When news of budget cuts at PIH reached our ears at the National Office, we met the disappointing news with a conviction that our efforts matter more now than ever. All of us here wanted to contribute through our work to help the situation and inspire others. Thus, even though I work fulltime in the FACE AIDS National Office as the Recruitment and Partnerships Director, I felt compelled to supplement my work with personal fundraising to support our programs. To understand why, let me present a little background.

Dear FACE AIDS friends,

I am writing with some urgent news from Partners In Health. PIH is facing a significant budget contraction, which is necessitating a 20% budget cut in Rwanda. To tell you more about why this is happening, what this means for PIH and the communities they serve in Rwanda, and how we can help, the FACE AIDS U.S. team and I sat down this morning and recorded the video below. Please watch it now and then share it with the rest of your chapter. It is important that we get this message out to as many people as possible, and rally around this critical call to action. If you have any questions or ideas in response, we would love to hear from you.

In solidarity,

Julie Veroff

Executive Director

Video Text 

Hi everyone. This is Julie, Eve, Austin, and Nicole – the FACE AIDS team in the U.S. We want to share some important news with you.

Last week, Partners In Health told us that they’re facing a significant budget contraction. The budget for Rwanda, where FACE AIDS directs its support, is being reduced by 20%.

To understand why this is happening, we need to look at the root of the situation. This year, PIH is spending down the last of its Stand With Haiti fund for earthquake relief, which kept budgets stable over the past few years, even during a worldwide financial crisis and a decline in charitable giving. Now that they’ve reached the end of emergency funds, PIH as an organization faces the challenge of making do with less.

Why are we telling you this? Because today, your involvement with FACE AIDS matters more than ever. Since FACE AIDS was founded, we have pledged our support to Partners In Health. Students just like you have rallied together to raise more than $2.3 million for PIH – Rwanda. Why? Because they are the very best. Because they do whatever it takes.

When we raise money for PIH, we are saving and changing lives in Rwanda. We are strengthening health systems for the long haul. And fundamentally, we are saying to the world: This is how the poor deserve to be treated. This is how health care should be delivered. Comprehensive. Community based. In partnership with the public sector. Settling for nothing less than the best results possible with a bottom line of honoring human dignity.

Partners In Health reached out to FACE AIDS specifically to talk about this situation because they know that they can count on us. This challenging time is an opportunity for FACE AIDS to truly be a partner to PIH and to stand in solidarity with them. Let’s re-commit to our pledge to adopt Nyamirama Health Center, and make good on our promise of raising $185,000 for Partners In Health this year. Every dollar counts, and now it’s more important than ever to ensure that the poorest of the poor can access free, quality health care.

So ask yourself: What more can I do? What more can my chapter do? How will we rise to meet this challenge?

Every day, we have the opportunity to take action to change lives. Today, take that opportunity. Make a donation, sell a FACE AIDS pin, plan an event, tell a friend about the life-saving work of PIH. Join us as we stand in solidarity with PIH and do everything that we can to ensure that they can reach as many people as possible with the very best care possible.

Thank you.

There’s something unique about student organizing.  The hope, the contagious energy, the endless passion—it’s so pure and sincere.  A summer experience at FACE AIDS captures the best of student organizing and packs it into a few whirlwind months.  (Not to mention enjoying the wonderful San Francisco.)   To go to work and know what you’re doing matters in the movement for global health equity is, in my rather biased opinion, one of the best jobs out there.

During my time as a summer intern at FACE AIDS, I helped design campaign materials for the upcoming year.  My tasks ranged from authoring campaign guides to help students turn ideas into action to trying to figure out the best way to repeatedly engage students and communities with the campaigns.  Yet, in addition to the basic job description and task list, there were always larger, ongoing conversations.

In small and dynamic organizations like FACE AIDS, every member of the team is not just asked, but encouraged, to think broadly and strategically.  Where are you going as an individual in this movement?  Where do we fit as an organization?  Where do we want to be in the future and how do we get there?  Not many internships offer the opportunity to contribute in such a meaningful way.

Nicole, Cara, and I at the San Francisco Food Carts.

