Opening the narrative

I’m working on the narrative for my larger grant this week.  I’m establishing the context and preparing to introduce the role of various parties, including the targeted funder, IAF.

My narrative can be ten, double-spaced pages.  I’m trying to decide if I am taking too long in establishing the context.  Should I drop portions such as the first paragraph and the paragraph that ends “Mwen regret sa”?

In the first paragraph, I’m not primarily trying to establish pathos, though I believe that happens.  My primary goal is to clearly portray the transportation challenges of laboring women. 

I appreciate your feedback.

INTER-AMERICAN FOUNDATION

PART 2: NARRATIVE

The motorcycle painfully labors its way through the muddy, predictably washed out streets. The extra passenger’s tears merge with rain in rivulets descending her tired face.  Something’s gone wrong.  She loses count of contractions as they bump their way 45 minutes to Justinien Hospital in Cap-Haïtien.  Any they pass that are stuck in the storm count her lucky for she must have the gourdes for the xxx and xxx required to enter the hospital.  If only there is room and time.

Inter-American Foundation is committed to supporting the self help efforts of Haiti’s disadvantaged and excluded population of women and children, 95% of whom are of African descent[1].  Nowhere else in the Western Hemisphere are women and children more excluded from the basic community services necessary for healthy living conditions.  As a result, Haitians suffer higher infant and maternal mortality rates than any other nation in their hemisphere.  One in 83 Haitian women can expect to die as a result of a pregnancy[2].  The most recent reports show that out of every 100,000 live births, 350 mothers died (2010 data)[3] and 25 vulnerable newborns (2012 data) died[4].  This neonatal mortality rate is 2.5 times higher than the Latin American and Caribbean rate as a whole[5].  The maternal mortality rate is almost four times as high as the regional rate[6].  Those that dwell in cities have better access to medical services, sanitary conditions, and clean water—key factors in improving birth outcomes—making rural [JW1] mothers and infants the most neglected of the most vulnerable in Haiti, the most dangerous place to face birth in the Western Hemisphere.

By the time these rural women wend their way to an overcrowded, understaffed, distant hospital, it is far too likely that they will hear, “Mwen regret sa[7].”

Seven kilometers south of Cap-Haïtien, professionally-trained, local midwives and Santo Choute are working alongside the families of the area to build a stable birth clinic in Morne Rouge where maternal and infant mortality can be reduced through critical education and compassionate care in a clean 24/7 birth center.  In 18 months of operation the clinic has already been established as a trusted and compassionate birthing location with at least one referral coming from the regional hospital.  We have initiated dialogue with a number of other organizations in the area with complementary goals and begun educating families about maternal and infant health issues. 

We are now ready to strengthen these community connections.  There are two prongs to this project.  First, to reach those that lack transportation to the clinic we need a mobile outreach clinic to provide seven surrounding fishing villages with monthly access to pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease tests, basic pregnancy and family planning education, and iron supplements.  The second task is to more formally establish working relationships with the regional hospital and NGOs to better utilize the resources each of us has to contribute to improving the quality of life for this marginalized population.  Together with IAF, we can launch a pilot community education program and services network that can improve the living conditions of this region and transform young women, as they establish their adult identity, into knowledgeable adults that feel capable of managing their own lives and that hold new hope for their communities.

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[1] (The world factbook 2013-14, 2013)

[2] (World Health Organization, 2012)

[3] (World Health Organization, 2012)

[4] (UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, 2013)

[5] This is based on data available in Levels and Trends in Child Mortality: Report 2013( (UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, 2013)

[6] This is based on data available in Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2010 (World Health Organization, 2012)

[7] “I’m sorry (your baby died).”

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 [JW1]48% of the 2010 population lived in rural areas per the CIA Factbook 2013.