Stories
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Stories from the Field
Read Stories From the Field to see how better leadership and management practices have improved organizational performance. The M&L approach has enabled health managers to face challenges and achieve results.

The Belizean VLDP team, (from left to right) Dr. Natalia Largaespada-Beer, Dr. Paul Edwards, and Ms. Erika Goldson-McGregor. Throughout their careers, each of them has a proven history of dedication, motivation, and excellence in their work. Photo by Michael Paydos, 2005 Strengthening Leadership in the Belize Ministry of Health
"We had discussed [the challenge] before but the VLDP actually got us mobilized to complete it."
-Erika McGregor, Coordinator of the Health Education Unit in the Central Region, Belize
 
 
Converging Leadership and Quality in Mozambique. Photo by Cora Peterson, 2005 Converging Leadership and Quality in Mozambique
"For sustainability, [leadership and management training] is better for involving people and affecting their own performance. But for actually improving services, [complying with quality standards] is better." -Nerina Jone, Director, Meconta Health Center, Province of Nampula, Mozambique
 
 
The Power of Empowering Mozambique. Photo by Cora Peterson, 2005 The Power of Empowering Mozambique
MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE - With healthcare taking center stage as perhaps the most critical ongoing socio-economic and political challenge worldwide, an epiphany has occurred in Mozambique.
 
Health Center Staff in Mozambique Mobilize to Improve Health Services. Photo by Cora Peterson, 2005 Health Center Staff in Mozambique Mobilize to Improve Health Services
Eleven health units in Mozambique participated in the Management and Leadership for Health Sector Support (M&L/HSS) Program between 2003-2005. The program was funded by USAID, and implemented in partnership between the Mozambican Ministry of Health (MOH) and Management Sciences for Health (MSH).
 
Empowering Leaders Throughout Mozambique's Health Sector. Photo by Cora Peterson, 2005 Empowering Leaders Throughout Mozambique's Health Sector
The Mozambican Ministry of Health (MOH) used a new approach to improve service delivery over the past two years-giving workers at all levels of the health sector a chance to offer solutions to issues ranging from budget details to equipment sterilization. Though such issues don't usually inspire an outpouring of enthusiasm or creativity from employees, MOH managers have recently seen just such a response from their staff.
 
The RFE grant allowed Hindu Mandal Hospital to expand counseling and testing services. Photo by Carmen Urdanetta Shree Hindu Mandal Hospital - The Lucky Few Survive
He was, by all accounts, a dead man. The community heard of his passing as most do here in Tanzania, from a neighbor or a family member who told another neighbor or family member that they had seen Mussa recently, and he was not well.
 
By blending HIV education with entertainment, SPW festivals. Photo by Carmen Urdanetta HIV Doesn’t Take a Holiday
“HIV doesn’t take a holiday!” The young man yells into the microphone and the crowd roars. He is dressed in the hip, urban gear emulated around the world: baggy jeans, a thick gold chain, and an over-sized t-shirt. The crowd of over 1,000 University of Dar es Salaam students stirs him on, partly reacting to him—a well-known Tanzanian rap star—and partly reacting to the message that has hit home: HIV doesn’t take a holiday. It is the last day of classes: the end of final exams is, like everywhere, a cause for celebration.
 
Counsenuth staff member Belinda uses the RFE-sponsored booklets to educate the HIV-positive support group on proper nutrition. Carmen Urdanetta Good for the Body and for the Soul
"Sometimes, when I am walking, I start crying suddenly and I say: 'my god, what have I done to you?'" A moment of grief washes over Zawadi's face before she breaks into a smile as she reaches out to greet a friend; happy greetings echo around them. In anticipation of the imminent session, the group looks for paper and pens. It is almost as if Zawadi has not just described the feeling of losing four of her ten children to HIV/AIDS, and of being infected herself.
 
HIV-positive Elsa Ouko has improved her leadership skills to more actively fight HIV/AIDS in Kenya. Photo by Carmen Urdaneta, 2004. VLDP: Virtual Pathways Leading Africa’s Fight Against HIV/AIDS
The Virtual Leadership Development Program (VLDP) works to help strengthen health managers and their teams to address real organizational challenges. One such organization is Kenerela, a network of religious leaders with HIV working throughout Kenya to increase HIV/AIDS awareness and address stigma, denial, and discrimination issues.
 