Beyond the Google documents and the strategy talks, the atmosphere at FACE AIDS is closer to family than co-workers or associates.  Sometimes, we just had to take a break from typing to play some 4-square.  What could we say?  It had to be done.  Or, we blocked off a weekend to stay in a hostel, go hiking north of the bay, and then finish the day off with a picnic in Sausalito.  (And of course, I can’t type this and not give a shout-out to Nicole’s guacamole. Holy guacamole. That stuff was amazing.)

The work, the perspective, the people. It is a really fantastic way to spend a summer.

To learn more and apply for FACE AIDS Summer Internships, click here.

Allison Coffelt was a Campaign Intern during the summer of 2011 focused on the Back To School and Adopt a Health Center campaigns. Allison is now the Community Engagement and Volunteer Coordinator at Heart of Missouri United Way.

I became involved with FACE AIDS in the fall of my sophomore year. Like many FACE AIDS-ers, I had fallen in love with Partners In Health and I felt a burning urge to DO SOMETHING. After attending the 2010 conference, I was on a FACE AIDS high. This weekend was a catalyst for both my involvement and my passion in this area. I felt as though I had finally found my niche, my group, my people. I loved everything about the conference, but the whole weekend, I was envious of the people “behind the scenes.” I had the desire to know how the national team was able to carefully craft and create such an experience. When I heard about FACE AIDS summer internships, I felt as though I had reached my destiny. THIS WAS IT. Thankfully, I got the position and looking back on my summer, the experience completely surpassed my expectations.

Three different dimensions combined to make this past summer as valuable as it was: the nitty-gritty work, the energy within the office, and the amazing outside-of-work experiences.

Planning the conference involved many facets; it was energetic when securing housing and conference space, and more mellow when having higher-level conversations about the goals of the conference. The work was constantly challenging, but always fulfilling when I imagined the passion that the event would create. I enjoyed the amount of agency I was given. While intimidating at times, it was really thrilling to managing such a balancing-act of tasks to create an incredible conference.

At FACE AIDS, the environment you enter into each day is supportive, caring, and dynamic.  In the office, the team is furiously working, expanding, creating new ideas, and bouncing around topics. It is thrilling to watch and participate in. I truly believe that this is the most supportive and caring environment you could ever find yourself in. The staff members are all invested in your well-being while be 110 percent invested in endless to-do lists and projects.

Lastly, the experiences outside of the office are like none-other. I can recall on a beautiful summer night after the Board Meeting had ended, Jonny Dorsey invited the team and several Board Members to join him for a barbeque at his home. While watching the sun set over Northern California, this intimidating-ly accomplished group of people went around in a circle answering one simple question: “What do you want to do when you grow up?” Listening to the variety of answers was inspiring, exciting, and completely motivating. While it sounds corny, these are the types of experiences that entering deeper into the FACE AIDS family will provide you with.

One other highlight of the summer was…the FACE AIDS retreat! We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and headed for a night in the Marin Headlands. Even though we went grocery shopping on empty stomachs (and bought out the entire store), couldn’t grill food outside because it was too dark, and got food stolen from raccoons, I only look back at the trip with fond memories. We trekked through the headlands and found an amazing beach that was surrounded by huge cliffs (that we may have climbed!).

The Summer Team Heads to the Headlands!

So, if you LOVE FACE AIDS, want an amazing summer, and want to know everything and more about a project, apply to be a summer intern here.

Cara Quigley was a summer intern in 2011 and worked on the annual conference. She is currently a junior at Hamilton University and interning with charity: water.

Hey FACE AIDSers!

I’m writing from Kirehe, where I’ve been living for almost four months now and working as FACE AIDS Program Associate. A large part of my work this year is to help transition our HIV associations to independence. Currently, FACE AIDS works with three HIV associations: groups of HIV-affected people who have come together to support each other. FACE AIDS supports these associations through income generation activities; we pay small salaries to our association members for making the beaded AIDS pins you sell on your campuses! The first association visit I made was to distribute beads and string for the making of the pins. This was particularly exciting for me because I have been selling FACE AIDS pins since high school and was now able to see exactly where they came from!

