Kupona FoundationKupona FoundationKupona FoundationKupona Foundation
DONATE
  • ABOUT KUPONA
  • IMPACT
  • PROGRAMS
  • LATEST
  • LEARN
  • GET INVOLVED
  • ABOUT KUPONA
  • IMPACT
  • PROGRAMS
  • LATEST
  • LEARN
  • GET INVOLVED
December 28, 2014

Happy New Year!

  • Posted By : Samantha Bossalini/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Little Victories, News and Updates

Looking ahead to more little victories in 2015

It’s been a remarkable year. I’ve been inspired by the stories of success at home and abroad, and hope that you have, too. Mothers’ lives have been saved, families have better access to family planning, and children have received life-changing treatment – all thanks to your generosity.

Newborn in the Maternity Ward, Hospital Temeke

Newborns in the Maternity Ward, Temeke Hospital

The news from Temeke District Hospital was really a highlight for me. In a region where far too many mothers lose their lives in childbirth, the fact that every mother who gave birth at Temeke in the month of September survived is powerful. Moms and babies born at Temeke in September will have a future, thanks to the staff training, infrastructure improvements, and distribution of life-saving equipment that YOU supported. Thank you. You can read more about Temeke in our most recent post on Girls’ Globe. 

Of course, not every month will be as successful as September. Without collaboration and perseverance, thousands of Tanzanian mothers and their babies will continue to die every year.

We must build upon this year’s successes by enabling the team on the ground to continue improving the skills of healthcare providers; ensuring that they have access to the facilities and the equipment they need to do their job; and decongesting health facilities so that medical staff have the time and space to attend to every patient.

photo for final blog

It’s the little victories that will come together to change the status quo for women and children in Tanzania. A donation of $55 USD this holiday season will fund a skilled delivery by trained medical staff: giving both mother and baby a better chance for survival. If you donate through our GlobalGiving page between now and December 31st, you can help us win an additional $3,000 to make motherhood safe in Tanzania!

Kupona_Donategg

Your donation will make more of these victories possible, and support our work at CCBRT. Help us continue to save lives and improve the quality of maternal and newborn healthcare in Tanzania. Help us make 2015 a year of little victories.

Wishing you all the best for a happy and healthy New Year!

With gratitude,
Abbey

 


December 21, 2014

Little Victories Stateside

  • Posted By : Samantha Bossalini/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : First Person Perspectives, Little Victories, News and Updates

Building momentum in 2014

Our Tanzanian team isn’t the only one celebrating little victories this year. Kupona’s Board President, Dr. Yoni Barnhard looks back on Kupona’s victories in 2014.

Dr. Yoni Barnard

Dr. Barnhard addresses Kupona cocktail reception attendees.

I’ve been President of the Board of Directors at Kupona for two years.  In 2011, I traveled to Tanzania to visit a different hospital as an OB/GYN. My flight out of Dar es Salaam was cancelled, so a friend suggested I visit CCBRT’s maternal and newborn healthcare program. I had not been looking to join a Board. But my experience at CCBRT was so powerful – the potential for transformative change so great – that I had to be part of it. You can read more about that first visit in my three-part blog post in 2012: “A Slice of Dar – A Story from the Field.”

Kupona’s work at CCBRT is changing the status quo for mothers in Tanzania.

The donations from our supporters have a real and lasting impact – changing lives today, and strengthening the maternal and newborn healthcare system for generations to come. I first saw the impact and potential in 2011. Over the past year, more and more people are starting to see the potential, too.

Your continued support is enabling us to give more to CCBRT than ever before. This year, thanks to generous support from individuals and corporate and institutional partners, we raised over $500,000 for CCBRT, and this number is set to increase before the year is up. Some victories from our 2014 fundraising efforts included:

  • Spring Cocktails: Our third consecutive Spring Cocktail Event raised over $12,000 to purchase delivery beds and equipment for the CCBRT Maternity and Newborn Hospital.
  • Golfing for Good: Our fourth annual Kupona Foundation golf outing raised over $50,000 for mothers and babies in Tanzania.
  • Fall Cocktails: An intimate cocktail reception with Erwin Telemans, CCBRT CEO gave supporters an opportunity to ask questions and hear stories first-hand.
  • Memorial Campaign: Since 2013, family and friends of Tim Manchester have raised over $53,000 for family planning services at CCBRT; an incredible legacy for a close ally of CCBRT and Kupona. Read more on the Crowdrise Holiday Fundraiser for Tim’s Corner.

