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.
Issue link: https://wellesleywestonmagazine.epubxp.com/i/210435
volunteering community service helping out doing our part good works contributions neighbor to neighbor No Excuses Delivering Sustainable Health to the Humblest Parts of the World C H E R Y L B . S C A PA R R O T TA writer philanthropy if there's one word that describes the experience of working as a humanitarian aid worker in Cambodia and Africa, it's "heartbreaking." So says Elizabeth Sheehan, a Massachusetts COURTESY OF CONTAINERS 2 CLINICS native who worked for a decade in clinics, hospitals, and minefields for international organizations The HALO Trust and Doctors Without Borders. "More often than not, I was heartbroken by senseless deaths occurring because clinics weren't open, and medicine or staff wasn't available," she recalls. "I watched children die from simple dehydration and I was deeply moved. Health is a human right, and every person should be able to access simple primary health care services." This has become a lifelong cause for Sheehan, who has garnered resources, talent, and added a dash of innovation to start up Needham-based Containers 2 Clinics (C2C), a nonprofit that provides medical care for people in the developing world. C2C uses philanthropic funding to manufacture, ship, and place the clinic where needed, as well as to cover start-up costs and 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 revenue shortfalls until clinic revenue begins to cover annual modest operating costs. "We partner with patients and we're proving that with philanthropic help to get started, even very poor communities can sustain a primary health care clinic without the need for continued philanthropic support," explains Dawn Belizaire, C2C's director of development and communications. This past summer, C2C opened a modular clinic in northern Haiti, where patients can pay a small fee for services, such as $1.50 for a round of antibiotics. But the difference is that the 158 Clinics are staffed by local personnel trained to operate them now and in the future.