Our vision at Healthechildren is to create a future in which all citizens of the developing world have quality, community-based healthcare. Our philosophy is simple but powerful: locally generated and locally managed healthcare programs are the most successful. When local people are involved in developing solutions to their healthcare needs, they have a vested interest in seeing those programs continue and thrive. We believe that enabling people in the developing world to provide their own healthcare is a far better alternative than depending on foreign aid organizations, or centrally planned governments programs that often have track records of failure and corruption.
In a world that is a paradoxical mixture of great abundance and great need, challenges to providing sustainable healthcare in the developing world are many:
Local healthcare programs in the developing world suffer from chronic shortages of everything, including healthcare workers, education, medication, and supplies.
Talented and dedicated healthcare providers along with lay people in developing countries struggle to provide quality care in environments often choked in political graft and corruption.
Industrialized countries needlessly discard billions of dollars of useful medicines, supplies, and equipment every year that can be used to save lives in the developing world now.
People living in industrialized countries, who want to help in the developing world, have no idea how to do this. Joining an organization like Doctors Without Borders to serve abroad is not an option for most people, and just writing a check doesn't offer the intrinsic rewards of direct involvement.
At HealtheChildren we not only believe that self-sustaining community-based healthcare is possible in developing countries, but we are actively working with real people, in real places, demonstrating what it takes to make that happen. A principal goal of this project is to share our experiences with as wide an audience as possible.
The Healthcare Model for El Valle de los Chillos is a partnership between HealtheChildren and the four thousand residents of the rural Valle de los Chillos, Ecuador. You are invited to participate as this community initiates, from the ground up, reliable and affordable community-based medical and dental care without direct government funding or involvement. With an emphasis on transparency and accountability, we will share step-by-step, the organization, planning, funding and local management of this healthcare project.
This is not the story of how healthcare is “given” to those who need it by those that have the means. Rather, the Healthcare Model for El Valle de los Chillos chronicles how a motivated group of people, in a community far from famous, far away from obvious resources, can take the initiative to create lasting change in their lives by improving their health, and the health of their families, friends, and neighbors.
Our goal with the Healthcare Model for El Valle de los Chillos is not only to help others to learn from our experience, but to also initiate dialogue and innovation in community-based healthcare everywhere.
