October 18, 2024 • 22 mins
Join host Kenya Gipson in this impactful episode of The MEternal Podcast, where we delve into the vital issues surrounding maternal health and healthcare access. In an enlightening conversation with Christine Squires, CEO of Americares, we explore the global impact of maternal health on communities and the pressing need for accessible healthcare resources. Christine shares insights from her extensive experience in the field, highlighting innovative solutions and the role of organizations in improving health outcomes for mothers and children worldwide. Tune in to discover how you can be part of the change and support maternal health initiatives in your community and beyond.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
So, joining us on Eternal today is CEO of America
Care americ Cares, Christine Squire's Welcome to Eternal.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Thank you so much, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Yeah so I saw here too that you've done some
work with UNISEF and with the Human Rights Watch.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
That's right. My first nonprofit job was with UNISEF.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
I was there for ten years, and UNICEF is a
health and a children's rights organization, and through my career
I moved through to Human Rights Watch and then Physicians
for Human Rights. So health and human rights are really
at the intersection of my focus.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Sure, And then how did you end up coming to Americas.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Yeah, so I've been doing this for over twenty five years,
and a couple of things is one I was actually
I was saying earlier that I'm you know, based in
New York City area for eighteen years and was looking
to move out of the city to the suburbs with
my family, and the AmeriCares role came open, and I
really loved the opportunity. In America started as an emergency
(01:01):
response organization primarily distributing medicines and medical supplies, but there was.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
An opportunity to do more. We have we work through
partners all over.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
The world and to really become more of a partner
in making a difference in access to quality health.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
So that's really what piqued my interest and what drew
me to AmeriCares.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
That's wonderful and from a resource standpoint, you give out
a lot of different things globally.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Right.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
We were talking a little bit before the podcast started
about like just your role during the pandemic and how
you all stepped up to the plate. So if you
could share a little bit about like what that experience
was like for you and kind of how you led
the charge, that would be great for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
So how we work in AmeriCares again, we're all about
access to quality healthcare in times of disaster and every day.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
So we do that in three areas. One is we
get donated medicines and medical.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Supplies to us that we send to health center partners
around the world for free. So that's the pandemic piece
of it, linked with emergency response and recovery, and then
also support health services, whilst we're going to talk more
about today in this podcast.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
During the pandemic, yes, we.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Did have some access to masks and gowns and essential
supplies during the pandemic while everybody was scrambling, So we
prioritized getting those two under resourced health centers and providers.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Who needed them. And the other thing we also did
was a mental health support from Fline Health Worker. So
that was our.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Focus for that time and we're really happy they were
able to play a role.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
That's wonderful. And then I was reading that you were
doing some work or you do do some work in
Liberia in terms of the prenatal care that's needed there.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
So I actually just came back from Liberia in January
and we've.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Been working in Liberia.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
We started as a response to Ebola, and once we
were there, we realized that there was an opportunity for
to do more. So we're located in Grand Basa County.
It's about a four hour drive from the capital, Monrovia, dirt,
mumpy roads. There was there were health centers that were there,
but they weren't really equipped and that means no clean
(03:06):
running water.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
There were structural issues.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
There was one area I visited called the Senya Clinic
has a catchment area of twenty five thousand people and
pregnant women seeking care who were afraid to go to
the clinic because they didn't have the medicines, they didn't
have clean water, they didn't have private birthing rooms, and
there was a lack of staff and training. So when
(03:32):
I did visit Liberia, we have a team there that's
working there since twenty fourteen.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
That one clinic s we've worked with many others.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
We visited the clinic and we were able to work
with the Ministry of Health and the midwives too, and
together provide clean water and provide training for midwives. And
it was absolutely an amazing experience. I met the local
Minister of Health and he was saying that in that
(04:03):
clinic and in that area, you know, pregnancy is a
cause for distress, not celebration like it should be.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
And the fact that we've.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Turned that around and now women can go seek quality
care pre natal and deliver babies safely in postnatal care.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Is just amazing to see.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
That's wonderful in terms of your experience there. Like I know,
we see a lot of different health equities inequities here
in the United States, right so to hear like from
a global perspective, like what's going on, Like how would
you say some of what you experienced there compares to
what happens here in the United States.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Sure, that's a great question. Say a couple of things.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
One thing that I want to point out is every
two minutes in this world a woman dies during childbirth, and.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
So that statistic is something that and that's.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
All around, particularly in Sub Saharan Africa. Those the maternal
mortality is higher. So in Liberia there are forty eight
deaths per one thousand babies born. However, that's gone down
since twenty twenty one. It's going in the right direction,
So that's good news. I know we talk about these
things and all the problems, but there are things that
(05:15):
we can do and there are solutions. In the US
there is it's nineteen out of a thousand, so it's
not as low as you would think. And I think
the commonalities go back to the access access to quality
care where women whether it's race, ethnicity, socioeconomically are disproportionately
(05:35):
affected and do not have the access that they should.