In conjunction with the pin-making cycles, we have also helped these associations establish rotating savings and credit cooperatives that act like community banks. Association members pay into a general fund that they then lend out to individual association members for emergency expenses or business investments. Over the course of this year we are hoping to provide enough training and support that these savings cooperatives will function smoothly without our oversight and our associations will no longer need our organizational support. As part of this process, we delivered small business trainings to our associations in December. Many of the association members have small businesses that range from growing and selling crops to making banana juice to being tailors. The associations requested a training that would help them improve, or expand their small businesses, and since we feel like economic empowerment is an important part of fighting HIV, we were happy to oblige!

For the small business trainings, we utilized a small business training curriculum developed by Barefoot MBA, an NGO whose mission it is to “provide people with the knowledge they need to make better business decisions.” Barefoot MBA has developed training modules that cover a variety of basic business concepts, from saving and spending to cost-benefit analysis and planning and records. The modules are meant to be applicable to small business owners across the globe. Our friends at Gardens for Health International in Ndera, Rwanda had already adapted their lessons to a Rwandan context, and translated the curriculum into Kinyarwanda! After talking to our associations we decided which topics would be most useful to them and headed out in the field to get started with trainings.

Theo teaching Dukundane about investing

Our program assistants, Bosco and Theo, did an amazing job delivering the trainings. They are both small business owners themselves and were even able to weave personal experiences into the lessons to make it that much more engaging. We spent two days with each association, covering basic business concepts and prompting discussion around various business scenarios.

Bosco helping a member of Girimpuhwe with a profit calculation

The highlight of the trainings for me was watching our association members do an activity that was meant to demonstrate the different types of investment one could make, the advantages and disadvantages to different types of investment, and the risk involved in investing. The activity was essentially a role-play where different members were assigned different products to buy at the market and then we charted their appreciation in value over time on the white board. One association in particular got really into the role play and members were bartering at the “market,” and introducing new factors into the investing scenarios that affected their decisions to buy and sell! I was so excited to see them take the activity and run with it!

Members of Rwandarera bartering at the "marketing" during the investing activity

Getting positive feedback after the training from association members was also really gratifying. One association member told us that she had never thought about investing her money before and was going to start investing her profit so she could see it grow! Another member told us that she was going to start using the business ledger we showed them to keep track of her profit and loss and be able to know what kinds of sales and expenses she could expect in coming months.

The main frustration of the training was feeling like we did not have enough time to go into depth on many of the topics we introduced. Ideally, we would have more time address more individualized concerns of each association member and tailor our trainings to their specific needs. In order to address this concern, we are going to check in with the association members to help them set goals for their businesses and set up small working groups that will hold each other accountable for these goals.

Next steps to take with our associations will be working with them on their governance to make sure they have strong mechanisms for accounting in place and everyone is clear on their role and the roles of the committee members. In general, working with the associations has been my favorite part of the job! It’s inspiring to see the ways in which members of our oldest association, Rwandarera, have come together to support each other and see what they’ve been able to achieve collectively. Together they have invested in cassava fields as well as livestock that help support them and their families. At meetings with them, it is clear they are a second family to each other. We hope that through small business trainings and other efforts to strengthen our associations, that they can all achieve this level of independence and success and be a strong source of support for each member, even after FACE AIDS’ fiscal support is complete.

–Madden

To Nicole Bronson’s delight, we gathered at the Hotel Gorillas this morning for reflection and snacks. It was our last full day in Rwanda so we started by going around the table and sharing our highs and lows of the trip. To name a few, we loved visiting the youth chapters and seeing their projects as a testament to how much young people can do when they’re given the tools; making new friends; Christmas at Jean d’Amour’s house; spending time with the FACE AIDS team; seeing the hospitals; meeting Paul Farmer; and spending time with kids. Low points in the trip were either not feeling well or feeling helpless in the presence of injustice, but we had Dramamine and overall we encountered more hopefulness than helplessness.

