How often are we grateful for our toilets? If you have one, it may be easy to overlook how important it is to your daily life. However, 3.6 billion (yes, with a "b") people do not have access to safely managed sanitation.* Without safely managed sanitation, our health, environment, and dignity all come into jeopardy. Time and hard work are of the essence if we want to protect each other and meet goals to have toilets for all by 2030.* (*World Toilet Day)

HealthEd Connect includes sanitation education in community health worker training, and we're grateful to support and partner in efforts to provide access to safe sanitation systems in communities. In the rural area of Gorkha, Nepal, Ramprasad has built 31 latrines with the help of the families who will benefit from them. Their new access to safe sanitation facilities is cause for community celebration! At our partner school in Kasompe, Zambia, the new ablution (toilet) block is completely finished and in use thanks to a Rotary grant focused on WASH (water, sanitation, hygiene) in schools. And in Mulundu, Zambia, a latrine is being built next to their new community center. The community, and the environment, is healthier because of these sanitation facilities.

So, today we celebrate toilets! Moreover, we advocate for the importance of effective sanitation education and systems to maintain good community health.

Last week, the volunteer community health workers from Gorkha, Rai village, and Kathmandu, Nepal, gathered for training! Coordinator Pinkey helped to facilitate, joined by site coordinator Ramprasad, site coordinator and professional nurse Sangeeta, and nursing students Pabitra, Nikita, and Sara. This team of six helped to refresh the volunteers on WHO community-based care practices and led a new training about women’s health. The facilitators also explored topics of aging populations, pre and post-natal care, and the current Dengue fever crisis affecting Nepal. A similar training will take place next month in Biratnagar, so the volunteers in that area can also benefit from these classes.

Seeing this partnership of volunteer community health workers and professional (or future professional) nurses is exciting! This is empowerment and advocacy in action; local trainers like Ramprasad, Pinkey, and Sangeeta speak and understand the local language, culture, and issues, and they are preparing the next generation of trainers like Pabitra, Sara, and Nikita by involving them as facilitators!

For a decade now, UNICEF has been celebrating the Day of the Girl to promote issues that threaten girls’ rights, opportunities, and safety (UNICEF). The COVID-19 pandemic and global warming have hindered advancement and undermined previous successes made in recent years (World Economic Forum, All Africa), and now we must try to regain ground and work to close the gender gap. UNICEF’s goals for 2022 to 2023 include:

• Supporting the leadership of adolescent girls

• Increasing resources for and investments in adolescent girls

• Improving access to and uptake of inclusive adolescent girl-centered services

We are proud to have frameworks in place to support these goals! The Kafwa health worker volunteers, along with invested teachers at our schools, are involved in initiatives that advocate for orphans and vulnerable children, with particular sensitivity to the rights and protection of girls. The weekly Girls Achievement Program (GAP) for girls in grades 5-7 provides a safe space to learn about their bodily development, the importance of staying in school and avoiding early marriage, as well as learning life skills. Our high school scholarships for girls help to further their educational journey. And starting last year, two GAP high school graduates were awarded our nursing scholarship, preparing them for a rewarding career!

We are grateful to our supporters who make these programs possible. By continuing to find new ways to empower girls, we are preparing the next generation of empowered women!

We feel honored to share this exciting news! In June, The Nonprofit Times and Yearly held an annual report contest for nonprofits across the United States, with categories for small, medium and large organizations. HealthEd Connect won the small organization category, and we have been featured in The Nonprofit Times September issue! We are thrilled that our mission, the work and stories of our colleagues, and program impacts have been recognized with such an uplifting review. And we extend a special thank you to our extraordinary volunteer graphic designer, Ruth Seagraves, who brings our articles, photos, and lists into a cohesive report that looks beautiful! You can find our article here, on pages 12-14.

Thank you to our generous supporters investing in empowerment of women and children through health and education. Your partnership uplifts lives, and we celebrate the joy of this recognition with you!

In Mazembe, Malawi, the second of three Sinkhani community centers stands proud, ready to host weighings for infants and children, counseling moms, and new youth programs. A garden has begun next door, serving as an outdoor classroom and providing extra nutrition to the mothers who visit. Tending to the building, garden, and plot is a man named Frank.

Frank came to help at the community center during construction. After seeing his dedication and his need for a safe place to stay, the Sinkhani invited him to become the official caretaker! Frank was born with albinism, and persons with this condition may face abandoment, discrimination, and even danger due to false beliefs. Frank faced these dangers too closely, but the Sinkhani are looking out for him and his family. Our health worker friends challenge culture regularly, educating mothers and families to sort out fact from fiction related to health and wellbeing, and their advocacy is exemplified in their empowerment of Frank. Now a valuable member of the Sinkhani team, Frank shares ideas for programs at the center, showing particular compassion for the wellbeing of children.

We had the pleasure of meeting Frank in July, and are thrilled he is there to support important community programs led by the Sinkhani. We hope you’ll join us in welcoming Frank to the Malawi Sinkhani team!

After months of waiting and several attempts, we were able to deliver some very special items to our friends in June! Thanks to a generous donation of soccer gear from World of Children, we were able to take jerseys, shorts, socks, and more to support sports programs for orphans and vulnerable children! Students, teachers, and health workers alike were THRILLED and have already put the gear into action!

Our photo above is from the girls’ soccer team in Mapalo, Zambia. We’ve also linked a couple of short videos for you to share in the excitement! One is from the orphans’ support group in Lubumbashi, D.R. Congo, facilitated by Wasaidizi health worker, Jenny. Another is from Zamtan Community School of Peace, where students were cheering with joy as they saw teachers and fellow students sporting the new gear!

We are incredibly grateful for this gift made by World of Children, and are enamored with the photos and videos being shared of the children in their new uniforms, looking so proud to show their team spirit!

We’ve been celebrating a lot of milestones recently: a return trip to visit our African colleagues, Boss Mirriam’s growth and new scholarship, and our last twelve years of empowering women and children, just to name a few! Have you ever wondered how it all began? Do you wish that you could learn more about the individual stories that led to the start of HealthEd Connect?

You’ve Settled in My Heart, written by our co-founder Sherri Kirkpatrick, is a great way to “meet” the little bosses and community health workers that inspired HealthEd Connect. Walk side by side through the communities that shaped our organization and share in the joy and sorrow that only deep friendships can bring. Described as the “dedication book” by our colleague Jane Chibwe, this book is dedicated to the health workers who work every day to uplift empowerment.

Visit our book purchase page to get your copy and share in the beginnings of HealthEd Connect!

P.S. This week is Sherri's birthday, another important milestone! And sharing the story of HealthEd Connect is one of her greatest gifts! *All proceeds from the sale of her book go to HealthEd Connect.

If you’ve seen our most recent Annual Report, you’ve seen the sweet face on the cover! Comfort Mwape was a student at the Zamtan Community School of Peace when this photo was taken in 2016. After meeting with her mother in June and sharing this copy of our Annual Report, we asked if Comfort would mind sharing an updated photo with us. Look how she’s grown! Now in Grade 10 in high school thanks to our GAP (Girls Achievement Program) scholarship, Comfort is working toward her diploma and dreaming of the future.

We wish Comfort luck and happiness as she continues on her journey!

A long walk outside of Mzimba, Malawi, is the small village of Champeta. At the beginning of each month, this community comes together to uplift the health of children and the empowerment of women. Mothers awaken early, ready themselves and their children under age five, and must remember to bring their “Road to Health” booklet that tracks their child’s weight and vaccinations. Some walk very long distances to be sure that their children are growing and thriving.

Medfy, a member of the Sinkhani, is the only one in her area. Like the mothers, she walks over four miles to help with the weighing, helping the children up to the scale and writing their weights on tiny hands. Medfy supports two government Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs), Eunice and Deacon, as they update booklets, counsel mothers, and provide vaccinations. This team of three will spend most of the day, weighing over 50 children, before walking home in the dusk light.

Government HSAs and Sinkhani volunteers like Medfy provide essential support to communities as they protect their children from malnutrition, stunting, and transmissible diseases. We are proud to partner with the many Sinkhani who take it upon themselves to change the world, one small village at a time!

When HealthEd Connect began, a sweet two-year-old girl named Mirriam captured our hearts. Every decision going forward was based on the welfare of this little one we have lovingly referred to as Boss Mirriam. She has motivated us to do our very best empowering women and children through health, education, and advocacy.

Mirriam was born with HIV, but thankfully she and her mother, Ethel, have diligently followed their treatment plan and are staying very healthy. Mirriam is now in the 9th grade and shows compassion and understanding towards those on the margins, much like our community health worker friends. We're also happy to report that Mirriam is a recipient of our GAP scholarship to support her studies through high school. Her continued education means that she is more likely to avoid early marriage, increase her future earnings, and have healthier children if she chooses to start a family.

Supporting the education and empowerment of girls is essential to building strong communities. We hope you’ll join us in celebrating the growth and unfolding opportunities of our boss!

The Keeping In Touch (KIT) Club is growing and developing, just like the GAP and General Scholars who are part of it! A few years ago, our sister school leaders held a roundtable meeting to discuss additional ways of ensuring that scholarship recipients would be supported academically, socially, and emotionally throughout high school. After completing grade seven, scholars go to a much larger government secondary school, without the same support system they experienced at our primary schools. As a result, some of the scholars were struggling, and we all wanted to identify ways to help them thrive.

Fast forward, and today you'll see many enhancements to the foundational support provided to scholars through the KIT Club program! A big one is the hiring of KIT Coordinators based at each of our three sister schools to lead tutoring, communicate with students' teachers and caregivers, and facilitate KIT Club meetings. Isaac Chipyango, a trained secondary teacher, is the new KIT Coordinator at Mapalo Young Peace Makers (YPM) school, monitoring each student's academic progress, ensuring 'after hours' access to the computer lab and library at YPM, and supporting extracurricular activities with fellow teachers and Kafwa volunteers. We were thrilled to meet with Isaac and some of the scholars last month, and listen to their hopes for the group and future opportunities!

Teams are working together to support students as they work hard to achieve their high school diploma. Teachers, Kafwa, KIT Coordinators, and YOU, all uplift the education and empowerment of youth!

After a wonderful three weeks on-site with our colleagues from Zambia, DRC, and Malawi, the HealthEd Connect staff has returned home and are excited to share many updates! We are full of joy to have shared conversations, meals, and brainstorming sessions and excited for the opportunities ahead to impact more lives. Inspiration and creativity flow as we prioritize new ideas and identify next steps!

Watch for our blogs each week as we spotlight the incredible women, men, and children who lead and make our programs so meaningful.

Do you feel passionate about our mission, the work we do, and the way we do it? It helps us to know how we’re doing if you leave us a review!

The GreatNonprofits seal is highly regarded among both nonprofits and donors, showing that people have trust in our organization. We proudly display this seal on all of our printed content, as well as on our website - we want people to know how our supporters and colleagues feel about us!

If you have kind words to share, we would love for you to leave a review. It’s easy, only takes 3 minutes, and all content will be visible to potential donors and volunteers. Click the link below to get started!

https://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/write/healthed-connect

Authentic, heartfelt words from passionate supporters like you will help us make an even bigger impact. It would mean so much to us if you could take a few minutes to help us earn this award!

After three years, we are thrilled at the chance to reunite with our friends in Africa! We are just a day away from traveling to Zambia and Malawi, meeting with our colleagues and discussing their hopes for future developments. With the Wasaidizi (D.R. Congo community health worker) team coming into Zambia to meet with us, it will be a pleasure to brainstorm with teams from three countries and visit the community centers that have been constructed since the last visit!

Stay tuned for photos, stories, and updates that will surely be coming after our time with our partners.

Our 2021 Annual Report is here and we are so excited to share about the amazing things accomplished through generosity and partnership with our health workers and school colleagues! Pictured are impact statistics from just last year.

If you receive our mailings, this should be in your mailbox this week! You can also take a look at the digital copy here.

Just as we are volunteer-led in the communities where we serve, we are also volunteer-supported in our operations in so many ways! This annual report (and others before it) was designed by a skilled volunteer, and the pieces were prepared for mailing by volunteers. We're so grateful!

We are celebrating the many people, including YOU, who make this impact possible! Thank you!

