2019 Annual Update

Dear friends and family, I hope that 2019 has brought joyful moments, fulfilling endeavors and blessings to all of you. As the year comes to a close, I would like to give you a brief update on how the Manos de Ramon Foundation has supported the lives of mothers and infants in the Dominican Republic, in great part thanks to your donations and solidarity. Over the past 12 months, under the remarkable leadership of our local program manager, Dr. Wanny Roa, we have expanded our educational programs to primary and secondary healthcare centers throughout the northern region of the country, implementing 41 maternal-infant training courses and training a total of 792 nurses, physicians, medical trainees, and community health workers. Helping Babies Breath training program: 25 workshops implemented; 481 participants trained Essential Care for Every Baby training program: 4 workshops implemented; 60 participants trained Helping Mothers Survive: Preeclampsia/Eclampsia training program: 13 workshops implemented; 246 participants trained Helping Mothers Survive: Preventing Postpartum Hemorrhage training program: 1 workshop implemented: 25 participants trained We also collaborated with Project Hope to offer training on reprocessing/sterilizing neonatal resuscitation equipment in the hospital setting. Since we began implementing our training programs in the region in 2015, neonatal mortality at the Children’s Hospital in Santiago, Dominican Republic has fallen 10%.Our partners in the Ministry of Health report that neonatal apnea/respiratory failure, one of the primary newborn conditions we work to prevent through our educational programs, is no longer the most common cause of newborn death in the country. We are heartbroken to communicate that Dr. Ramon J.C. Murphy, the extraordinary pediatrician and global health champion for whom the Manos de Ramon Foundation was named, died on March 4, 2019. We are compelled by the spirit of his legacy every day. Dr. Murphy’s obituary in the NY Times can be read here: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=ramon-murphy&pid=191751458&fhid=2058 We still have much work to do to protect the lives of women and babies in the Dominican Republic, as in all the world, but together we are making strides towards health equity for Dominican and Haitian mothers and babies living on these Dominican hills and shores. Please check out our website www.manosderamonfoundation.com to find out more about our work. And please reach out to me if you would like details about how each dollar donated goes DIRECTLY to maternal-infant educational programs in the Dominican Republic. Tax deductible donations to support our work can be made through our website via Paypal. If you are unable to donate (or already have—thank you!), we welcome all who share our vision of health equity and can forward this email to those who might want to join the effort. We envision a world in which each birth brings the opportunity to live and the hope of lives fulfilled. With immense gratitude and hope for the new year,

The MDR leadership team