A Four-Fold Approach to Fighting Poverty
Enjoy this infographic on Operation Blessing’s four-fold pillars of humanitarian relief from our January issue of Blessings Magazine. With your...Read More
Health & Medical Care
It’s hard to imagine a child dying from diarrhea or a minor cut becoming a life-threatening infection, but this is the reality for many families around the world who have little or no access to health care or who simply cannot afford such treatment. A shortage of basic medical care, knowledge and supplies costs lives every day. Operation Blessing is helping reach the sick and impoverished through free mobile medical clinics, distributing medicine and medical supplies, providing life-changing surgeries, training and equipping community health workers and distributing wheelchairs to the disabled.
Aiding an Abandoned Child with Clubfoot
TANZANIA – Like so many children born with clubfoot, Stephano from Tanzania began his life with hardship. When Stephano’s father...Read More
Serving His Community with the Gift of Health
PERU – A few years ago, Fermin and several of his children could have died from malaria. That’s why he...Read More
Look At All You’ve Accomplished!
Over the last year you have done so many incredible things to help people around the world break the cycle...Read MoreBecause of You…
This Christmas, your support is giving the gift of hope to so many children and families in places like Kenya,...Read MoreKeeping Babies Healthy In Honduras
Operation Blessing Honduras community health workers strive to keep families in remote villages healthy and educated. Many of these families...Read More
You Gave the Gift of Restored Health
INDIA – To see Deepana bright-eyed and smiling, one might never guess this precious little girl nearly lost her life...Read More
Overcoming Every Obstacle for Straight Feet
TANZANIA – Clubfoot almost cost young Majalawa his life. The birth defect often causes social stigma along with physical difficulties,...Read MoreFamilies in Indonesia Need Your Help
The devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Indonesia has displaced thousands of people across the country. Indonesia’s infrastructure has been...Read MoreNew Wheels For Jose Hernandez
It all started with an ingrown toenail. Jose Hernandez didn’t detect it early enough. Soon, it became infected and the...Read More
THREE-PRONGED APPROACH TO HEALTH & MEDICAL CARE
Rural Solutions:
In addition to our medical missions, Operation Blessing trains Community Health Workers in Latin America and Africa to serve their communities. With the combination of our training and a backpack filled with supplies essential to basic medical care, these men and women are able to detect health concerns early. By having trained Community Health Workers within the community, there is someone continuously in contact with families to ensure everyone is healthy.
Teaching:
At Operation Blessing, we don’t only want to treat disease—we want to prevent it. In addition to bringing medicine and early diagnostics and reporting to their communities, our Community Health Workers also educate people on proper hygiene and care. We also partner with outside organizations, like the Mayo Clinic, to provide educational material to those facing serious conditions and their families.
Strengthening Current Health Systems:
Through donations of Medical Gifts-in-Kind, we’re able to provide much-needed medication to clinics and hospitals, allowing them to give quality care to patients for no cost. With resources freed up from medication costs, they are able to spend their funds to improve facilities and care in other ways. If you would like to learn more about contributing Medical Gifts-in-Kind, please visit our page, or call a procurement manager at 1-800-436-6348.
International GIK Medicine Program
Globally minded and community focused, Operation Blessing’s strategic partnerships and special projects strengthen local health systems, equip hospitals and clinics, improve access to health care and offer educational programs to local medical professionals. Learn more about how it works
How does OBI partner with the Mayo Clinic?
In addition to working with our El Salvador team to produce informational videos on respiratory diseases and HIV, the Mayo Clinic also provides hands-on training in the field with Operation Blessing, such as bronchoscopy training and Maternal and Fetal Emergency Care education.
Community Health Workers
In poor, rural com- munities, Operation Blessing is training and equipping community health workers who can provide, organize and explain lifesaving basics to locals for injuries, illness, child- birth and more. CHWs are also equipped with first aid and other basic medical supplies.
WHAT OTHER HEALTH & MEDICAL CARE INITIATIVES DO YOU HAVE?
From hygiene education training to life-changing surgeries, Operation Blessing’s medical aid is making a difference in the world by:
Clubfoot Treatment
Facilitating treatment for clubfoot, often in partnership with MiracleFeet, primarily using the highly successful Ponseti method. This gentle, noninvasive treatment focuses on stretching and casting, producing amazing results especially in young children. As needed, this method is combined with a minor surgical procedure to lengthen the Achilles tendon. The Ponseti method is effective in 95% of cases and prevents complications and pain later in life that can be caused by more invasive surgeries.
Supplying chlorine
Manufacturing chlorine to distribute in areas facing devastating illness, such as cholera in Haiti or Ebola in Liberia. By providing chlorine production units and training men and women on the ground, Operation Blessing provides a constant supply of chlorine to help combat the spread of these illnesses.
Life-changing surgeries
Providing life-changing surgeries for cleft lips and palates, hernias, strabismus, heart problems, and other debilitating and life-threatening conditions.
Nutritious meals
Addressing nutrition concerns before they become major health risks by providing sources of nutritious meals to children in vulnerable communities in places like Peru and Kenya.
Optometry
Helping the impaired see, whether through free eye exams and glasses for victims of the 2011 tsunami in Japan or cataracts removal and other ocular surgeries for adults and children in Guatemala.