We spent the next few hours reflecting on the movement for global health equity. We talked about collective mobilization and what comes to mind when we hear the word movement, as well as what types of actions and tactics we think are necessary. It was fun and helpful to hear everyone’s thoughts. After a little break, we took different colored Post-It notes and wrote down thoughts in response to the questions: “Why do we need a movement for global health equity?” “How do we form a movement for global health equity?” and “What does our movement do?” We then posted our responses on pieces of paper corresponding to each question and read the rest of the group members’ responses to ourselves, putting a check mark on our favorites. For me, as a computer science major, it was the first time I’d thought strongly about wanting to be a part of this movement for global health. Being involved with FACE AIDS and especially being on this trip in Rwanda makes me feel like I can.

Cher-Wen showed us the video “How Not to Write About Africa.” After watching, we talked about stereotypes and generalizations of Africa, sharing reactions from friends and family when we told them we were traveling to Rwanda and discussing the misguided perception that Africa is a country and therefore homogenous. It reminded me of the first time I looked for Rwanda on a map. We can’t say we understand the entire continent of Africa now that we have spent two weeks in Rwanda, but we can work to dispel myths we know to be untrue.

Before an afternoon of souvenir hunting, we ate at a lunch buffet. (Earlier in the week, we learned that lunch buffets were government mandated for the sake of productivity!) After lunch we went to craft market and fabric markets to purchase bags, jewelry, art, key chains, figurines, and t-shirts for friends and family back home. The guys even found cool knives.

In the evening we met with Dr. Peter Drobac, the PIH Rwanda Country Director. We were originally going to have dinner with him last Wednesday, but he was stuck in meetings and now that I think about it that was another “low” mentioned at breakfast. But this timing was better in a way because we had more educated questions for him, plus we had coffee! He told us his story, and we asked about his work, the progress of health care in Rwanda, PIH’s relationship with the Rwandan government, and his hopes for the future. Peter was a psychology major in college and took a class about primates, which he enjoyed so much that he decided to go to Tanzania the next semester to study monkeys. The monkeys got boring quickly but being in Tanzania sparked his interest in global health care and he became a doctor even though he wasn’t originally pre-med. He read works by Paul Farmer and made the connection that Paul was as mad as he was about inequalities in health care. Peter worked with PIH during his residency and took the opportunity to move to Rwanda when the government first invited the organization in. He and the other doctors slept in the hospitals while they were still being constructed. I loved how much Peter loved his work—he even said he doesn’t mind working 14- to 18-hour days sometimes. He also had some great advice for us as students. Most importantly, he told us to do what we love and if we are passionate about global health care we will find a way to contribute using our talents. We don’t all have to be doctors to make a difference, especially if medicine is not what we are excited about. This movement needs everything from architects to business experts as well as physicians. Peter also said it helps to be a little angry about social injustices and health inequality. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that our time spent with Peter was an inspiring and awesome way to conclude the trip.

To round out the day, we shared Ethiopian food for dinner and packed a little before heading to bed.

Thanks for reading!

- Jordan Kellerstrass, Creighton University ‘14

After an early morning breakfast at Butaro Hospital, our group packed into a Partners In Health van and headed to visit a pygmy community living within Butaro Hospital’s catchment area. Prior to Rwanda’s progression past ethnic identities, these vulnerable communities were known as the Twa. During the genocide of 1994, many were killed and many others fled as refugees to other countries. There has been a history of heavy stigmatization against the pygmy communities, furthering their lack of socioeconomic integration into Rwandan society. Prior to our visit, we were informed of the destitute and almost unimaginable housing conditions that these individuals were living in before Partners In Health mobilized the community to construct new structures. Even with the words of caution, I was not sure what I would be witnessing. Reaching the village included a long, bumpy car ride on the side of a mountain. In addition to admiring the breathtaking view of Ugandan mountains and Rwandan valleys, I could not help but be amazed by how far residents of the area had to walk to obtain medical care. I tried to imagine myself as a sick person walking down a mountain to get to the nearest health center and then started hoping that a health post closer to the homes would be built soon.

