British medical publication investigates mental health progress in December issue.
Renowned UK medical journal The Lancet highlights health care progress made in Ethiopia by Central Oregon’s own ReachAnother Foundation.
Bend surgeon Dr. Marinus Koning, MD, FACS, medical director and founder of ReachAnother, travels each year to Ethiopia with a group of about 30 other Central Oregon residents. The group is being recognized for its work in establishing three specialized schools for children with autism. “The need is great because there are approximately 500,000 families in Ethiopia with children who are affected by an autism spectrum disorder and extremely limited resources to assist them,” said Koning.
According to The Lancet article ReachAnother is fulfilling an unmet need by addressing the “historic lack of awareness about autism among the country’s (Ethiopia) health-care community.”
Koning and his wife Patricia O’Neill, who have an adult autistic daughter, began setting up autism centers in Ehtiopia as an extension of the ReachAnother mission to provide surgeries for children born with Hydrocephalus.
“Children with Hydrocephalus and other health issues such as autism are frequently shunned and always at the bottom of the food chain, their lives frequently cut short by starvation and trauma,” said Koning.
ReachAnother established its first school, the Nehemiah Autism Center in Addis Ababa in 2010. It now offers autism-specific education to more than 60 children in the Ethiopian capital. “Our programs are starting to reach beyond the capital with two other schools we just established in the outlying cities of Adama and Hawassa,” said Koning.
“The schools are a godsend to families because they not only educate the child, but relieve the mother to work during the day, and thus help break the cycle of poverty,” said Koning.
“The good news is that the Ethiopian Ministry of Health has recognized the need to upgrade the training of Ethiopia’s 40,000 health extension workers to recognize children on the Autism spectrum, and to train and support families who care for autistic children,” said Koning.
ReachAnother in conjunction with the University of Hawassa and the University of Dilla Special Education Department has produced a series of videos to train the school’s staff. “The videos also educate parents who might set up their own self help groups,” said Koning.
To access the full article in “The Lancet” go to: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(16)30297-6/abstract
Over the last 7 years ReachAnother Foundation has also worked with private and university hospitals in Ethiopia to train neurosurgeons to use a shunt procedure that allows children with Hydrocephalus to grow up and have productive lives. The ReachAnother Foundation provides consultation, collaboration, and funding for a neurosurgeon training program to increase the supply of neurosurgeons in the country. RAF then provides financial support for indigent children’s surgeries to allow them to grow into contributing members of their communities.
ReachAnother Foundation is a humanitarian organization based in Bend, Oregon. It is dedicated to improve the quality of life for the world’s poorest citizens and to empower them to choose their own destiny. RAF works to increase access to healthcare, education and safe living conditions. Guided by a strong belief that healthcare is a fundamental human right for all peoples of the world, Dr. Marinus Koning RAF was founded in 2009.
Dr. Marinus Koning at info@reachanother.org or 541-325-3668.