So I think that's commonality and everywhere around the world.
So I would draw those between where I was in Liberia,
where it's that access, whether it's you know, getting to
the clinic, whether it's affordability and the US it's uninsured,
underinsured again, all of those all of those things aligned,
(05:58):
so it's closer than one might think.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Yeah, and just you know, talking a little bit about
the importance of respectful care for women and girls, like
what have you seen in some of these other areas
that you feel are like, wow, I can't believe that
this happens.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Well, thank you for bringing that up, because back to access,
respectful care or lack of that could be a big
barrier to access. So for example in Tanzania. Again, this
happens many places around the world, but that's just where
we've been focusing.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
We're in the fourth year of a.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Project about respectful care. You know, health is a human right.
Everyone deserves respectful, quality care, and we do know that
there has been a history where women who are pregnant,
women are not accessing care because they're afraid.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
They're worried of how they're going to be treated. They
could be verbally abused, there could be physical abuse.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
And how we've approached is work with the community, so
with the government, with health care providers, and with people
women seeking care together to understand how to take the
fear away and how to train healthcare providers for that
respectful care, and we've seen some really amazing results in
those three years. Now we're in our fourth year, eighteen
(07:12):
thousand homes have been reached.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
By community health workers.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Oh wow.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
And then there's been about forty four percent I know,
spotting off numbers here, but forty four percent of babies
were born healthy before that and now about ninety four percent.
So we've been seeing and so that when you focus
on what respectful care means, when you take that fear
out and you do the training on the other side,
(07:36):
that does make a difference.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
That's wonderful to hear too, because I hear like sometimes
statistically we don't know where we stand right, so to
hear those numbers of improvement, it's very encouraging. How does
AmeriCares determine what areas to go into and start a project.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Yeah, that's a great question for Tanzania and Liberia.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
We're there for difference reasons.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Tanzania, we've been for decades and it's started with one partner,
a hospital partner with Fistula Care, and then an opportunity
came up to do more about care and respectful care.
So sometimes it's episodic we do, though where we work
we go deeper. So working in Tanzania and working in Liberia,
(08:19):
we want to do more in both areas with maternal
and child health because of you know, it is problematic
in those two countries, rather than spread ourselves too thin.
So again, sometimes their emergency's response or sometimes is where
we've been working for.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Decades, sure, and there's a lot of physical and mental
health burdens when it comes to being a migrant while expecting, right,
and I wanted to just speak to some of the
work that Americas is doing in Colombia in terms of
treating pregnant Venezuelan women.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Yes, no, thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
I also was in Columbia just a couple of months
ago and a few years ago when I first became CEO,
and so I've met amazing.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Women in Colombia.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
And the situation there is that there are women in
Venezuela who have been fleeing for years because there's virtually
no health system, lack of economic opportunity and food, and
so they had to make a decision to leave so
they could.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Try to give birth healthy to there.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
And so we have ten clinics that we run throughout Colombia,
and they specifically treat women well families who are coming
over from Venezuela. I want to tell you a story
if I can illustrate what we do. So when I
was there, I was at a in the Santa Marta
area and a woman, Martha, who came from Venezuela with
(09:38):
her husband for the same reason some years ago. They've
been doing well and they have nice home and property
and they open up their home every week for.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Community health education.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
So when I was there, I met a woman who
wanted to tell me her story. And she said, you know,
I came here four years ago because I was pregnant
in Venezuela. And she said, I had a ten year
old daughter and an eight year old son, and I
was forty three when I found out I was pregnant.
She said, it was a happy surprise, but she thought
about her friend in Venezuela who also.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Had to have a sea section.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
She assumed at forty three she would have to have
a sea section, and she went to give birth in
the hospital in Venezuela.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
And there was no power.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Wow, and.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
You know, you can't imagine what that outcome was. My
mother and baby did not survive. And she said, I
had to make a decision and leave. So she sent
her husband and her children ahead she went, and she
arrived in Columbia and was able to find an America's
clinic where she was given prenatal care, referred to a
hospital for healthy birth. And while she was telling me
(10:42):
the story, her husband walked over with three year old
toddler in his arms and guess who that was. So
this is one story to illustrate the importance of providing
that care and what can happen in a protracted humanitarian.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Situation, for sure.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
So you sound like you travel a lot with a
your role, Like I would say to you, like, what
has been the most profound experience that you've encountered since
your role a CEO?