Walking to the Village

Upon reaching the entrance of the village, we left our van for a trek on foot up to where the community used to live. I have to admit, every walk I’ve taken in Rwanda up to a village or through cassava fields has left me in awe of how people skillfully maneuver and utilize the steep terrain to their advantage. After reaching the older settlement, we met with community members who had lived in the area for a very long time. The group we visited included adults, children, and senior citizens. The community spokesperson was the oldest person there, the village “grandfather.” He spoke very briefly about the poor living conditions his community faced before and how grateful they were that PIH has intervened. When asked about hospital visitations, he mentioned that community members were now visiting the hospital whenever medical needs arose. In contrast to past educational disadvantages, children within this community were now attending school. As I gazed around, I saw cows and other livestock that PIH had provided for the families. Also, the local government has promised that they will try to obtain more land for them to farm. Because land ownership in Rwanda is a very contested and complicated matter land has been tough to come by for these communities, but the local authorities’ promise gives them hope.

One of the New Houses

Next, we made our way down to hill to visit the new housing PIH built with the community members. My honest first reaction was close to a jaw drop when I compared the sturdy new houses these people owned to their old dwellings, which often did not even protect them from rain. We only saw the houses from the outside, but each house included a main house complete with furniture, a separate kitchen building with the basic cooking equipment, and a separate toilet. The separate toilet hindered the spread of disease and maintained a hygienic way of living and in an effort to prevent the spread of smoke throughout one’s house the kitchen is also detached from the main house. This was proof to me that when PIH took on an initiative, they made sure it was done in the best way it could be. In totality, it was obvious both from the community members’ expressions and from the tangible work in front of our eyes that the Rwandan government and Partners In Health are working together to provide a preferential option for the poor.

-Dipika Gaur, New York University ‘14

You can read more about the Twa community housing project and PIH’s Program on Social and Economic Rights (POSER) in this month’s educational theme on Social and Economic Rights.

Today was an eventful day spent in Butaro, an area in northern Rwanda. We headed out in the morning along one of the most scenic routes in Rwanda. To echo the impressions of my peers, the hills contain every shade of green imaginable. Add to it the reds and yellows of the soil contrasted against the light blue of the sky and you have the makings of a truly breathtaking land.

We arrived at Butaro to be greeted by Kamanzi, the PIH District Project Manager, and Vincent, the Community Health Program Coordinator. Kamanzi gave our group a tour of Butaro Hospital, an enormous district hospital built by the Ministry of Health and Partners In Health that opened in January 2011. Notable points from our tour that caught my attention:

1. The intersection of design and development: MASS Design’s special elements included color-coded wards, Big Ass Fans (it’s the brand name), a nurses’ station at the center of every ward, UV lights, short walls to separate beds that also pump oxygen, ventilation systems, and careful selection of floor material, among many others. Each design element carries a specific, purposeful implication for the health of patients. It is creativity and innovation at its finest.

2. The role of collaboration in building human resources: Rwandan doctors send x-rays to their counterparts in Boston to confer about diagnoses, American doctors work in Butaro and build specialized medical knowledge and train Rwandan doctors. This fast exchange of ideas and knowledge is crucial for increasing the number and knowledge of Rwandan medical personnel.

3. The necessity to find an effective way to treat non-communicable diseases (NCDs): Communicable diseases have long overshadowed the burden of NCDs, which Butaro Hospital doctors are seeing many cases of. However, it is difficult to find a model to provide long-term care for patients who often can’t come to the health facility numerous times. Finding a way to extend the decentralized model of health care that Rwanda prides itself on to NCDs is a challenge for the future.

I think it is safe to say that Butaro Hospital impressed everyone in our group. Reading back over the entries of past Rwanda Student Leadership Trip participants, all cited a feeling of inspiration at the structure—a beautiful hospital by any standard. But what I think I’m most impressed by are the people and programs that make the hospital. In the afternoon, we made three home visits with Vincent to see the effects of the community health worker (CHW) program. Listening to men and women recount the journeys of their health and their interactions with the health system made me realize that Butaro Hospital, as beautiful as it may be, is impressive because it serves as the center of an entire system focused on the community and the people that need health care most. It is the patients, the CHWs, the doctors, the staff, the architects, the government officials, the PIH staff, and how they all interact with one another that make Butaro a model for how things can and should be.