Our sincerest thanks to everyone who contributed to making these events and fundraisers happen. Together, we are saving the lives of women and children in Tanzania.

CCBRT CEO, Erwin Telemans, visits with Kupona team in September

CCBRT CEO, Erwin Telemans, visits with Kupona team in September.

Dr. Sierra Washington speaks with guests at a cocktail reception in June.

Dr. Sierra Washington speaks with guests at a cocktail reception in June.

In light of our continued growth, it was time to build a team that could help us fulfill our potential. Our Board, Advisory Board (AB), and the Kupona team have welcomed new recruits this year: a mixture of fresh new talent and individuals with a wealth of experience to share. We also strengthened our links to the work on the ground with the secondment of AB member Dr. Sierra Washington to CCBRT as a technical advisor to the maternal and newborn healthcare program and the placement of Princeton in Africa Fellow Erin Keating in CCBRT’s Communications Department. Our Executive Director spent over five weeks with the CCBRT team in Tanzania and New York, including joining CCBRT’s 20th Anniversary celebration in Dar es Salaam. Momentum is building. If you are interested in joining our dedicated team as a Board or Advisory Board member, please email info@kuponafoundation.org.

Photo Credit: Melanie Quinn Photography

From L to R: James Mann, Dr. Yoni Barnhard, Adrian Stewart, Katie Flanagan, Peter Maddens                                  Photo Credit: Melanie Quinn Photography

It’s been quite a year of little victories in the USA and Tanzania – making high-quality healthcare more accessible for some of the most vulnerable women and children in the world. Thank you for your support, and happy holidays.

Yoni


December 14, 2014

Empowering a Dedicated Team

  • Posted By : Samantha Bossalini/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : First Person Perspectives, Little Victories

CCBRT team members share their experiences

Your donations to Kupona directly benefit our implementing partner on the ground in Tanzania, CCBRT – the largest provider of disability and rehabilitation services in the country. CCBRT’s comprehensive maternal and newborn healthcare program is strengthening the maternal healthcare system and building a new referral hospital for emergency and high-risk deliveries in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city.

Our colleagues at CCBRT are a dedicated team of professionals. They’re the heroes, enabled by you to provide high quality, life-changing care to vulnerable people in Tanzania every day. We want you to get to know them.

1. Most memorable patients:

“She was very young…she had developed fistula at the age of 12.”

 

2. Why CCBRT is different from other healthcare providers:

“The services are affordable. They are available. And the services are reliable.”

 

3. CCBRT today is ‘Changing Lives, Changing Communities.’ What’s an alternative tagline? 

“CCBRT. Focused on Future”

Your donations to Kupona Foundation make their work possible. Thank You!


December 7, 2014

Little Victories in the Field

  • Posted By : Samantha Bossalini/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : First Person Perspectives, Little Victories, News and Updates

CCBRT 2014: Success stories that you made possible

Kupona’s newest team member, Alexandra, joined us in November after two years working on the ground with CCBRT in Dar es Salaam. Here are her highlights from the year.

Alexandra visiting a CCBRT support unit in Dar es Salaam

Alexandra visiting a CCBRT support unit in Dar es Salaam

During my time with CCBRT, I heard inspirational stories and met inspirational people every day. But it wasn’t just the change that we could see happening on the ground that spurred us on. It was hearing that there are individuals like you, thousands of miles away from Dar es Salaam, that are making our work possible.

If you’ve never visited CCBRT in Tanzania, you may sometimes wonder if your donation is actually making a difference. I’m here to tell you it is. You are supporting high quality, life-changing care for some of the poorest and most marginalized people in Tanzania. I saw it happening every day.

Your donations are funding expert care
Our expertise in the disability field was recognized earlier this year with two major accreditations. In June, CCBRT became a FIGO accredited training center for fistula surgeons enabling our team to pass on their experience to the next generation of surgeons. CCBRT also became the international training center and headquarters for the International Red Cross, Special Fund for the Disabled (ICRC/SFD). Our new orthopedic workshop, refurbished with the support of ICRC/SFD, provides custom-made prosthetics and orthopedic devices to people with disabilities. Today, CCBRT is in a position to train orthopedic technicians from all over the world.

ICRC Training at CCBRT

Recipients of custom-made prosthetics in the newly furnished orthopedic workshop, funded by ICRC/SFD.


