David Bank wrote this article about the UN Foundation Powering Healthcare workshop; it was originally posted on Impact IQ on May 7, 2012.
“Chance favors the connected mind,” is Steven Johnson’s short answer to the question posed by his book, “Where Good Ideas Come From.”
Leading minds in global health and sustainable energy connected [...]
In Afghanistan, pregnant woman and infants face some of the highest risks of dying in the world. USAID General Development Officer, Chris Andrew, recognized the potential of the Solar Suitcase to improve delivery of maternal and child health care, and requested two Solar Suitcases to demonstrate to U.S. and Afghan officials before piloting them [...]
Solar Energy International and WE CARE Solar are teaming up to train a group of women to be Solar Suitcase Ambassadors. Solar Suitcase Ambassadors will take a leadership role in solar suitcase installations and solar trainings…
A very excited Isha Daramy-Kabia called me from Sierra Leone today. Isha is a midwife I met in December through the Global Women’s Leadership Network and the driving force behind our recent excursion to Sierra Leone.
If you ever meet Isha, you’ll learn that it’s just about impossible to turn her down. Isha [...]
It’s my birthday – a chance for reflection.
Three years ago at the same time of year, I faced a major challenge – how to install a solar electric system in a state hospital in Nigeria. My hospital research the year prior had alerted me to the fact that sporadic and unreliable electricity [...]
“There’s going to be a lot of babies saved, a lot of women saved,” exclaimed Ugandan midwife Esther Madudu, after receiving a Solar Suitcase. Until last month, Esther had been conducting nighttime deliveries holding a cellphone in her teeth. When the Solar Suitcase was installed, Esther immediately put it to good use. Under the newly [...]
Dr. Jacques Sebisaho revealed the power of the Solar Suitcase to save lives this December, when he returned to Idjwi clinic in the DR Congo. The clinic has no power, and when night falls, it is impossible to provide adequate medical care. On this trip, Jacques had a Solar Suitcase, which was quickly put [...]
I met Isha Daramy-Kabia less than a week ago, but I instantly knew she would be a friend for life. She sparkled from the stage of the Global Women Leadership Network last Thursday as she declared “No woman should die in childbirth in Sierra Leone!” and announced that she would build her second maternity [...]
On this Thanksgiving, we thank health care workers around the world for their courageous efforts to provide skilled obstetric care to childbearing women and their families under the most adverse conditions. We are grateful for the opportunity to help them deliver safer care and save lives. Here are some photos and recent words from the [...]
Our November 2011 WE CARE expedition to Northern Nigeria culminated with the installation of three Solar Suitcases in Wudil General Hospital in Kano. We targeted crucial areas in the fight against maternal mortality: The labor and delivery room received lights, a fetal doppler, and mobile phone charging; the operating theatre obtained surgical lighting to [...]