Supporting Positive Living through Income Generation and Nutritional Assistance. Photo by Carmen Urdaneta, 2004.
 
RFE: Supporting Positive Living through Income Generation and Nutritional Assistance
The walk up the muddy hill is a tiring one, though the scenery astounds. Mount Kilimanjaro beckons in the distance, soaring over the beauty of Arusha, Tanzania. This region attracts thousands of tourists every year, drawn by the challenge of hiking Africa’s biggest mountain.
 
Mother and child. Photo by Carmen Urdaneta, 2004.
 
RFE: Tanzanian Women Speak Out
"Let not our poverty be the cause of our catastrophes!" The women's voices slowly fade as a man appears on stage. He approaches the young woman stealthily, with a sly smile on his wrinkled face. She returns his gaze with a flirtatious smile on her smooth one, awaiting his opening line:
 
Offering New Hope with Ancient Remedies. Photo by Carmen Urdaneta, 2004.
 
RFE: Offering New Hope with Ancient Remedies
She is wearing her finest dress, shaded light green and splattered bright with white, yellow and fuchsia flowers that jump as if to greet you as she sits down. Around her neck she has carefully tied a bright blue and green scarf, bringing her ensemble together with fuchsia lipstick matching the flowers in her dress.
 
PASADA offers the poorest Tanzanians comprehensive health services. Photo by Carmen Urdaneta, 2004.
 
RFE: A Beacon of Hope for Tanzanians Living with AIDS
Rehema sits down carefully, holding onto the chair for added support. She looks tired; her bones are clearly visible through her baggy dress and her face is covered with small red bumps, a rash common in HIV-positive individuals. As Rehema begins to discuss her experiences with HIV, however, it is clear that the disease has not taken her spirit or her hope for the future.
 
Ensuring Supply, Cutting Costs, Raising Quality - Guatemala Ensuring Supply, Cutting Costs, Raising Quality: Health Volunteers Apply a Business Model to Contraceptive Distribution
In the remote rural areas of Guatemala, APROFAM is transforming traditional community-based distribution (CBD) of contraceptives into a social marketing program, employing a business model to automate and streamline the entire product distribution chain. In an innovative pilot project that was launched in September 2003, APROFAM was able to achieve 70 percent self-financing in just six weeks. The use of Palm Pilots™ to electronically track products from the point-of-sale purchase to the inventory management at the central warehouse contributed to this result. The dramatic success led APROFAM to expand the pilot program nationwide.
 
The team of nurses at El Aakub rural health unit Aswan's Vision: Dream Translated Into Action
Not long ago, the health clinics in the Aswan governorate, a mostly rural area in Egypt's poorest region, presented a picture that was all too familiar in resource-poor settings. Staff who lacked motivation. Health statistics that were bleak. Clients who were dissatisfied.
 
DOLASED group For Disabled Tanzanians, Informational Materials About HIV/AIDS - Dolased, Tanzania
When Gidion Kaino Mandesi was a young law student at the University of Dar Es Salaam, he wrote a paper on the legal status of visually impaired people in Tanzania. In carrying out his research, he discovered that Tanzanian family law and government policy did not adequately protect disabled people...
 
Humberto Vitorino Dantas Getting Motivated: Profile of a "Lidernauta" - LiderNet, Brazil
Humberto Vitorino Dantas was the man who couldn't retire. After a distinguished career directing the finances of the state of Ceará's health secretariat and unified health system, Dantas was tapped to resuscitate a troubled, almost-abandoned hospital some 30 minutes from Fortaleza, Brazil.

 

Flep, Uganda Teamwork Transformation - FLEP, Uganda
In June 2001, when M&L and the Centre for African Family Studies (CAFS) were first invited to work with FLEP, the Family Life Education Program of Busoga Diocese of Uganda, this small church-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) was beset with multiple crises.
 
APROFAM, Guatemala Sustainability Accomplished - APROFAM, Guatemala
A top-to-bottom overhaul of management systems turned APROFAM into a self-financed health care organization.
 
Performance Improvement Methodology Performance Improvement Methodology - ASHONPLAFA, Honduras
For ASHONPLAFA, a network of health care providers in Honduras, M&L’s Performance Improvement Methodology provided a systematic approach to raising quality.
 
HR Management and AIDS HR Management and AIDS
Human Resource Management Assessment Tool for HIV/AIDS Environments is adapted to address the daunting challenges of managing health care staff in an AIDS environment

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