135 Results Are Tagged With "Communications and Media"

This is support for intensive Mandarin Chinese studies and a concentration on translation at the renown National Taiwan University's International Chinese Language Program (ICLP) for the 2018-2019 Academic Year Program. I have secured my place in the upcoming class, paid the class fee, and have applied all but the Fulbright (missed the early August deadline) I have only been able to acquire a fraction of the cost. I am extremely grateful that I have secured the HUAYU government scholarship for the first 6 months of my stay in Taiwan! However, the total program costs $13,000 while housing averages of $400-$600 per month to make a total of $15,000. Thus, my full tuition is uncovered.

I would greatly appreciate assistance of my dream of becoming a full time, ATA accredited, master translator of Mandarin Chinese who will bring these skills and entrepreneurial ideas to Detroit. I will continue to encourage others to embrace language learning and be aware of the growing translation and interpretation industry. I believe in giving back so I will gladly provide translation and interpretation assistance to the individual or organization upon my return.

If you would like to support and be apart of my journey, please do not hesitate to contact me. If you as an individual are only able to cover a large chunk and not the full cost I will appreciate that as well.

Thank you!

Pregnancy and childbirth should be a special time in the lives of women and families. Unfortunately, it can also be a time of great danger. Fistula is an abnormal opening in the birth canal resulting in uncontrollable, constant leakage of urine and/or fecesi. Approximately between 140, 000 to 200,000 women in Uganda live with obstetric fistula with an annual occurrence rate of 1,900 casesii. Uganda currently ranks third in the countries with the greatest obstetric fistula cases in the world as per the World Health Organization (WHO) rankings. However, only a very small proportion of them have sought treatment for their condition yet, on average, women with obstetric fistula live with their condition for 10 years. Demystifying the myths about Fistula through the establishment of Toll free telephone referral service at Fistula centers for confidential assessment/ identification and referral for eligible patients for routine fistula surgeries will be key in this approach.
Fistula repair in Uganda is constrained by limited number of obstetric fistula specialists hence need for the linkage to utilize the few specialisits , low awareness among frontline health workers such as nurses, VHTs both in government and private health care facilities, transportation costs and stigmatization that comes from the continuous leakage of urine and/or fecal matter. These limitations are exacerbated by illiterate, uneducated population, majority of whom are women living in rural areas where there is limited awareness and access to health services.
In Uganda, the majority of patients are treated in obstetric fistula surgical camps by local and visiting fistula surgeons, with success rates of above 80% being reportediii. Despite these efforts, women in hard to reach areas and with limited access to ICTS do not have timely information and access to these camps, therefore fistula repair and reintegration in the country still remains low, with an accumulated 4,300 fistula cases reported at health facilities still awaiting repair countrywideiv. These 4,300 cases represent a small minority of the women with fistula in the country, yet with increase awareness would increase substantially. This backlog of cases causes women to wait months to years to receive treatment and therefore with the introduction of a toll- free referral communication platform, this backlog will be history.
There is an urgent need to have dedicated regional treatment centers within designated government and Mission regional hospitals that can offer either free or subsided fistula repair surgeries to patients on an ongoing basis. In addition, rehabilitation and reintegration services for fistula survivors in Uganda lack comprehensive packages. Some of organizations providing services operate on a small scale and can only assist with transportation refunds and basic counseling. Yet obstetric fistula has social, economic, political and psychological consequences for affected women and their families, such as stigmatization, low esteem and loss of social support for both treated and untreated women with fistula.
Through the AEIF funding, our team proposes the creation of a dual system of information access, referral, treatment, follow- up and a vertical integration that is novel in fistula treatment for Uganda. By leveraging community knowledge through the phone line, enhanced capacity of front line health workers, a regular operational referral site and comprehensive rehabilitation and re-integration approach, we expect attention to be drawn to this site from all over the region therefore increasing community awareness and the number of fistula patients.
Telfis will be a phone line assessment/referral medium for suspected obstetric Fistula patients. In partnership with a Telcom service provider, a toll-free line will be set up at the Fistula Center (Kamuli Mission Hospitalv) with two assessors at the call center to offer counselling, assessment and referral for routine surgeries and post-treatment check-ups at the hospital. Through these platforms, Fistula Ambassadors, Health Center staff, Religious leaders, Community leaders will directly reach out to the Fistula center through the various mediums and the patients identified will be scheduled for further management at the center.
Working in a static ward offers many advantages over the transitory “repair camps” and this D- prize award will support in tandem creation of one permanent routine fistula ward in Kamuli Mission Hospital, which will be dedicated specifically to fistula treatment. Our near plan will be to expand to other regional centers which will serve as centers for surgical training programs that will help foster innovation in techniques and methods for physical and psychosocial rehabilitation of fistula survivors. The dedicated centers will also help raise continued awareness and understanding about fistula. The very presence of a fistula center will help bring the condition to a great attention of many. Doctors and staff at the centers will develop a deep understanding of fistula, and often become powerful advocates for its prevention and treatment. The clinical expertise and consistent follow up to the sisterhood that forms among fistula patients is also natured.