Atlas has teamed up with Health Alliance International (HAI) at
the University of Washington, Makerere University in Kampala and Great Lakes
Coffee Uganda to implement a Maternal and Child Health Project in the
Rwenzururu Kingdom in western Uganda.
For the past two years, Atlas has
been importing high quality naturals from the Rwenzururu Kingdom. During
a visit to the Kingdom Atlas’ Craig Holt and Jennifer Roberts had the
opportunity to meet with the Queen of the Rwenzururu people. During their
meeting she expressed the need within the Kingdom for birthing centers in
mountainous areas, safe delivery kits and family planning education in rural
areas where coffee is produced. Atlas has responded to the concerns
addressed by the Queen and is pleased to announce the launch of our Maternal
and Child Health Initiative in the Rwenzururu Kingdom.
HAI and Makerere University each
selected a graduate student to participate in this project. Mariel Boyarsky and
Racheal Tumwebaze are on the ground working on the first phase of the
project. They have been traveling around the Rwenzori mountains to
interview local women about their experiences seeking health care. This
phase will consist of mapping existing health care facilities and services,
identifying barriers to prenatal, delivery, postpartum care and family
planning, and will recommend areas for improvement. Atlas hopes the data
will highlight specific needs and lead to improving healthcare infrastructure
for women in the Kingdom.
Meet Mariel and Racheal:
Mariel Boyarsky is currently pursuing her Master of Public
Health in Global Health at the University of Washington. She is
originally from New York State, and before moving to Seattle in September 2012,
she lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Tel Aviv, Israel. She has worked
on various public health issues, including access to mental health care (New
Orleans), health and language access (New Orleans and Tel Aviv), and access to
health care for refugees and asylum seekers (Tel Aviv). This is Mariel's first
time in Uganda, and she is excited to be working on this project!
Racheal Tumwebaze is pursuing a Master of Public
Health degree majoring in Bio statistics and Epidemiology in Makerere
University in Uganda. She is a Ugandan by nationality. Her background education
is Environmental health science. Before her master’s program, she worked with
as a field officer for Safe motherhood project in a Non-Governmental
Organization called Save for Health Uganda for three years. During that time,
she promoted community based health insurance schemes to help women access
quality health care services in districts of Bushenyi and Sheema, located in
western Uganda. She has major interests in Maternal and child health
especially for the rural poor Ugandans.
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