebanking, recreation for the elderly in refugee camps, and emergency preparedness drills for schools in Pakistan. I could not be more proud to work with such amazing, creative, hardworking individuals. You can see the full list of our top ten finalists here: www.arcrelief.org/Changemakers2014 .

This year’s winning idea is…Coding Schools for Refugees where refugee youth can learn to program and design for web technologies! It was submitted by: Aniqa Maqbool, Junaid Ali Tariq, Sohail Ahmed, Erum Aziz, Muhammad Imran, Cleopas Sikuwabo Mudahemuka, Frederic Auger and Ashish Gadnis! The concept is future oriented. It brings relevant technology to the hands of refugees, giving them wide-reaching opportunities far beyond the places where they live. We’re proud to honor the changemakers that submitted this winning idea!

*Mother to Child Transmission of HIV Eliminated*

ARC’s Health team in Rwanda has achieved a significant, life-changing milestone. In Gihembe and Nyabiheke refugee camps in Rwanda, mother-to-child transmission of HIV has been eliminated. No infants born to HIV-positive mothers in either camp have tested positive for HIV at 18 months. This achievement comes three years in advance of UNAIDS’ global plan for ending new HIV infections among children. Well-trained clinical staff that closely adhere to national PMTCT protocols, strong supply chain management, and effective community outreach and patient tracing are responsible for the success. Congratulations to the team!!!

*Annual Report*

ARC’s 2014 Annual Report is now available online at:
http://www.arcrelief.org/annual_reports/Annual_Report_2014.pdf. If you’d like to request a printed copy, just respond to this email and let us know how many you’d like and where to send them.

*Giving*

At the request of readers, I always include these links so they’re easy to find when you need them. Thanks so much.

Become a Monthly Donor : http://www.ARCrelief.org/givemonthly - the first year of your gifts will be matched!

Donate Online: http://www.ARCrelief.org/donate

Give Us a Call: (800) 875-7060

Send in a gift:

American Refugee Committee
Donor Service Center
P.O. Box 1002
Minneapolis, MN 55480-1002 USA

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Friday, October 3, 2014

Inside ARC - 10.3.14 - Myanmar, Darfur x2, A Launch

Hi jay,

Here's the latest from ARC around the world. You can always feel free to get in touch if you ever have any questions about these items or anything else.

-Daniel

Daniel Wordsworth, President

***********************************************

*Asili Launch*

Asili – ARC’s social enterprise platform for child survival and maternal health in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – celebrated its grand opening last week in Buhanga. More than 700 community members attended, including the Governor of South Kivu Province and the tribal King of the Kabare district. The Honorable James Swan (US Ambassador to DRC), USAID Assistant Administrator for Africa Earl Gast and other dignitaries were also in attendance for launch events.

A disruptive start-up business - Asili provides basic health care, clean water, and agricultural support to a community of more than 10,000 people. Early input from the community has been exceptionally positive. Both health and agriculture are ahead of projections, and clean water services came online two weeks ago.

*Myanmar Training Completed*

A few weeks ago, ARC completed training of dozens of volunteer community health workers in Myanmar to screen rural communities for drug-resistant malaria and help treat patients who've been infected. These volunteers are students, farmers and other members of the community without medical backgrounds. They allow us to cast a wide net, covering a much larger geographic area than we otherwise could. The volunteers will monitor patients' courses of treatment using boats, bicycles and going by foot to extremely remote areas of the country. ARC is working closely with indigenous health partners, including the Karen Department of Health and Welfare and the Mon National Health Committee, to implement this program.

We're also partnering with the Myanmar Ministry of Health to put laboratory workers from indigenous health clinics through a one-month training to strengthen their malaria microscopy skills. We'll supply the facilities with 10 new microscopes to aid in screening for new cases of drug-resistant malaria.

*Darfur Relief Efforts Double*

ARC's relief efforts in Darfur have recently doubled. We are now the largest international relief organization in this region of Sudan. Since 2003, ARC has served people in South Darfur living either in displaced person camps or in rural villages. In recognition of ten years of exemplary service in South Darfur, ARC was asked to take over relief efforts in East Darfur operated by a departing agency. In East Darfur, ARC runs a hospital and provides other relief services similar to those in the south. Congratulations to our team in Darfur on the recognition of their dedication and good work!