| Focus Area: |
The Escape From Poverty |
| Project: |
Universal Monitoring Scale and Training of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) |
| Commitment By: |
Christian Children's Foundation (CCF) |
| Value: |
$100,000 for 2006 |
Objective: Christian Children’s Fund intends to help children reach their full potential by committing to long term strategies targeted to combat poverty.
Commitment: To launch and implement 2 new programs in 2006:
1. Universal Monitoring Scale - a program designed to measure child development in five areas: social/emotional; cognitive; gross motor; fine motor; and communication/language. The goal is to track progress so that any developmental delays can be corrected whenever possible. The CCF developmental scale has been piloted in 16 countries, and will be adopted as a global CCF program.
2. First aid training program for Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA) – the purpose of this program is to help save the lives of mothers and newborns during delivery in rural areas of Central and South America where hospitals are not accessible. CCF will pilot first in Honduras and then other Latin American countries a program to train Traditional Birth Attendants on how to handle life-threatening risks that occur during childbirth. Once the program is found to be successful, it will be duplicated in CCF programs worldwide.
Background: For the Universal Development Scale, CCF found that many programs do not help parents and specialists realize if a child is not reaching expected milestones. Thus problems that could be corrected early in life go undetected, making it difficult for the child to succeed in school. For the First Aid Training of Traditional Birth Attendants, CCF is recognizing that most life threatening problems occur during childbirth and that attempts to identify at risk mothers and unborn babies are unsuccessful prior to the childbirth experience, when it is too late to see professional help. Training traditional birth attendants in ways to cope with problems during the birthing process and immediately after will ensure the survival of mothers and babies.
| Point of Contact: |
John F. Schultz, President
Christian Children's Fund |
| Geographic Scope: |
Universal Monitoring Scale: Kenya, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, Albania, Zambia, Gambia and the United States, with aim of spreading to all 33 countries where CCF works.
Training of Birth Attendants will begin in Honduras, and will be implemented in other South and Central American countries. |
| Anticipated Launch Date: |
July 2006 |
| Anticipated Duration: |
One year |
Update:
December 2005:
Universal Monitoring Scale: Testing phase completed on December 31, 2005.
Training of Traditional Birth Attendants: Regional health administrator hired to oversee this effort by December 31, 2005.