Speaker 1 (11:11):
So many I feel that's the best part of my
job is to be able to, you know, go see
our teams. We work locally, so all of our teams
are local. We have partners based.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
I have to go back to Liberia. That was I've been.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Hearing about the work that we've done there. Our team
has done an incredible job. But just going to the
SNYA clinic and picture is worth a thousand words and
knowing you know what the situation was before meeting. We
have midwives who are really there the beating heart. They
are doing the work and actually, you know, seeing the
outcomes for me that was really transformational as a mom
(11:50):
myself sure, imagining what could be and what I have.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
So just we'll never forget that.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Yeah, that's great, And I mean you must have to
kind of mentally prepare yourself for all these different experiences, right, Like,
so what do you do to kind of keep yourself
in a place of strength, because this is it's a
lot to see and it's a lot to encounter.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
It is, it is a lot.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
I try to draw boundaries as best I can between
personal life and work life.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
I keep myself healthy.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
I like to run, so you know, keep you know,
my mind active that way. But the other thing I'll
say is it's okay to get emotional. And when I
actually my first trip to Colombia, it was quite emotional
because I was hearing stories of people's experiences that were
that were really heartbreaking. I've got a little bit emotional,
and I was thinking, you shouldn't have done that, But
(12:45):
I said, but you know what.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
That's okay.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeahuse that shows passion. So I think it's just giving permission.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
To to you know, be okay with that.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Also at americare Is, we want to make sure that
what we do is tough, and so take care of
our team, to make sure you're taking care of yourself.
Sure in this work, I've been doing this for a
long time. You tend to put everyone else before you.
And while that's a natural tendency, I think, especially more
for women, it's important that you know that you've got
to take yourself because if you're not healthy, you're not.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Gonna be able to help others. So it's so true
things I lean into. Yeah, and my family. I have
an amazing support system. My husband is awesome.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
He does so much and so that's good helps me.
That's good that you have that balance. It's super important.
I wanted to talk a little bit about like how
local leadership is a really important role when it comes
to maternal and child health right and like what that
looks like from an entire scope, especially within access to
respectful care and women supporting one another and the male leadership,
(13:44):
like allies that we need to kind of make it
full circle. So what has been your experience with that
and how would you say an important of a role
that is.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Yeah, local leadership is critically important. So you know, one
of our strategy work locally engaged globally. So all the
work that we do, whether we're there are ourselves, are
through partners is because people in the community, local leaders,
they know best what the issues.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Are and then what the solutions are.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
So our role is to be there to listen, to
understand the context and partner together. And male leadership is
so important. So back to Liberia again. One of the
people I mentioned doctor Moses, you know male doctor there,
and he is just the biggest advocate for women's health,
for respectful care, and that's an ally actually also the
(14:37):
Minister of Health when Liberia issues a woman So there's
a lot of women leadership there. So that really really
is critical in having community leadership. And in Columbia, the
women that I met there, these women were strong community leaders,
so they were reaching out to you know, their fellow colleagues,
(14:58):
you know, their communities to really help each other. So
everywhere I go, I meet these amazing strong women who
inspire me.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
That's great and I think just as a woman, you know,
it's we have this empathy towards one another, right, like
just being moms and like kind of knowing what that's
like and enduring all that. Sometimes you know, it's like
it creates this level of understanding that sometimes men don't
necessarily have, right because they're not going through the same
emotions that we're going through. So when you're you know,
you've meeting these other women and these other mothers, especially
(15:27):
like on a global scale, you know, what would you
say are some of the learnings that you've kind of
taken away from some of those experiences?
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Sure, And I have to say it's different for me
because I've been I'd say half of my career was
pre being a mom and post so I do have
a different perspective.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Perspective.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Yeah, so you know, and you don't realize you do
until you do. So one is, you know what I
take away and I think what really drives me now
is is that access piece and the inequity in that
that I have access. And when I was in third
(16:06):
trimester found out my daughter had a rear congenital heart defect.
It was detected. While it was very scary, I knew
there was a path. I knew she could have surgery.
