A 100-Word Mission Statement

This week I worked on the mission statement for MamaBaby Haiti.  Inter-American Foundation limits the statement to 100 words.  My statement is exactly 100 words.  I had to eliminate things such as the definition of matwon (traditional Haitian birth attendants) and to use a slash between maternal and child.  Do you feel sacrifices such as these are acceptable?  If not, what would you eliminate instead?

Below my mission statement is the introduction to the IAF CFP.  Do you think that I have created a mission statement that shows the shared interest of these two organizations?  If not, what connection opportunities have I neglected?

I appreciate your feedback.  I hope we are successful at securing this grant.

MamaBaby Haiti Clinic (MBH) is improving maternal/child health outcomes in the Morne Rouge area by equipping Haitians to provide excellent antenatal care based on the midwifery model.  In 18 months of operation we have set up a culturally competent, holistic birth center that is providing a clean, safe, and compassionate environment for birth and establishing best practices in cooperation with matwons. In 2012 we conducted 5,252 clinic visits and attended 256 births.  Clients learn about clean water, hygiene practices, domestic abuse, sexually-transmitted infections, and available birth control.  They return to underserved rural areas better equipped to make health-related decisions.

IAF’s Introduction

The Inter-American Foundation (IAF) invites proposals for its grant program. The IAF funds the self-help efforts of grassroots groups in Latin America and the Caribbean to improve living conditions of the disadvantaged and the excluded, enhance their capacity for decision-making and self-governance, and develop partnerships with the public sector, business and civil society. The IAF does not identify problems or suggest projects; instead it responds to initiatives presented. Projects are selected for funding on their merits rather than by sector (http://www.iaf.gov/index.aspx?page=96).

Gantt Charts for MamaBaby Haiti Morne Rouge Clinic Application

This week I created two timelines for MamaBaby Haiti Morne Rouge Clinic's grant application to Inter-American Foundation.  The first shows the overall timeline for the project.  Once IAF has provided clarification of the preliminary data collection, progress report, and final data collection/review desired, those will be added.
The second Gantt chart shows the distribution of a new nurse midwife's onsite/mobile clinic responsibilities and educational/outreach/clinical responsibilities.  It is noted that the exact days may change, but the weight of the various activities is evident.

IAF pre-proposal opening: Beyond the mountains

* Beyond the mountains, more mountains.

 The Inter-American Foundation (IAF) encourages Haitians to face our mountains.  At significant crossroads in young people’s lives IAF has collaborated with Haitians learning marketable skills like film making and dressmaking.  Our farmers have partnered with IAF to diversify production and increase profits. IAF’s current commitment to build up the Haitians who are taking charge of Lakou Lapè to forge peace among neighbors reveals IAF’s commitment to empowering citizens to transform communities. Meanwhile, MamaBaby Haiti has joined with the women in the rural areas around Cap-Haïtien at a critical juncture in their lives—pregnancy and childbirth.  We are seeing the opportunity for community transformation because birth makes more than babies. It makes women strong, confident, and competent if they are prepared to recognize the power of their own bodies through the ante-natal mentoring and birth attendance of trained Haitian midwives in a clean 24/7 clinic—the MamaBaby Haiti clinic in Mourn Rouge.  An IAF partnership with MamaBaby Haiti can loose the power to transform marginalized, rural communities through the newly discovered strength, fitness, and knowledge of their mothers—mothers who are stronger than our mountains.

I have wrestled with this paragraph this week.  I still think it is too long.  I’m trying to imagine being the voice for Haitians that I have not gotten to meet.  The RFP requires that the locals be the initiators.  I have also reviewed many IAF projects and have not discovered any others that focus on healthcare.  Business incubation, community leadership and democratic values tend to be the foci of IAF grants.  Still, after discussion, my client wants to go for this particular award.  That leaves me focusing on the broader, long-term effects of the program rather than the obvious reduction in mother and infant mortality.  These other effects are real and part of the trained midwife mindset, making this approach legitimate, though it seems circuitous. I am wondering if there is an ethical problem with a U.S. 501c3 ghostwriting for a Haitian organization that is expected to be initiating/planning this project and grant request.