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  • Research
  • Education and Training
  • Policy
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  • China
  • Malawi
  • Peru
  • South Africa
  • Uganda
  • United States
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Countries

• Partners in Hope
• Clinical Rotations
• U. of Malawi
• Orphans

Programs

Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Malawi

UCLA PGH has an existing and very successful collaboration with Partners in Hope (PIH), a nonprofit medical center and clinic in Lilongwe, Malawi. The goals of the joint UCLA PGH/PIH orphans and vulnerable children OVC program are: (1) to enable government and nongovernment agencies working in Malawi to meet their goals to improve the lives of orphans and other vulnerable children in Malawi; (2) to target programs attempting to address the health and nutrition needs of children; (3) to encourage the building up of Malawi's medical infrastructure by partnering with agencies involved in training nationals in clinical and nutritional fields; (4) to engage UCLA medical students in these activities to encourage a life-long engagement in global health issues; and (5) to build this program into a self-sustaining operation that continues to expand.

"Healthy Village" Initiative. Partners in Hope is supporting clinical outreach activities to orphans and vulnerable children as one component of a "healthy village" initiative. A team of four PIH personnel (clinical officer, nurse, driver/statistician, and counselor) provide clinical outreach services to a community with high prevalence of orphans and vulnerable children. The UCLA Department of Medicine is also sending 12 medical residents each year for global-health training at Partners in Hope, and these physicians will contribute their skills to this initiative.

Tamandimwendo Project. Tamandimwendo is a rural community in Malawi bordering Mozambique. Based on a needs assessment with the Tamandimwendo community, UCLA/PIH has initiated several interventions based upon the community's stated needs, including a bicycle ambulance to provide immediate improvement in access to health care for pregnancy and illness; an HIV/AIDS counseling and testing program ; a food garden in proximity to the local orphan house; and an initial investment in fertilizer to support the food garden to ensure a successful crop in 2009, and working with the community to develop policies to ensure access to fertilizer in 2010.

Chinteche Village. UCLA PGH has been working in partnership with Children in the Wilderness to bring a sustainable nutrition program to the village of Chinteche in rural northern Malawi. Two major program components have been initiated--a communal garden for community education and shared cultivation of crops for the village, and family gardens for specific guardians and caregivers of orphans and vulnerable children, often the most needy families.