This article has also been published on The Huffington Post.
Among other things, I spoke of the power of social entrepreneurship as an idea that is changing the world, microfinance as the most significant development strategy in the last three decades, women as the key to change, and the major societal change that is possible and in fact taking place in our lifetimes. I advocated that the way to change the world is to change ourselves. I shared BRAC’s holistic development approach and talked about our efforts in Bangladesh to reduce maternal mortality and improve child health. BRAC’s Manoshi project, for example, operates community-based interventions in the urban slums of 6 city corporations, currently covering a population of about 5.7 million people. The 5 year project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, aims to reduce maternal, neonatal and child deaths and diseases by instituting delivery centers, community midwives, linkages to public and private health facilities, community health workers and urban birth attendants.
Started in 2007, the project has already seen great successes: before the project 86% of deliveries in the slums took place at home. In 2009, only 25% of deliveries took place at home, with 33% in BRAC delivery centers and 42% in hospitals. Though the project faces many challenges, including migrations, poor sanitation and challenges with community support, we at BRAC are encouraged by the results we have seen so far in maternal mortality rates and growing awareness.
Thank you to the families at Star Island who invited me to speak and showed me a great couple of days! I enjoyed discussing the issues with you and partaking in your time-honored traditions.
-Susan