One of the most exciting developments in regards to funding over the past few days for the FEMAP Foundation has been the new points of focus for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Last week, Mrs. Gates announced in celebration of International Women's Day that she would pledge $10 million towards funding for programs associated with women and children'd health. This morning, Mr. Gates established a partnership with Carlos Slim (a Mexican citizen who also holds the title for current richest man in the world, just barely passing Gates) to pledge $150 million towards funding health organizations in Latin America, particularly Mexico. What a wonderful union for the FEMAP Foundation! We have been working with the hospitals in Mexico all day to figure out on behalf of what program we should submit a grant application.
In my Intro to International and Global Studies discussion sections, we had many discussions where we spent a lot of time bashing non-profits. The argument was that non-profits often suffer from "tunnel vision"; focusing too much on one issue that may cause harm to another issue. The example that was raised was in regards to environmental organizations that were working hard to eliminate the production of GMOs, citing genetic modification of food as harmful towards the environment. However in some third world nations, GMOs are the most promising means of defying the ever present issue of food insecurity -- a reduction in production or research of GMOs may prove detrimental towards such a pressing issue. Additionally, the discussions focused on the inability of non-profits to keep programs afloat past a certain grant cycle - with only short-term programs in place, development through programs implemented by non-profits rarely proved successful.
I have found that the work that the FEMAP Foundation does doesn't suffer from these common faults amongst non-profits. I had initially believed that the FEMAP Foundation was focused solely on the provision of health care towards impoverished regions in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Actually, the FEMAP Foundation has a lot of different programs including;
- Nursing School and Scholarships; the FEMAP Foundation started and still funds a now nationally accredited nursing school right in the heart of Juárez. Scholarship opportunities are provided for promising students as well as ex-sex workers who have the potential to gear themselves towards a better career. Partnerships with hospitals in the US (who need nurses) have also been established to provide a job opportunity for graduates of the school.
- Promotoras Foundation; Providing informational sessions in addition to free clinics for women and young teens to provide information on STI/STD prevention, teen pregnancy, nutrition and balanced diets as well as other topics as needed.
- Community Banks and Micro-financing Program; Providing funds, primarily to women, to begin their own businesses in order to become economically independent
- Jovenes, Cultura y Sexualidad; Working with high school students to provide information on sex, sexuality, drug use and violence. The program has now implemented an additional step, creating a coalition of young students from impoverished communities to seek out the needs of their environment. It was determined that many students go to school hungry everyday in these communities - the teenagers started a community kitchen to provide breakfast and lunch for these students.
... and many other programs! These are only some of the non-medical programs FEMAP-SADEC has implemented, and has its largest investment on free provision of healthcare to those from low-income regions, focusing particularly on women and children. The hospitals specialize in pediatrics and OB/GYN; as I hope to make obstetrics my specialty I am so excited to be working with a foundation that does work in these areas!
Finally, I want to talk about the location that we're set in. The FEMAP Foundation recently changed venues from an office downtown to a location out in the eastern suburbs of El Paso. We're currently located in a two-room office in El Convento at Lorretto, which serves as a convent, a private school for girls, a church and office space for non-profit organizations and artist groups. I wanted to talk about the Convent because the grounds are so beautiful - nothing at all what I imagined the office would look like! The Convent sits at the top of a large hill, so I can look out to see all of Juárez and El Paso from our windows.