As much as all of us were inspired by the presence of such a beautiful facility in a relatively remote area of Rwanda, I found myself thinking that this should not be our reaction. There should be a day when we visit this hospital and accept it as the norm instead of the rare gem that it is now. Until then, we know what we’re working towards.

-Joy Liu, Duke University ’14

“Silent Partners”

The spirit of hospitality and community found yesterday on Christmas extended throughout the trip. At one point, Bosco asked Jordan and I if we would stay in Rwanda forever if we had the choice. We said that we would never leave, but we would miss our families. Bosco then replied that we would have no need to be homesick because his family was our family and our family his. Generosity such as this continued to make our group feel at home in this new country.

Today’s theme was partnership. We visited three unique partner organizations which each take a multi-sector approach to comprehensively address the barriers of accessing healthcare in Rwanda. Representatives from Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), Population Services International (PSI), and Gardens for Health International (GHI) graciously met with our group to answer our questions about their work in Rwanda and collaboration with Partners In Health and the Ministry of Health. Each organization works as a “silent partner” with the Ministry of Health, as representatives from PSI mentioned, by implementing programs that address the Ministry’s vision and goals, as opposed to implementing the organization’s own agenda.

All three meetings were so interesting! First, we met with Christian from Clinton Health Access Iniative at a café near our hostel. Christian is a doctor by training and is working on a facility-level cost analysis of HIV/AIDS treatment in Rwanda for the Ministry of Health. Christian shared with us the three main expenses for health facilities in Rwanda: the expenses incurred during delivery, supporting community health workers, and pharmacy and supply chain management. Christian also discussed the importance of creating incentives for medical professionals in Rwanda, as there are currently less than 500 doctors in the country with a population of more than 11 million. This is a topic that came up multiple times throughout the trip, including during a conversation with PIH Country Director Peter Drobac.

Our next meeting of the day was with staff members of Population Services International, an organization that utilizes behavior change communication through social marketing. PSI markets affordable “behavior-changing” products such as birth control, mosquito nets, and water purification tablets to the general public through mass media and interpersonal communication. PSI works in collaboration with the government to distribute and promote these products. There are several PSI projects in Rwanda with four target populations: youth, members of the military, commercial sex workers, and men who have sex with men. PSI also provides voluntary counseling and testing services for these populations. It is truly amazing to see the impact collaboration and social marking have on creating accessibility to certain health-related products in Rwanda.

After lunch, we headed to Gardens for Health International where we met with a Global Health Corps Fellow named Aaron. Antiretroviral treatment is not fully effective without a balanced and nutritious diet, and GHI addresses this through food education and empowerment. Aaron gave us a tour of the gardens and discussed the impact the organization has in the community. One interesting component of GHI is the awareness of the relationship between malnutrition and mental health. This is not something that I had often thought about, but Aaron mentioned that malnutrition in the womb can lead to mental health issues. We concluded this conversation about GHI’s work in Rwanda with some fresh guacamole and pita bread overlooking the land of a thousand hills. What an amazing day!

Seedlings growing at GHI

The main thread across these meetings is the importance of partnerships, especially with the government. It is through silent partnerships, such as those modeled by Clinton Health Access Initiative, Population Services International, Gardens for Health International, and especially Partners In Health, that all aspects of healthcare delivery will be made more dignified and accessible to the most vulnerable populations.

-Amelia Angevine, Clark University ’13 (second from the left!)

Today we celebrated Christmas in Kigali! In the morning, we had a gift exchange and brunch at Bourbon Café. Some trip members also attended a church service with a doctor from Butaro Hospital.

Julie and her Golden Gate Bridge pencil sharpener from Laura

St. Etienne Anglican Church

Later that afternoon, Jean d’Amour kindly invited us to his home to celebrate Christmas with his friends. The Christmas party started out as a very formal meeting with introductions and speeches, but quickly turned into a dance party! This group of people who had met each other just one hour before came together to celebrate Christmas with singing and dancing like one big family.

Speeches to Dancing

It was surely one of the most memorable Christmases for everyone on the trip!