I knew that would happen.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
I had access to the best care.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
When I was meeting with her surgeon before her surgery
at four months old, he told me how he volunteers
do surgeries in Central America and some of the countries
that Americas actually works.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
In, and that is not lost on me.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
And so I think that what I learned is that that,
I guess fuels my passion. It's just not fair, it's
not just, and everybody should have access to that same care.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
So something I'd take with.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Me all the time, especially when I interact with these
other amazing women leaders.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
So I have a little bit of a loaded question
for you, right, So if you had to design like
the perfect scenario of like what equitable access looks like,
how would you describe that.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Perfect design which should not matter.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Where you live, your income, your race, your ethnicity, your gender,
your sexual orientation, none of that should matter. Everybody should
have access to excellent care. And so how I would
design that is I probably would have to blow up many.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Health systems that exist and start over.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
So it really comes down to a lot of it
also is income and what people can afford. And I
think there's a business case to be made, right, And
so if you're speaking to somebody who's going to help
fund something, is that the healthier a community is, the
more productive a community and people will be. So I
think if to get it done, I would have to
(17:49):
make that case because it's absolutely true.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Yeah, and it benefits us all right, Like at the
end of the day, like when things are equitable, people
are healthy, right, it just really makes society run a
lot smoother.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
It does. Yeah, healthy people are stronger, communities are stronger.
It's a better world for sure. Fortunately there's a lot
to undo.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
There is, but but you know what, I'll say, the
work is getting done.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Right.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
You have organizations like yours who are like really putting
in that sweat equity and making sure that there's resources available.
You know, we're building platforms like this so that we
can really mainstream these type of conversations. So I think
the more that you know, we start to be more
collective and like what we're building, that's how the thing
starts to change, right.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Absolutely, And I'm glad you mentioned collective because again it's
no we're one organization, and it takes many. It takes
many organizations, nonprofit organizations, private sector organizations, health center partners,
it takes you know, getting the word out like your
team here, So it is a collective action. And thank
you for you know, bringing that positive in because again
(18:52):
we share those statistics. I know you look at us
all the time because we are making progress and that
that's what motivates us.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
More and more.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah, thousand percent. So what is an exciting thing that
you're working on now at America is that you could
share with us.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Wow, so many exciting things.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
A little bit more, you know in the climate health space,
if I may share being sure that is you know,
effects all health. But something that we're doing is we're
working It started in the US and we're actually launching
it in the Philippines. We are working with the health
centers so free clinics to help them prepare for the inevitable.
So it's hurricanes, wildfires, playing typhoons, and making sure that
(19:40):
healthcare providers know how to reach communities, communities know how
to reach health centers, how to store medications and it
sounds very simple, but it really hasn't been done. And
so that's something we've launched in the US in partnership
with Harvard Tea Change, and we're.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Taking that global.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
I was actually just in the Philippines last month where
it was one hundred and eight degrees a lot hotter
than it really should be.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
At that time of year. So that's something exciting that's
coming up.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
And in all scenarios, you know, those are when again
a hurricane, a crisis happens, the people who are most
affected originally are pregnant women and women and children.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Yeah, it really kind of all ties together.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
I could see that because we talk a lot on
this platform about maternal health care deserts, right, and like
how challenging it already is to get to a hospital sometimes,
Like imagine if there's some sort of catastrophic thing that
I mean, it just increases the odds that you may
not get to get the care that you need. Right,
So I mean so important that you're addressing it from
(20:42):
that lens exactly.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
And if power is out, then how are you supposed.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
To to get anywhere or do anything?
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Right?
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Medications when people leave in a hurry, they leave the
medications behind.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
Sure, all of those things that come together.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Yeah, that's great that you're doing that. So how can
people support americairs?