A huge step forward in preventing unplanned pregnancies
In 2014, we also saw Tim’s Corner transform from a shipping container into a fully functioning clinic providing family planning services and confidential advice to staff and patients on how to plan pregnancies. This was an important step forward in our efforts to prevent maternal and newborn mortality and disability.

Family Planning services will be fully integrated into the spectrum of care in CCBRT’s maternity and newborn healthcare program. See the recent progress of the Maternity and Newborn Hospital construction for yourself with this virtual tour. Over my two years in Dar es Salaam, the structure’s evolution has been incredible.

Family outside of CCBRT’s fistula ward. Photo credit: Mark Tuschman


Building capacity to save the lives of mothers and newborns
In parallel to the construction of this new facility, the team also continues to make progress in 22 public health facilities in Dar es Salaam, working in challenging conditions, conducting on-the-job training for healthcare workers, improving facilities, and distributing life-saving equipment.

This September, there was exciting news from Temeke District Hospital, one of the 22 facilities in our capacity building program. Temeke Hospital has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the region. However, following the work of the CCBRT team, Temeke reported zero maternal deaths in the month of September. 

Lives are being saved every day. You can read more about these particular achievements in our latest post on Girls’ Globe.

Twenty years of service to the Tanzanian community
This past October, CCBRT marked its 20th anniversary by championing the everyday heroes – the staff. My colleagues on the ground are rock stars, and I congratulate them for their victories – both big and small. You can read more about their stories here. If we didn’t have the support of people like you, none of this would be possible.

Alex with the team at CCBRT's 20th anniversary.

Alex with team members at CCBRT’s 20th Anniversary.

It’s been an amazing year, and I’m thrilled to be part of our momentum going into 2015. While we celebrate the successes, it is important that we do not rest on our laurels. There are thousands of people living with impairments that need treatment at CCBRT, and thousands of women and children who die every year as a result of avoidable complications during childbirth.

We still need your help. Make a donation today, safe in the knowledge that your money is reaching those in need, and is making a difference where change is so desperately needed.

~Alex
Individual Giving & Communications, Kupona Foundation


November 28, 2014

A Milestone Year

  • Posted By : Samantha Bossalini/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : First Person Perspectives, Little Victories, News and Updates

2014: Giving thanks for little victories that make a big difference 

2014 has been a milestone year. CCBRT (our partner on the ground in Tanzania) marked 20 years of service to the community, Kupona turned 5 years old, and I completed my first year as Kupona’s Executive Director. These anniversaries gave us cause to reflect, as our teams in the U.S. and Tanzania appreciated the contributions of our supporters who enable us to provide transformative healthcare services to millions of the poorest and most marginalized people in Tanzania.

CCBRT patient and mother

CCBRT patient and mother

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be giving thanks for little victories. Stay tuned for success stories from the field, a summary of developments here in the U.S., a look behind the scenes at CCBRT, and a preview of our plans for 2015. This series highlights the little victories that have culminated in real change on the ground in Tanzania; bringing to life the impact your support has had over the last 12 months, and the power that a further donation will have upon the lives of families in Tanzania.

As we enter the holiday season, and our final month of fundraising in 2014, my first message to you is simple. Thank You. Whether you’ve supported Kupona since the beginning, or you’ve recently joined our journey. With your help, Kupona has provided more support to CCBRT every year since we began fundraising in 2009. This means more children accessing education, more adults able to provide for themselves and their families and more mothers able to greet their newborn children. Every single life changed is a victory for the people of Tanzania.

CCBRT and Kupona staff celebrating the #littlevictories

CCBRT and Kupona staff celebrating the #littlevictories

 

Stay tuned and take pride in the updates. Our victories are your victories, too.

With gratitude,
Abbey


Categories
  • CCBRT Publications
  • Events
  • First Person Perspectives
  • Little Victories
  • News and Updates
  • Partners
  • Series
  • Uncategorized

Social Media
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube

CONTACT US

Kupona Foundation | 4801 Queens Chapel Ter NE, Washington DC 20017
+1 518.595.9007 | info@kuponafoundation.org

NEWSLETTER

CLICK TO JOIN & RECEIVE UPDATES

 

Kupona Foundation is a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. | U.S. Tax ID: 26-4371825

EXPLORE MORE

ABOUT US

GET INVOLVED
ANNUAL REPORT
PRIVACY
THE LATEST

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Copyright Kupona Foundation 2020. All Rights Reserved
Developed by Vittoria Childress.
We use cookies to run this site and improve your experience. Accept

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT