The in-patient department at Umpiem Mai sits on a slope. And when it rains, the earth underneath slowly erodes away – just a little further each rainy season. There’s a roof overhead – meant to protect this from happening – but the roof is old. The poles holding it up are rotting away, the corrugated tin roof has holes. “The roof is very old,” said Wai Htoo, the Director of the Health Center. “More than 10 years.” Having a sturdy roof to keep the rain away is important for erosion of the foundation underneath. But it’s also important because when there’s laundry to be done, the team needs a spacious area to leave out clothes to dry. We saw an opportunity to solve many problems by solving one – getting a new roof. The old, rotting roof and poles pulled were pulled down, and the new was put up. And Wai Htoo couldn’t be happier. “There were so many holes,” he said. “This is great for people’s clothes to dry, and to keep this building safe.” “I think this will … [Read more...] about Shelter from the Storm

At the Umpiem Mai health center, there’s a space dedicated to folks who need some extra time to heal. Sometimes, throughout the day, these patients may need to go to the restroom, the doctor’s office for checkups, or just simply to walk around. But – many of them have nothing to help them walk. As we visited the ARC team and the patients around the hospital, we saw a lot of people having a hard time getting around. “Sometimes, especially the elderly folks, they have no energy,” she said. “Sometimes they’re really weak, they can’t walk, they can only hold on to a shoulder as they go. They use bamboo sticks, but it’s not enough – they can fall down at any time.” There are a lot of difficult things at a hospital like this primary health center – like diagnosing and treating tuberculosis and malaria. But getting up and down to go to the restroom shouldn’t be one of them. So that’s why, on Day 158, we decided to give these patients something to lean on. We purchased walkers and … [Read more...] about Somebody to Lean On

Yesterday, the Primary Health Center at Umpiem Mai got a facelift – a fresh coat of bright white paint. The center is looking fresh, clean, and more professional than ever. So the team wanted to do more. “Patients should be able to see beauty when they come here,” said Ajjima, our leader in Changemaking at Umpiem Mai. “This hospital shouldn’t just be a place of emergency, but a place of healing that happens in the heart as much as it happens in the body.” We couldn’t agree more. So on Day 157, we’re beautifying the health center with some greenery. At first, Ajjima wanted to plant some flowering plants in only a few spots, where she thought they could use it most. But because of these additional resources, she was able to plant flowers throughout the entire hospital. Now there are plants in the welcome area, in the walkways, by the latrines – everywhere. And, she picked out hanging plants to place over the parking lot and inside the space itself. Now everyone who comes … [Read more...] about Going Green

Lots of important things happen on the inside of the Primary Health Center at Umpiem Mai – it serves as the health hub for the camp, a trusted source of treatment and healing. But the outside was a different story. “The Health Center hasn’t been painted in years,” said our friend Ajjima, ARC teammate who works hard to make improvements at the camp. “We could really use a new coat of paint.” The team at Umpiem Mai was inspired by what the Changemakers 365 crew had done in Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda – how a simple coat of paint can mean at fresh outlook for patients, nurses, and camp residents alike. So with paint brushes and paint buckets in hand, they decided to do the same of the Health Center in their neck of the woods. As the walls were cleaned and fresh paint slowly added, it became clear to the community that real change was happening. Originally, the team had talked about just painting the front – but soon everyone started getting excited. Now, they … [Read more...] about From the Inside, Out

The Primary Health Center at Umpiem Mai provides incredible services. They help refugees at the camp get access to important care to keep their families healthy – treatments for devastating diseases like malaria. It’s a health hub for the thousands of people who live there. But, explained our friend Ajjima, actually getting to the Primary Health Center – which sits atop a hill - is one of the biggest problems. She walked us up the steep path toward the center, pointing to the sides of the path that drop off dramatically on either side. “This is so dangerous!” she said. “When the raining is coming down, you can just slip and slide right off.” Imagine someone who’s sick, injured, in pain, or elderly. For those folks, coming back and forth from the hospital can be an especially dangerous task – there’s nothing but the ground to guide their way. “I’d really like to build some hand rails,” said Ajjima. So on Day 155, we did. We hired some carpenters from the community to … [Read more...] about Steady as We Go

One of the things that makes Umpiem Mai unique is our team – the vast majority of ARC nurses, lab techs, community service providers, and counselors are refugees themselves. They’re the rock star residents of Umpiem Mai. And over the past several decades, we’ve worked with the refugee community there to build up their skills as professionals, gearing them up for their eventual transition back home. Ajjima, who we first met on Day 152, is their champion. She believes in the power of people to turn their lives around, in the idea that sometimes, a little boost to lift someone up can change their lives forever. And at the Primary Health Center in Umpiem Mai, her talents in training the staff there shine through. On Day 154, Ajjima brought the lab staff at the health center together to kick off a one month training on lab management and malaria and tuberculosis. But there was one problem – she didn’t have a budget for notebooks and a flipchart – the kinds of materials that help … [Read more...] about Knowledge is Power

The ARC lab team at Umpiem Mai works really hard. They do a lot, with not a lot of resources. They’re the center of malaria and infectious disease control at the camp, testing and diagnosing patients. Without them and their work, malaria might go untreated, families would struggle with containing the disease. But because of the few resources they have to cover costs, things sometimes slip by unnoticed. The problem, though, is that these little things can turn into big things. Like having an ancient mop to clean the floors – soon, the floors just never get quite clean enough. And the lab team’s hard work can only go so far when cleaning is an issue. That’s why Ajjima had the idea to change things – in a really simple way. Get new cleaning materials. “Keeping things really clean is one of our infection control methods,” said Ajjima. “It’s crucial that we keep clean. It’s important to the lab.” It was easy to get the team new mops, buckets, brooms, towels, and new … [Read more...] about Clean and Safe

Today we’re hopping across the ocean, to a place where ARC has had teams on the ground for over 35 years – Thailand. Refugees from Myanmar have spent decades in refugee camps there, forming their own communities, figuring out ways to rebuild. The refugee camps where we work in Thailand are unique – most of our team at these camps are refugees themselves. During their time with us, they’ve been trained as nurses, lab technicians, and community service providers. They’re equipping themselves with skills that not only help their communities, but will carry them into the future. Ajjima is an ARC team member who has played a huge role in this. She’s an educator who for years has helped our refugee medical teams improve their management skills, the level of quality care they provide, and the science behind their work. And she’s a natural at Changemakers 365. She has the spirit of a true Changemaker, constantly thinking of new opportunities – new ways to improve life at Umpiem Mai. So … [Read more...] about Welcome to Thailand