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Great? Thank you for asking that anyone could go to
AmeriCares dot org and you can learn a lot more
about us on our website. You can make a donation,
you can dig in further to any one of the
areas that I've mentioned again, whether it's maternal and child
health or health and climate change emergency response. So we're
active in many places around the world. So again, please
(21:18):
do go visit AmeriCares dot org and get involved.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
That's wonderful. Is there anything closing that you'd like to
share with our audience today about AmeriCares that might help
them better understand your initiative or the mission of your organization.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Sure, we've been around for forty five years, so I
want you to know that, and everything we do again
is about ensuring access to quality care for underresource communities,
and so that's important to know.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
We've been making progress.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Also, we hear a lot about crises that are happening
every day, so we are providing as best we can
medicines and medical supplies in Gaza, working in Ukraine, so
you know, wartime things that are happening right now and
again protracted crisis. So we're evolving as an organization, and
again we know that what's important is that access to
(22:12):
quality care and that's what we're.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Here to do.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
That's wonderful. Well, thank you for being with us here
today on me Eternal. And we just heard from Christine
Squire's CEO of Americas and just give your website one
more time for people.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Listening AmeriCares dot org.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Awesome, Well you're listening to me Eternal on iHeartRadio. I'm
Kenya Gibson and until next time,
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
So, joining us on Eternal today is CEO of America
Care americ Cares, Christine Squire's Welcome to Eternal.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Thank you so much, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Yeah so I saw here too that you've done some
work with UNISEF and with the Human Rights Watch.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
That's right. My first nonprofit job was with UNISEF.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
I was there for ten years, and UNICEF is a
health and a children's rights organization, and through my career
I moved through to Human Rights Watch and then Physicians
for Human Rights. So health and human rights are really
at the intersection of my focus.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Sure, And then how did you end up coming to Americas.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Yeah, so I've been doing this for over twenty five years,
and a couple of things is one I was actually
I was saying earlier that I'm you know, based in
New York City area for eighteen years and was looking
to move out of the city to the suburbs with
my family, and the AmeriCares role came open, and I
really loved the opportunity. In America started as an emergency
(01:01):
response organization primarily distributing medicines and medical supplies, but there was.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
An opportunity to do more. We have we work through
partners all over.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
The world and to really become more of a partner
in making a difference in access to quality health.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
So that's really what piqued my interest and what drew
me to AmeriCares.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
That's wonderful and from a resource standpoint, you give out
a lot of different things globally.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Right.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
We were talking a little bit before the podcast started
about like just your role during the pandemic and how
you all stepped up to the plate. So if you
could share a little bit about like what that experience
was like for you and kind of how you led
the charge, that would be great for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
So how we work in AmeriCares again, we're all about
access to quality healthcare in times of disaster and every day.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
So we do that in three areas. One is we
get donated medicines and medical.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Supplies to us that we send to health center partners
around the world for free. So that's the pandemic piece
of it, linked with emergency response and recovery, and then
also support health services, whilst we're going to talk more
about today in this podcast.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
During the pandemic, yes, we.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Did have some access to masks and gowns and essential
supplies during the pandemic while everybody was scrambling, So we
prioritized getting those two under resourced health centers and providers.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Who needed them. And the other thing we also did
was a mental health support from Fline Health Worker. So
that was our.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Focus for that time and we're really happy they were
able to play a role.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
That's wonderful. And then I was reading that you were
doing some work or you do do some work in
Liberia in terms of the prenatal care that's needed there.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
So I actually just came back from Liberia in January
and we've.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Been working in Liberia.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
We started as a response to Ebola, and once we
were there, we realized that there was an opportunity for
to do more. So we're located in Grand Basa County.
It's about a four hour drive from the capital, Monrovia, dirt,
mumpy roads. There was there were health centers that were there,
but they weren't really equipped and that means no clean
(03:06):
running water.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
There were structural issues.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
There was one area I visited called the Senya Clinic
has a catchment area of twenty five thousand people and
pregnant women seeking care who were afraid to go to
the clinic because they didn't have the medicines, they didn't
have clean water, they didn't have private birthing rooms, and
there was a lack of staff and training. So when
(03:32):
I did visit Liberia, we have a team there that's
working there since twenty fourteen.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
That one clinic s we've worked with many others.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
We visited the clinic and we were able to work
with the Ministry of Health and the midwives too, and
together provide clean water and provide training for midwives. And
it was absolutely an amazing experience. I met the local
Minister of Health and he was saying that in that
(04:03):
clinic and in that area, you know, pregnancy is a
cause for distress, not celebration like it should be.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
And the fact that we've.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Turned that around and now women can go seek quality
care pre natal and deliver babies safely in postnatal care.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Is just amazing to see.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
That's wonderful in terms of your experience there. Like I know,
we see a lot of different health equities inequities here
in the United States, right so to hear like from
a global perspective, like what's going on, Like how would
you say some of what you experienced there compares to
what happens here in the United States.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Sure, that's a great question. Say a couple of things.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
One thing that I want to point out is every
two minutes in this world a woman dies during childbirth, and.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
So that statistic is something that and that's.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
All around, particularly in Sub Saharan Africa. Those the maternal
mortality is higher. So in Liberia there are forty eight
deaths per one thousand babies born. However, that's gone down
since twenty twenty one. It's going in the right direction,
So that's good news. I know we talk about these
things and all the problems, but there are things that
(05:15):
we can do and there are solutions. In the US
there is it's nineteen out of a thousand, so it's
not as low as you would think. And I think
the commonalities go back to the access access to quality
care where women whether it's race, ethnicity, socioeconomically are disproportionately
(05:35):
affected and do not have the access that they should.
