Four reasons to get inspired
All donations MATCHED up to $90,000 before December 31st!
Posted on December 29, 2022
With three days left in the year, here are four reasons why a generous gift to PIH Canada will do a world of good for our patients…and maybe even for you, too:
- We double down when times are tough. Years ago, I was in a partnership meeting in Ottawa with a visiting colleague from Haiti. “What’s your exit strategy?” my colleague was asked. We looked at each other and I knew what was coming – and that if he were Malawian or Liberian or Rwandan, the answer would be the same. Our staff aren’t going anywhere, he said, and as long as there’s unequal access to care, neither is PIH. After all, the 18,000-plus people providing health care and social justice for their own communities are Partners In Health. And when times are tough, they know PIH’s work is needed more than ever. Haiti today is facing multiple crises of cholera, gang violence, fuel shortages, soaring malnutrition … and our Haitian team is doubling down on providing quality health care. That’s just what they do.
- No short-termism. Short-term commitments usually lead to short-term thinking. This is the kind of thinking, for example, that doubts whether building a modern teaching hospital in a place that doesn’t have any is a good idea. (Yes, casting ambition aside in the name of so-called expediency is really a thing). But PIH learned long ago that long-term problems require long-term solutions. We refuse to accept that we can’t be ambitious, that we can’t do more and do better every year… and we know those who support social justice and global health efforts shouldn’t accept it either. And neither should our patients.
- Relentless commitment. Back to that Haiti team. When gangs were blocking access to the country’s main fuel terminal this summer, members of our Haitian staff walked with mules through the mountains to the Dominican Republic, six hours each way, to bring back fuel for generators to keep hospitals and health centers open. They did 10-15 trips this way. It’s just one example of the kind of commitment that is happening at PIH sites every day all over the world.
- Relentless optimism. From the remotest rural village to the halls of power in capital cities and everywhere in between, the PIH approach changes lives for the better. Every mother or child treated with dignity, every facility able to deliver quality care in the most unlikely of places is another success story to be amplified and replicated. We know how to do this, and that’s a great feeling.
If you made it this far, I hope you’re feeling inspired about what we can accomplish together. Please help us do a world of good today, for a healthier and more just world tomorrow.
With deep appreciation,
Mark Brender
National Director
Partners In Health Canada
As the latest cholera outbreak in Haiti continues, its impact is clear: Most of its victims are children under 5. With major pieces of the epidemic response now up and running, we’re pushing as fast and as hard as we can to stop this deadly pathogen and save as many lives as possible.
Every person, no matter who they are or where they’re from, deserves the best health care we know how to offer.
Join us in building a more just and equitable world by making a gift today.
