Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Reflecting on 20 years and our vision for the future.

On October 24^th, I was honored to attend CCBRT’s 20^th anniversary celebrations in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania alongside the team members, individual supporters, and partner organizations that have made CCBRT the organization that it is today. There are three sections in this blog post. Read the whole thing or scroll down to the update you’re most interested in reading!

20 Years of service to the Tanzanian community
Growth and Sustainability
Little Victories

20 Years of service to the Tanzanian community
For twenty years, CCBRT has provided life-changing surgeries and rehabilitative services to the most marginalized people in Tanzania. Celebrating this event on the construction site of the new Maternity and Newborn Hospital was fitting. (Take a virtual tour of the construction site). The Maternity and Newborn Hospital marks the future for CCBRT. Many of the disabilities that we treat can be prevented with access to quality maternal and newborn healthcare. By improving the quality of care in the region of Dar es Salaam, we will not only save the lives of mothers and babies, but also prevent the development of impairments like obstetric fistula and encourage the early identification and treatment of impairments like congenital cataract, cleft lip/palate and clubfoot.

CCBRT’s twenty year track record for high quality, affordable healthcare has been made possible by your support. The next 20 years will be focused on building upon this legacy in order to change even more lives and, in turn, change entire communities. The impact you have goes beyond the individual. The impact of saving a mother, restoring sight, mobility, or dignity has broader health, economic, and educational implications for the individual’s entire family and community.

CCBRT patient and her mother. Photo credit: Dieter Telemans

I came away from the 20^th Anniversary celebrations inspired by the dedication of CCBRT’s leadership, staff and partners. I also came away with a renewed determination that, with your support, Kupona Foundation would play a critical role in helping CCBRT achieve their vision and operate more sustainably in order to provide access to high-quality disability and maternal and newborn services for generations to come.

Smiles and laughs at the CCBRT 20th anniversary staff party

CCBRT and Kupona Staff at the 20th anniversary partner event

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” African proverb

Growth and Sustainability
In the second week of my trip, I traveled with members of CCBRT’s leadership team to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for a General Electric-sponsored Leadership, Innovation and Strategy training – GE’s first-ever LIS training in Africa, and an amazing opportunity for our team. This Harvard Business Review article elaborates on GE’s approach. Our team’s discussion focused on managing organizational growth and how CCBRT can evolve to operate as a social enterprise as opposed to a charity. As we continue to provide high quality medical and rehabilitative services to the poorest populations in Tanzania we will also seek to increase our sustainability. Our particular focus is generating more revenue through the CCBRT Private Clinic. CCBRT is growing at an incredible rate, with increasing demand for its services at the Disability Hospital, and a new 200-bed maternal healthcare facility due to open in 2016. Despite this growth, the patient will always remain at the center of everything that we do. CCBRT is working hard to find the vital balance between maintaining accessible and affordable services while managing an increase in operational costs. We are learning from experts and advisors who have faced similar challenges, and we are sharing lessons learned with other organizations that are also changing lives. On our final day in Ethiopia, we had the honor of visiting the Hamlin Fistula Hospital, which has been dedicated to women with obstetric fistula since 1974. These exchanges and learning opportunities are invaluable.

Do you or your organization have skills, resources or lessons learned to share with the team in Tanzania? Please get in touch, and help us on our journey towards sustainable, affordable healthcare.

GE LIS Training at the African Union
(L-R: CCBRT Team: Pierre Callens, Abbey Kocan (Kupona), Elly Festo, Rehema Ngamilo, Frans Vanmidde, Haika Mawalla, Erwin Telemans)

CCBRT CEO Erwin Telemans shares his perspective at GE LIS in Ethiopia

CCBRT and Kupona visit Hamlin Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa.
(L-R, CCBRT Technical Advisor Pierre Callens, CCBRT Disability Hospital Director Frans Vanmidde, Hamlin CEO Martin Andrews, CCBRT CEO Erwin Telemans, Kupona Director Abbey Kocan)

Little Victories
Over the next few weeks, we will publish a Year-End blog series called “Little Victories,” featuring success stories from Tanzania, developments in the U.S., a look behind the scenes at CCBRT, and a glimpse at our plans for 2015. Kupona will also participate in the national day of giving back, #GivingTuesday, on December 2^nd via our Make Motherhood Safe for Tanzanian Women fundraiser on GlobalGiving.

Mother and baby at CCBRT’s current fistula ward.Photo credit: Mark Tuschman

This is an exciting time to be part of Kupona and CCBRT. It is thanks to your support that CCBRT celebrated twenty years of service to the most vulnerable populations in Tanzania. Your donations are directly improving maternal healthcare and helping us build the Maternity and Newborn Hospital – a beacon of hope in a country known for staggering maternal and newborn mortality rates. With you as our allies, we are restoring hope to thousands of Tanzanians living with correctable impairments. You helped us build a firm foundation; we now ask that you stand with us as we close out the year and look forward to 2015.

With gratitude,
Abbey Kocan
Executive Director

• Questions? Contact us at info@kuponafoundation.org.
• To participate in #GivingTuesday, please visit our GlobalGiving project.
• To follow our Year-End blog series, stay tuned here and follow us on Facebook and Twitter @KuponaFdn #littlevictories. We will post our first blog on November 30^th.
• If you’ve supported us in the past, you’ll hear more from us during our Year End campaign. We are grateful for your consideration as you make your final tax deductible charitable contributions in 2014. You can also donate today!
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