So I think that's commonality and everywhere around the world.
So I would draw those between where I was in Liberia,
where it's that access, whether it's you know, getting to
the clinic, whether it's affordability and the US it's uninsured,
underinsured again, all of those all of those things aligned,
(05:58):
so it's closer than one might think.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Yeah, and just you know, talking a little bit about
the importance of respectful care for women and girls, like
what have you seen in some of these other areas
that you feel are like, wow, I can't believe that
this happens.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Well, thank you for bringing that up, because back to access,
respectful care or lack of that could be a big
barrier to access. So for example in Tanzania. Again, this
happens many places around the world, but that's just where
we've been focusing.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
We're in the fourth year of a.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Project about respectful care. You know, health is a human right.
Everyone deserves respectful, quality care, and we do know that
there has been a history where women who are pregnant,
women are not accessing care because they're afraid.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
They're worried of how they're going to be treated. They
could be verbally abused, there could be physical abuse.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
And how we've approached is work with the community, so
with the government, with health care providers, and with people
women seeking care together to understand how to take the
fear away and how to train healthcare providers for that
respectful care, and we've seen some really amazing results in
those three years. Now we're in our fourth year, eighteen
(07:12):
thousand homes have been reached.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
By community health workers.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Oh wow.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
And then there's been about forty four percent I know,
spotting off numbers here, but forty four percent of babies
were born healthy before that and now about ninety four percent.
So we've been seeing and so that when you focus
on what respectful care means, when you take that fear
out and you do the training on the other side,
(07:36):
that does make a difference.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
That's wonderful to hear too, because I hear like sometimes
statistically we don't know where we stand right, so to
hear those numbers of improvement, it's very encouraging. How does
AmeriCares determine what areas to go into and start a project.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Yeah, that's a great question for Tanzania and Liberia.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
We're there for difference reasons.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Tanzania, we've been for decades and it's started with one partner,
a hospital partner with Fistula Care, and then an opportunity
came up to do more about care and respectful care.
So sometimes it's episodic we do, though where we work
we go deeper. So working in Tanzania and working in Liberia,
(08:19):
we want to do more in both areas with maternal
and child health because of you know, it is problematic
in those two countries, rather than spread ourselves too thin.
So again, sometimes their emergency's response or sometimes is where
we've been working for.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Decades, sure, and there's a lot of physical and mental
health burdens when it comes to being a migrant while expecting, right,
and I wanted to just speak to some of the
work that Americas is doing in Colombia in terms of
treating pregnant Venezuelan women.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Yes, no, thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
I also was in Columbia just a couple of months
ago and a few years ago when I first became CEO,
and so I've met amazing.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Women in Colombia.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
And the situation there is that there are women in
Venezuela who have been fleeing for years because there's virtually
no health system, lack of economic opportunity and food, and
so they had to make a decision to leave so
they could.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Try to give birth healthy to there.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
And so we have ten clinics that we run throughout Colombia,
and they specifically treat women well families who are coming
over from Venezuela. I want to tell you a story
if I can illustrate what we do. So when I
was there, I was at a in the Santa Marta
area and a woman, Martha, who came from Venezuela with
(09:38):
her husband for the same reason some years ago. They've
been doing well and they have nice home and property
and they open up their home every week for.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Community health education.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
So when I was there, I met a woman who
wanted to tell me her story. And she said, you know,
I came here four years ago because I was pregnant
in Venezuela. And she said, I had a ten year
old daughter and an eight year old son, and I
was forty three when I found out I was pregnant.
She said, it was a happy surprise, but she thought
about her friend in Venezuela who also.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Had to have a sea section.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
She assumed at forty three she would have to have
a sea section, and she went to give birth in
the hospital in Venezuela.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
And there was no power.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Wow, and.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
You know, you can't imagine what that outcome was. My
mother and baby did not survive. And she said, I
had to make a decision and leave. So she sent
her husband and her children ahead she went, and she
arrived in Columbia and was able to find an America's
clinic where she was given prenatal care, referred to a
hospital for healthy birth. And while she was telling me
(10:42):
the story, her husband walked over with three year old
toddler in his arms and guess who that was. So
this is one story to illustrate the importance of providing
that care and what can happen in a protracted humanitarian.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Situation, for sure.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
So you sound like you travel a lot with a
your role, Like I would say to you, like, what
has been the most profound experience that you've encountered since
your role a CEO?
