Direct Relief Grants $100,000 to One Heart World-Wide for Health Program

June 10, 2010 

Direct Relief International is granting at least $100,000 to One Heart World-Wide (OHW) to launch a maternal and child health program in partnership with Qinghai University Hospital in Xining, China. The grant will help One Heart provide life-saving services to at-risk women and children in Tibet who have been devastated by the recent 6.9-earthquake that killed an estimated 2,000 people and damaged almost every structure.

“Our goal is to strengthen the web of care for Tibetan women and children by helping One Heart mobilize available resources and implement their high‐impact program throughout rural Qinghai,” said Direct Relief International President and CEO Thomas Tighe. “We’re pleased to take the lead funding role to support One Heart in China on this effort. We’ve worked with One Heart before, and their team has a history of implementing successful programs and saving lives.”

One Heart World-Wide is the only U.S.-based nongovernment, nonprofit organization chosen by the U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China to provide maternal and newborn care to the impoverished Yushu Region in Tibet’s Qinghai Province. As there is little or no access to transportation, medical facilities or trained health personnel, 100 out of every 100,000 pregnant women dies in childbirth and 20 out of every 1,000 newborns dies in infancy. Qinghai University Hospital provided on-site maternal care and some outreach to remote Tibetan communities for obstetrical emergencies before the earthquake. However, it is now faced with severely damaged facilities, depleted resources and few uninjured medical personnel. One Heart’s programs will address the core components of the local healthcare system that directly impact maternal and infant survival.

“Direct Relief International’s support enables us to rapidly implement a program that has been proven to work in this very fragile environment,” said Arlen Samen, executive director and CEO of One Heart World-Wide. “During our ten years in Tibet, we developed a replicable, sustainable model that saved the lives of thousands of pregnant women and newborn babies. We can now begin our work in China to do the same.”

Samen founded OHW in 1998 to work with disadvantaged communities to raise awareness and teach good birth practices. In the 10 years that the One Heart program was active in Tibet, the number of women who died in childbirth annually dropped from 33 to zero. One Heart recently relocated its corporate offices to San Francisco, Calif. and manages close to $1 million in donations to support maternal-child health programs in China, Mexico, and Nepal.

Direct Relief Partner One Heart Reports from Tibet

April 21, 2010 

Arlene Samen, the founder and CEO of One Heart World-Wide, is in Tibet responding to the recent earthquake, supported by funds from Direct Relief. One Heart’s medical team has been working in Tibet for several years and plans to open a special maternal and child health clinic there.

Monday, April 19
We arrived late Saturday night and spent most of Sunday meeting with local Tibetan nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that have either been out to the field or have team members who have gone out to Yushu. Right now it is a bit chaotic and anyone who does not have a permit cannot go to Yushu as the roads are so backed up with trucks taking supplies. The military is on the ground setting up tent cities and either trucking in supplies or flying in cargo shipments of what is needed. There have been several hundred victims flown out to local hospitals either in Xining, where we are, or to Chengdu. We have heard that over 1,500 people have died and hundreds are still missing. Hundreds of monks arrived on the scene and have been involved with digging people out of the collapsed buildings, handing out supplies, or helping to dispose of the bodies.

We met with several local NGOs who can receive funds; they have formed an organization to coordinate donations and distribution of supplies. A representative from USAID is coming tomorrow to meet with NGOs and the Civil Affairs Office to see about donating funds to buy basic supplies. Funding is needed the most to help people with immediate needs (food, shelter, water, blankets, solar generators, water purification, cooking utensils, headlamps, medicine). Long term, the entire town will have to be rebuilt. Many of the doctors died in the earthquake and medical teams are flying in to take care of the injuries that were not life-threatening.

We went to one of the hospitals today and met with several of the Tibetan families who had been rescued. Several women went into labor and were evacuated to Xining and gave birth, most of them lost everyone in their family, yet were so grateful to be alive. Everywhere in the hospital we saw families tending to the needs of their family members who were injured. I will find out later who can organize helping the families here in Xining. Everyone is homeless. There are many heartbreaking stories. The courage of the Tibetan people truly inspires me as they come together under such horrific circumstances. The hotel where we are staying has been filled with Chinese relief workers who are leaving in shifts with semi trucks filled with supplies.

It looks like we will be able to start our maternal-child health (MCH) project in the next couple of months. Once we get the project started we would like to be involved with setting up a MCH training center in Yushu. Most of the hospitals either collapsed or are badly damaged. At this time the government will have to rebuild everything. Literally, there are no undamaged structures left. I feel helpless in this moment and feel the best I can do is to help convey the message of what is needed. Our prayers and long-term support will help the Tibetans to rebuild their lives in this very fragile environment. So many people are traumatized; their faith keeps them strong.

With one heart and many hands,

Arlene

Direct Relief Commits Up to $100,000 for Qinghai Quake Relief

Immediate cash grants to support partners’ medical teams travel to affected region

April 16, 2010

Direct Relief International has allocated up to $100,000 in cash to support the emergency response in China and Tibet following the earthquake in Qinghai Province yesterday.  A portion of those funds will finance the travel of three partner groups sending medical and assessment teams into the affected region, including Yushu.

Direct Relief is coordinating with Amitabha Foundation, One HEART, and Mercy Relief, which are sending emergency teams to China to assess damage and treat the injured.

Amitabha and One HEART have been providing medical aid in the region with Direct Relief’s support for several years, and Singapore-based Mercy Relief has expertise in providing emergency medical teams in Asia when disasters strike. Among other activities with these partner organizations, Direct Relief two years ago provided financing to Amitabha to outfit a surgical suite in Yushu, the location of the quake’s epicenter.

Direct Relief has informed the office of the U.S. Ambassador to China, Jon M. Huntsman Jr., of its financial commitment and ability to assist.

In addition to providing funding for emergency teams with deep experience in the region, Direct Relief also is exploring the potential for hand-carried medical supplies and in-country medical donations from partner healthcare companies with operations in China.

News updates report that 243 people are missing and 11,477 injured as search-and-rescue efforts continue. Tens of thousands of structures, including homes and schools, have been destroyed; 760 people have been killed in the quake, registered at a magnitude of 6.9 by the USGS and 7.1 by official Chinese agencies.

Direct Relief has extensive experience responding to earthquakes and the particular injuries they cause, including the Pakistan quake of 2005, the China earthquake in 2008, and the Haiti earthquake earlier this year. Direct Relief has provided extended support to the Pakistan Institute of Prosthetic and Orthotic Services (PIPOS), developing a comprehensive prosthetic and orthotic practice to benefit people disabled in the earthquake, and has committed $2 million to develop a similar program in Haiti.

Direct Relief Reaching Out to Partners After China Earthquake

Today Direct Relief International is reaching out to its partners in Tibet and China to assess needs following a magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck yesterday. According to news reports, at least 400 people are feared dead and that number is expected to rise; while search-and-rescue efforts are underway to find survivors. Initial estimates number the injured in the tens of thousands.

The epicenter was in Yushu in the mountainous Qinghai Province, about 150 miles northwest of Qamdo, Tibet, CNN reports. Partners in Tibet that receive medical material support include One H.E.A.R.T., a maternal-and-child health organization based in Tibet, and the Amitabha Foundation, a group that focuses on maternal, child, and general health for Tibet’s nomadic population. Direct Relief responded to the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake in China.

Direct Relief's thoughts are with the people of China who have been affected by the earthquake. The organization will continue to monitor the situation with partners on the ground there.