Grounds for Health

I've had the pleasure of volunteering for Grounds For Health in Nicaragua and just recently returned from Peru. The concept of training in country health care providers to continue to provide services in a sustainable manner is what makes this nonprofit organization successful. The training sessions have all been well organized. The in country providers are very appreciative of the volunteers that come to help educate them from different parts of the U.S.
I have met and worked alongside great volunteers and will continue to volunteer in future trips.

I have volunteered as a nurse practitioner 8 times in Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru. I volunteer with Grounds for Health because it is SUSTAINABLE work, the projects are done in tandem with the coffee cooperatives and the Ministry of Health; once we leave the projects continue.
Si se puede!
Suzanne Germain ANP

Grounds for Health has developed an exemplary model that many other organizations could learn from. Volunteering with them was a fantastic experience that I would highly recommend if you are a healthcare provider!

I volunteered with this group recently as a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner. Grounds for Health is focused on training medical professionals in coffee growing countries to screen and treat cervical cancer using effective techniques that are approriate to low resource settings. I think their method is especially effective because they have cultivated strong relationships with local medical providers and have formed a partnership with them to train medical professionals to improve the care they offer their patients.

I have known and worked with Grounds For Health for 8 years (since 2005) first in Mexico and then in Nicaragua. In that time I have seen them develop their model for community based cervical cancer prevention, and training local providers in a simple effective “see and treat” approach.

Although small, they are one of the more effective organizations I have worked with – mobilizing local organization through the coffee cooperatives, and training, equipping and supporting doctors and nurses at the local Ministry of Health centers. Since they began in Nicaragua (2007), they have worked in 3 different health departments in Nicaragua -- first Jinotega, then Matagalpa, and now Madriz. At each step they have improved their model and the local organization to support it.

Other organizations could learn from studying their strengths.

Susan Howe, MPH, Epidemiology
Providing clinical support and program evaluation to programs in Nicaragua since 2004.

I first volunteered with Grounds for Health in 2008, as a clinical volunteer teaching and providing cervical cancer screenings to poor women in rural Nicaragua. I was immediately impressed by the level of organization of the staff, and how they were able to use my time effectively to make a big difference in the health of the local population. The staff of Grounds for Health are highly professional and competent, and also very fun to work with. The work was based on sound evidence of best practices in developing countries, and was coordinated with the local ministry of health of our host country. I felt my time and skills were used not only to help the women directly served by our campaign, but also to train local health care providers so that the technique would spread and have an ever-increasing impact on the health of the population. I have been volunteering with this group every since, and have grown increasingly impressed with their work!

I've known GFH for 10 years, as a personal donor, corporate grantmaker, and now board member. The organization gets terrific results on a critical challenge. They run a tight ship, keeping their focus on the people they serve and on how to deliver and scale the best tools to deliver the right results. Highly recommend!!!

I inquired about volunteering as a physician several years(4?) ago, was told I would be going to Africa in 12 months and then when I had heard nothing further I called and was told that project was cancelled and I would be notified of another opportunity. I never heard back.

GFH is one of the few organizations that has a simple mission and focus which they have stayed true to for over 15 years. Serving women in coffee producing areas that are at the end of the road and who would other wise not get services. Cervical cancer is preventable and treatable if caught early and over 45,000 women have been screened so far. I donate on a yearly basis and am gratified with the work this group is doing. I am also so happy to be in the coffee business which generously supports GFH.

Not only does Grounds for Health provide excellent services and training for women in coffee growing areas, August Burns and her colleagues provide comments, criticism and incredibly useful suggestions to Hesperian as we develop new health materials for our common audience: people marginalized by the health system for economic, geographic, and cultural reasons. Our chapters for the New Where There Is No Doctor have benefitted greatly from GfH generous engagement and time.
--Todd Jailer, Managing Editor, Hesperian Health Guides

When we heard the story about what GFH is able to accomplish we had to figure out a way to be involved. We hope our small donations end up making a difference.

We have suported Grounds for Health for several years in conjunction with a good client in California. Working with often very poor coffee farmers across East Africa, we see that often a huge proportion of their income is spent on health related issues, and the work that Grounds for Health does both saves lives and improves farmers lives through health education. They have been wonderfully innovative in the way they raise money, and it is brilliant to find a group who link coffee consumers with the people who grow their coffee in such a direct and positive way.

I was very impressed with the amount of lives saved per dollar donated that Grounds For Health is able to achieve. Not only am I donating my time and money to this cause, I am getting my 15 year old daughter Sarah and some of her friends involved, as a way of "giving back". Many thanks to August Burns and the entire Grounds For Health group for their dedication and hard work, as this organization gains in strength and recognition as a life saver.

The Grounds for Health mission to eradicate cervical cancer is a vision that started when the founder witnessed women in under-developed regions of the world going untreated and suffering from a curable disease. The charity's unique low cost community based system, dedicated staff and incredible success rate make Grounds for Health a model to be admired. There is no question, Grounds for Health is making a difference in women's lives every day.

For millions out of the reach of basic medical attention an easily treatable and preventable disease remains a deadly risk. The mission of Grounds for Health is to eliminate cervical cancer. Using low cost methods of detection and treatment---especially applicable in low income areas-- they travel to some of the most remote and underserved regions on earth. The coffee connection combines funding from the consuming side with accessability and structure from the coffee growers side. Through the dedication and hard work of the organization hope and care are provided to the nearly invisible women who live all over the globe "at the end of the road."

Grounds for Health is one of those rare organizations that is making a difference in the lives of women in coffee growing countries in a long-term and meaningful way. This organization makes an enormous difference for coffee growing communities. As someone recently said, No Women = No Coffee!