Malalai and the Maternity Wards

Over the next few days, we will be publishing updates from HEEDA's newest member, Yagana Parwak. Click here for a brief bio of Yagana.

Yagana jaan spent a few weeks in Kabul this past May, working on various HEEDA projects and making careful observations. Please follow along with her blogs and please be sure to share!

--- --- --- May 29th, 2015--- --- ---

Early morning rounds with the Embrace units; along with one of the traditional radiant warmers in the background.

Having gone through the various departments at Malalai Maternity Hospital and spoken to the heads of those departments, HEEDA compiled a list of the most urgent needs of the hospital.  We secured wheelchair donations from ICRC and hospital appliance donations from Asia Pharm Co. Upon delivering the goods, a head of a department told us that she was surprised that we delivered- they are so used to NGOs and Non-profits promising assistance but never delivering what was needed. One of the most important donations we attained was a ceiling light for the operating room in the hospital. They had been having serious problems mid-surgery, where the light was not functioning properly and would go out at very critical times. Addressing this problem would save many lives and serious complications during surgery.

Part of the donations to Malalai Maternity Hospital included much needed wheelchairs, compliments of the ICRC.

Kabul Ambulence Part 2

For the next few days, we will be publishing blogs of HEEDA's newest member, Yagana Parwak. Click here for a brief bio of Yagana.

Yagana jaan spent a few weeks in Kabul this past May, working on various HEEDA projects and making careful observations. Please follow along with her blogs and please be sure to share!

 --- --- --- May 27th, 2015--- --- --- 

Our visit to Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital followed a night of unrest at a nearby hotel in Wazir Akbar Khan, where gunfire and explosions were reported. The hospital personnel at Indira Gandhi that lived near the area experienced a rough night. They all agreed that if peace was assured, Afghanistan would be able to prosper.

As the largest and most well known children’s hospital in Afghanistan, Indira Gandhi Hospital faces many challenges. Rooms with limited technology and resources were packed with patients, while their mothers and families sat on the floor nearby. We were glad to see that the new Emergency Department was under construction, with a goal to have at least the foundation completed before winter, when the conditions get rough.

Kabul Ambulênce

Over the next few days, we will be publishing updates from HEEDA's newest member, Yagana Parwak. Click here for a brief bio of Yagana.

Yagana jaan spent a few weeks in Kabul this past May, working on various HEEDA projects and making careful observations. Please follow along with her blogs and please be sure to share!

{ part 3... }

 --- --- ---     May 26, 2015 --- --- ---

Acknowledging the success of our Embrace units and their adoption at a number of it's large regional hospitals, Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health has requested from HEEDA that the Embrace warmer program be expanded to include Kabul Ambulance! The Embrace warmer blanket can be useful for all infants, not only premature and those at risk for hypothermia. They are especially valuable for infants that are transported by Kabul Ambulance in the harsh winter months. It was devastating to find that all too often, by the time Indira Gandhi Hospital receives infant from the ambulance, the children have died due to the cold.

Kabul Ambulance use to be run through the ICRC, but has been recently been put in the care of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health. The Ministry faces budgetary problems, and the staff resort to pitching in from their already miniscule salaries to fix up the ambulances. When asked what they were in dire need of, they informed us that they lacked proper oxygen, pulse oximeters, thermometers and manometers. Just within the last couple of weeks, they had lost a driver to an insurgency. The traffic conditions are horrible in Kabul, with packed traffic and no distinct lanes, which add another layer of obstacles.

The first Kabul Ambulance Station was set up in the busy 102 Bistar Khair Khana Hospital. The location is a challenge in itself, as their doors are in the middle of a bustling street market. We went to the paramedic office and lounge- an empty room with one toshak and some old radio and communication machines. The Afghanistan HEEDA representative explained the use of the Embrace Warmer to two members of the team, and units were dispatched to the ambulances, and used for transfers between the various HEEDA affiliated hospitals as well.

Return to Rabia Balkhi

Over the next few days, we will be publishing updates from HEEDA's newest member, Yagana Parwak. Click here for a brief bio of Yagana.

Yagana jaan spent a few weeks in Kabul this past May, working on various HEEDA projects and making careful observations. Please follow along with her blogs and please be sure to share!

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---     May 25, 2015 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---     

My first visit to Rabia Balkhi Hospital was an eye-opening experience. Resources and funding are scarce - doctors and nurses struggle to provide care for the crowds of patients that come through. For example, in the NICU, there were three infants in a space designed for one. A NICU nurse informed that the unit is almost always overwhelmed, particularly in the winter when the weather gets cold. The season costs many newborns, especially premature babies, their lives. Last year, HEEDA brought Embrace infant warmers to Afghanistan, which I got to see in use. The project was very successful, and will be expanded to Kabul Ambulances within the next week. 

In the doctor’s area the topic of conversation was Pampers. There was a recent donation, in which the donor decided to buy Pampers for Rabi Balkhi. Although the hospital personnel recognized this as a genuine gesture, they spoke of how necessary it is for organizations and donors communicate with them to determine their needs. After all, they do have firsthand experience, and would know better than anyone else what patients and the hospitals most urgently require.

This made me reflect on how little I know. As a student who has been born and raised in America, I have access to many resources, but am completely uneducated when it comes to the actual problems that the people of Afghanistan face. I identify as Afghan-American, but I have yet to realize what the responsibility and accountability the joining of these two words means.

Introduction to Yagana

Over the next few days, we will be publishing updates from HEEDA's newest member, Yagana Parwak. Click here for a brief bio of Yagana.

Yagana jaan spent a few weeks in Kabul this past May, working on various HEEDA projects and making careful observations. Please follow along with her blogs and please be sure to share!

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Introduction: May of 2015--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

When I got on the plane at SFO, I had no idea what to expect. I landed in Kabul with a suitcase full of donated medical supplies, a mixture of relief and uncertainty Kabul feels like a completely different world. Through my internship with HEEDA, I have the opportunity to experience what it means to get work done in a challenging setting. Excited to learn and take this for what it is- an opportunity of a lifetime.

A newborn infant is tucked into an Embrace unit. HEEDA spearheaded the introduction of these innovative baby warmers into Afghanistan where they are desperately needed.