Speaker 1 (11:11):
So many I feel that's the best part of my
job is to be able to, you know, go see
our teams. We work locally, so all of our teams
are local. We have partners based.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
I have to go back to Liberia. That was I've been.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Hearing about the work that we've done there. Our team
has done an incredible job. But just going to the
SNYA clinic and picture is worth a thousand words and
knowing you know what the situation was before meeting. We
have midwives who are really there the beating heart. They
are doing the work and actually, you know, seeing the
outcomes for me that was really transformational as a mom
(11:50):
myself sure, imagining what could be and what I have.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
So just we'll never forget that.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Yeah, that's great, And I mean you must have to
kind of mentally prepare yourself for all these different experiences, right, Like,
so what do you do to kind of keep yourself
in a place of strength, because this is it's a
lot to see and it's a lot to encounter.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
It is, it is a lot.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
I try to draw boundaries as best I can between
personal life and work life.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
I keep myself healthy.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
I like to run, so you know, keep you know,
my mind active that way. But the other thing I'll
say is it's okay to get emotional. And when I
actually my first trip to Colombia, it was quite emotional
because I was hearing stories of people's experiences that were
that were really heartbreaking. I've got a little bit emotional,
and I was thinking, you shouldn't have done that, But
(12:45):
I said, but you know what.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
That's okay.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeahuse that shows passion. So I think it's just giving permission.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
To to you know, be okay with that.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Also at americare Is, we want to make sure that
what we do is tough, and so take care of
our team, to make sure you're taking care of yourself.
Sure in this work, I've been doing this for a
long time. You tend to put everyone else before you.
And while that's a natural tendency, I think, especially more
for women, it's important that you know that you've got
to take yourself because if you're not healthy, you're not.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Gonna be able to help others. So it's so true
things I lean into. Yeah, and my family. I have
an amazing support system. My husband is awesome.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
He does so much and so that's good helps me.
That's good that you have that balance. It's super important.
I wanted to talk a little bit about like how
local leadership is a really important role when it comes
to maternal and child health right and like what that
looks like from an entire scope, especially within access to
respectful care and women supporting one another and the male leadership,
(13:44):
like allies that we need to kind of make it
full circle. So what has been your experience with that
and how would you say an important of a role
that is.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Yeah, local leadership is critically important. So you know, one
of our strategy work locally engaged globally. So all the
work that we do, whether we're there are ourselves, are
through partners is because people in the community, local leaders,
they know best what the issues.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Are and then what the solutions are.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
So our role is to be there to listen, to
understand the context and partner together. And male leadership is
so important. So back to Liberia again. One of the
people I mentioned doctor Moses, you know male doctor there,
and he is just the biggest advocate for women's health,
for respectful care, and that's an ally actually also the
(14:37):
Minister of Health when Liberia issues a woman So there's
a lot of women leadership there. So that really really
is critical in having community leadership. And in Columbia, the
women that I met there, these women were strong community leaders,
so they were reaching out to you know, their fellow colleagues,
(14:58):
you know, their communities to really help each other. So
everywhere I go, I meet these amazing strong women who
inspire me.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
That's great and I think just as a woman, you know,
it's we have this empathy towards one another, right, like
just being moms and like kind of knowing what that's
like and enduring all that. Sometimes you know, it's like
it creates this level of understanding that sometimes men don't
necessarily have, right because they're not going through the same
emotions that we're going through. So when you're you know,
you've meeting these other women and these other mothers, especially
(15:27):
like on a global scale, you know, what would you
say are some of the learnings that you've kind of
taken away from some of those experiences?
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Sure, And I have to say it's different for me
because I've been I'd say half of my career was
pre being a mom and post so I do have
a different perspective.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Perspective.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Yeah, so you know, and you don't realize you do
until you do. So one is, you know what I
take away and I think what really drives me now
is is that access piece and the inequity in that
that I have access. And when I was in third
(16:06):
trimester found out my daughter had a rear congenital heart defect.
It was detected. While it was very scary, I knew
there was a path. I knew she could have surgery.
