Direct Relief Int'l provided our partner Hope Foundation for Women & Children of Bangladesh with funding, personal protective equipment (PPE) and supplies for a new 50-bed isolation center, including a dedicated labor room for women with symptoms. One baby has already been delivered in the beautiful new facility, which also gives Rohingya refugees with coronavirus a place to rest and heal. The facility is unique within the camps outside Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
Dr. Iftiker Mahmood, President and Founder of Hope Foundation says, "This is where we can offer labor and delivery for the Covid-positive mothers, where other isolation centers in the camp nearby don't have that kind of service." He goes on to say Covid-19 has been slow to spread, with a relatively low number of cases due to the presence of World Health organization and other NGOS, and to restricted mobility into and between different areas of the camp. A volunteer doctor adds that Hope Foundation has another important tool: the trust of the Rohingya community it has been building for nearly 3 years since the camps swelled to 800,000 Muslim people fleeing genocide in Myanmar.
The new facility is in addition to a 50-bed field hospital specializing in women and children's care specifically for Rohingya families, and to Hope's main hospital in Cox's Bazar. To learn more or make a donation to their critically important, remarkable work: https://hopeforbangladesh.org.
To read Direct Relief's full article from July 13, 2020:
Global Force for Healing has also supported Hope's response to the global pandemic. To find out how donor dollars were put to good use, see today's companion blog.
Note: Photo of Dr. Mahmood, Ashland, OR volunteer Kim McQuoid and a Bangladeshi colleague was taken September 2018 in front of the Rohingya field hospital just being built