Launched in 2005, WellesleyWeston Magazine is a quarterly publication tailored to Wellesley and Weston residents and edited to enrich the experience of living in two of Massachusetts' most desirable communities.
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good works "we're not trying to make a profit" medical equipment could perhaps make an impact on the huge global need for a health care delivery system in a simple, efficient way. C2C aims to keep margins low. "We only want clinics to break Belizaire adds, "We want to bring high quality care and make it affordable, and continue to offer that care without constantly going back to donors to keep it running." even — we're not trying to make a profit," Belizaire emphasizes. "We Currently, in addition to the two locations in Haiti, C2C maintains conducted door-to-door surveys in northern Haiti, and we discovered a location in Namibia. The process starts with two eight by twenty feet that many people spend 50 to 60 percent of their income on health shipping containers, which transform into fully-stocked, fully-equipped events, which includes the cost of travel to other parts of the country health care clinics upon arrival. The typical C2C clinic offers primary where they can obtain care. It might mean paying for a taxi or motor- health care for entire communities, with an emphasis on special- cycle ride, plus the additional cost of seeing a physician and for phar- ized care for women and children. The air-conditioned facilities have maceuticals." adaptable water and power hook-ups, two private examination rooms, With C2C's financial model, patients pay much less, without having to journey far from home. space for a pharmacy and laboratory, and are movable — they can be re-loaded onto flatbed trucks if disaster strikes. Sheehan says what differentiates C2C from other charitable organi- Meanwhile, back in the Needham office, a team of five women who zations is the long-term commitment and presence on the ground. all excel in different areas such as business and operations, develop- "Philanthropic dollars have a finite runway," she points out. "From the ment, and communications, devote their efforts to C2C. big USAID grants to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, they have a short memory. There's a big initial push by these types of organiza- The Ground Truth tions to build a hospital or school, but as soon as a need is found else- Sheehan's decade abroad taught her, if nothing else, that there needs to where, that philanthropic money leaves and there's no way to cover be community buy-in. "For our model in Haiti, we hire local citizens day-to-day costs." before the clinic even opens," she explains. "They educate their fellow CONTAINERS 2 CLINICS (C2C) 162 Local citizens educate their neighbors on basic issues like proper hygiene. COURTESY OF CONTAINERS 2 CLINICS We l l e s l e y We s t o n M a g a z i n e | w i n t e r 2 0 1 3 / 2 0 1 4 www.containers2clinics.org