In Gorkha, Nepal, our health worker colleague Ramprasad plans to start a new phase of latrine building. Over the past few years, Ramprasad has led efforts to build 31 latrines in the region to improve health and sanitation, identified as a top priority in rebuilding efforts following a devastating earthquake. They plan to build 75 latrines in phases. Last week, prior to this new phase of latrine construction, Ramprasad facilitated health camps to continue educating the Gorkha community about the importance of sanitation and children’s nutrition. Nepal team lead, Pinkey, also came to support and teach. These ongoing health education meetings, both in Nepal and our partner sites in Africa, are important for several reasons: new attendees may not have this information, families who attended prior may need to be refreshed on best practices, and all attendees can see and interact with the local community health worker(s) who serves as an advocate for them and their families.

A short video of Ramprasad and Pinkey teaching can be found on our YouTube channel here. We are proud to support volunteers like Ramprasad as they educate and empower their communities!

May 15th is recognized by the United Nations as International Day of Families, stating that: “This day provides an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to families and to increase the knowledge of the social, economic and demographic processes affecting families.”

One of the major issues faced in the Copperbelt, Zambia, has been access to education, particularly for orphans and vulnerable children. When surveys were conducted by our community health worker colleagues in 2009, this was the biggest need identified by caregivers. Since then, we’ve been building schools and programs that provide equitable education, consistent meals, grief support for orphans, advocacy for girls, and much more. These issues would not have been addressed without advocacy from families.

We are thrilled that still, twelve years later, the parent and caretaker committees (PCSC) at our sister schools are active and meet each term to discuss the needs and issues children are facing. Today we celebrate the many families who continue to advocate for children in the communities that we serve and across the world!

Last week, on May 5th, we held our first Sounds of the Season concert! Focusing on new gardens and nutrition programs in Malawi and Zambia, we were thrilled to host a hybrid in-person and online event at Graceland University. Our talented friend, Jack Ergo, was our featured performer, along with Tessla Michael and Salume Osakue as guest musicians.

Our goal for the concert was to raise funds to build two large sheds for the gardening efforts at two (out of four) HealthEd Connect volunteer-led community centers. These sheds are the dream of our health worker colleagues for storing seeds, tools, and excess crops to be used and shared with children and families over time.

Thanks to generous support, we far exceeded that goal! We can build THREE garden sheds (plus more towards a 4th) to support important nutrition programs in Malawi and Zambia! Our friends will have the space and resources needed to grow nutritious food that will help reduce malnutrition and stunting in children. We’re feeling joyful, knowing that this makes a wonderful impact in women, children, and families' lives through these expanded gardening efforts.

Stay tuned for details about our next Sounds of the Season event in late summer!

P.S. A recording of our concert is available on our YouTube channel! Check it out here.

Earlier this month, a group of six teachers from our three sister schools in Zambia went on an adventure to the Lower Zambezi National Park! They joined with other teachers from the area, and the knowledgeable professionals at Conservation Lower Zambezi spent three days educating the group about environmental protection and conservation, with curriculum to take back to their schools.

In addition to learning the curriculum, our colleagues had the opportunity to go on a safari, a boat tour, and see wildlife in their native country first-hand. Agness, a teacher from Mapalo, shared this about her experience: “l saw an impala standing still l thought it was carved one because l am used to seeing carved ones and when it moved that's when l realized that l was seeing real animals - it was amazing.”

Now, they can share this important information with their fellow teachers and students at our schools! Martha, a teacher from Zamtan, shared, “I hope to implement what I learnt by educating pupils on the…importance of [the] ecosystem and also educate learners on how to care for the environment, conserve wildlife and appreciate nature…” This was a wonderful opportunity to make new connections and gain new information to share!

In Rai Village, Nepal, team lead Pinkey and fellow community health worker volunteers gathered local students for a school supply event! This was an event that was held annually prior to the COVID pandemic to provide children with much-needed school supplies, and the group was excited to meet again.

Supplies distributed included pens, pencils, paper, and coloring materials; masks for both students and parents were provided as well. While visiting, the volunteers encouraged children to regularly attend school, take precautionary health measures, and study hard. Many of the children have been using the small library established through the generosity of HealthEd Connect supporters, and are eagerly looking for new stories and books to fill their minds!

It’s reassuring to see reunions like this one in Rai Village after so long apart due to the pandemic, and we are sharing in the joy you can see on the student’s faces!