June 2006 Newsletter

Exciting things have been happening since April with Friends of Jamaica USA. Please read on for details and pictures.

The second phase of the Neonatal Resuscitation Program was completed the first week of May. To read about the details of this project, please see the April newsletter.

You will remember that FOJ and the Jamaica Ministry of Health are collaborating on an initiative to reduce the infant mortality rate in Jamaica in part by improving resuscitation of newborns. FOJ funds the project and provides instructors from the US. The instructors for these sessions, in addition to 2 doctors from Jamaica, were the neonatal nurse practitioner you see below demonstrating neonatal resuscitation techniques, and myself.

 

We stayed in Kingston for the 4 sessions and commuted 2 days to Annotto Bay on the North Coast and 2 days to Mandeville. The trips were tiring, but enjoyable. The mountain road to Annotto Bay was very pretty with a lot of hairpin turns. The road to Mandeville, once you leave the new highway, is also scenic, but long!

With these 4 classes, we certified 25 doctors and 29 nurses/midwives from 11 hospitals and health centers. We also were able to collect data that will help improve the next sessions we will be conducting in November in Kingston and Montego Bay. One of the instructors, Dr. Everton Hylton from Sav la Mar Hospital, told us he sees a marked improvement in resuscitation at his hospital by the newly certified doctors.

We need your help with donations to fund the next sessions. Your donations will help buy manuals necessary for participants to prepare for the class. Please help if you can.

I have given 2 presentations to Rotary Clubs in my area since the last newsletter and have generated interest and donations for some new FOJ projects.

This is the Orange Bay Basic School where a group of ladies will be working in July. With help from the parents of the students, they will be painting inside and out as well as doing repair work. They have been conducting a fundraiser and have been very successful in raising money for their volunteer mission. I hope to include their story in the August newsletter, with pictures. As you can see, the school needs a new roof. Imagine these precious children trying to learn in a classroom that doesn’t keep them dry during rainstorms. A donation for this project will help replace that leaky roof.

Another project is the Cave Valley School, in the mountains between Orange Bay and Green Island. It is an all age school with 300 students enrolled. It is off the beaten track, and needs so much. Some classes are seriously overcrowded, with as many as 60 students for one teacher! The school is in a beautiful setting which becomes dangerous during heavy rain. The playground slopes down to a large natural pond.  When heavy rains fall

the pond expands and floods the playing ground.  The pond is not fenced off from the playing field and there is a concern for the small children attending the school. They need funds to not only build a fence around the school to protect the children, but for other important improvements.

This is the restroom for 300 students!

The children below have just washed their hands at the outdoor sink.

This shows the area directly behind the school that becomes a dangerous pond during rain.

This will be a large ongoing project that will need many donations to complete. We are partnering with the Negril Rotary Club to help raise the funds. Please give what you can to help these children.

If you would like to make a donation for any of these projects, please send a check to

Friends of Jamaica USA
6417 Commonwealth Dr.

Loves Park, IL  61111

You can direct your tax deductible donation to a specific project if you wish. If you don’t specify a project, we will use your donation where it is most needed.

Marcia Burke

Director, Friends of Jamaica USA