I knew that would happen.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
I had access to the best care.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
When I was meeting with her surgeon before her surgery
at four months old, he told me how he volunteers
do surgeries in Central America and some of the countries
that Americas actually works.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
In, and that is not lost on me.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
And so I think that what I learned is that that,
I guess fuels my passion. It's just not fair, it's
not just, and everybody should have access to that same care.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
So something I'd take with.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Me all the time, especially when I interact with these
other amazing women leaders.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
So I have a little bit of a loaded question
for you, right, So if you had to design like
the perfect scenario of like what equitable access looks like,
how would you describe that.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Perfect design which should not matter.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Where you live, your income, your race, your ethnicity, your gender,
your sexual orientation, none of that should matter. Everybody should
have access to excellent care. And so how I would
design that is I probably would have to blow up many.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Health systems that exist and start over.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
So it really comes down to a lot of it
also is income and what people can afford. And I
think there's a business case to be made, right, And
so if you're speaking to somebody who's going to help
fund something, is that the healthier a community is, the
more productive a community and people will be. So I
think if to get it done, I would have to
(17:49):
make that case because it's absolutely true.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Yeah, and it benefits us all right, Like at the
end of the day, like when things are equitable, people
are healthy, right, it just really makes society run a
lot smoother.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
It does. Yeah, healthy people are stronger, communities are stronger.
It's a better world for sure. Fortunately there's a lot
to undo.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
There is, but but you know what, I'll say, the
work is getting done.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Right.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
You have organizations like yours who are like really putting
in that sweat equity and making sure that there's resources available.
You know, we're building platforms like this so that we
can really mainstream these type of conversations. So I think
the more that you know, we start to be more
collective and like what we're building, that's how the thing
starts to change, right.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Absolutely, And I'm glad you mentioned collective because again it's
no we're one organization, and it takes many. It takes
many organizations, nonprofit organizations, private sector organizations, health center partners,
it takes you know, getting the word out like your
team here, So it is a collective action. And thank
you for you know, bringing that positive in because again
(18:52):
we share those statistics. I know you look at us
all the time because we are making progress and that
that's what motivates us.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
More and more.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah, thousand percent. So what is an exciting thing that
you're working on now at America is that you could
share with us.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Wow, so many exciting things.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
A little bit more, you know in the climate health space,
if I may share being sure that is you know,
effects all health. But something that we're doing is we're
working It started in the US and we're actually launching
it in the Philippines. We are working with the health
centers so free clinics to help them prepare for the inevitable.
So it's hurricanes, wildfires, playing typhoons, and making sure that
(19:40):
healthcare providers know how to reach communities, communities know how
to reach health centers, how to store medications and it
sounds very simple, but it really hasn't been done. And
so that's something we've launched in the US in partnership
with Harvard Tea Change, and we're.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Taking that global.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
I was actually just in the Philippines last month where
it was one hundred and eight degrees a lot hotter
than it really should be.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
At that time of year. So that's something exciting that's
coming up.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
And in all scenarios, you know, those are when again
a hurricane, a crisis happens, the people who are most
affected originally are pregnant women and women and children.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Yeah, it really kind of all ties together.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
I could see that because we talk a lot on
this platform about maternal health care deserts, right, and like
how challenging it already is to get to a hospital sometimes,
Like imagine if there's some sort of catastrophic thing that
I mean, it just increases the odds that you may
not get to get the care that you need. Right,
So I mean so important that you're addressing it from
(20:42):
that lens exactly.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
And if power is out, then how are you supposed.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
To to get anywhere or do anything?
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Right?
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Medications when people leave in a hurry, they leave the
medications behind.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
Sure, all of those things that come together.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Yeah, that's great that you're doing that. So how can
people support americairs?
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Great? Thank you for asking that anyone could go to
AmeriCares dot org and you can learn a lot more
about us on our website. You can make a donation,
you can dig in further to any one of the
areas that I've mentioned again, whether it's maternal and child
health or health and climate change emergency response. So we're
active in many places around the world. So again, please
(21:18):
do go visit AmeriCares dot org and get involved.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
That's wonderful. Is there anything closing that you'd like to
share with our audience today about AmeriCares that might help
them better understand your initiative or the mission of your organization.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Sure, we've been around for forty five years, so I
want you to know that, and everything we do again
is about ensuring access to quality care for underresource communities,
and so that's important to know.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
We've been making progress.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Also, we hear a lot about crises that are happening
every day, so we are providing as best we can
medicines and medical supplies in Gaza, working in Ukraine, so
you know, wartime things that are happening right now and
again protracted crisis. So we're evolving as an organization, and
again we know that what's important is that access to
(22:12):
quality care and that's what we're.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Here to do.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
That's wonderful. Well, thank you for being with us here
today on me Eternal. And we just heard from Christine
Squire's CEO of Americas and just give your website one
more time for people.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Listening AmeriCares dot org.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Awesome, Well you're listening to me Eternal on iHeartRadio. I'm
Kenya Gibson and until next time,
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