Dear Friends,
I am writing to share the news that our sister organization, the Comité d'aide Médicale (CAM), is closing down operations due to a loss of institutional funds. As a result, here at Community Health International (CHI), we have decided to cease operations as well. This was a difficult summer for everyone at CAM and CHI but the deepening financial crisis in Europe and the lack of renewed funding for CAM in Sudan, the Central African Republic and Haiti left us little choice.
As one of CHI's founders, I find this obviously very difficult. On one hand, the project of expanding a model that supports communities through sustainable healthcare delivery will not continue through CHI. On the other hand, since 2007, CHI has provided over $650,000 in support to CAM which, in turn, has provided over $15 million of health care services in many countries including Angola, the Central African Republic, Chad, Haiti, Sri Lanka, and Sudan. I am heartened to know that our support over the years helped CAM provide essential medical care to more than 350,000 people annually. While I am saddened to see CAM shut down and CHI lose its purpose, we can still do much to improve health care around the world.
As you may remember, Partners In Health (PIH) provided us with invaluable logistics help and advice when we initiated our programs in Haiti. In my view, PIH provides access to health care in poor communities abroad better than other NGOs. For this reason, I have decided to redirect my time, energy and resources towards their work and hope you will do the same. PIH focuses largely on providing primary health care, work in partnership with local governments and communities, and strengthen rather than try to replace public infrastructure. Tara and I recently spoke with PIH about integrating CHI's Fit4Humanity campaign into their 2012 fundraising plan and hope that this will be possible. In the meantime, I encourage you to learn more and join me in supporting PIH's life-saving work. You can sign up at http://www.pih.org/chi or contact me. PIH is an organization that I know well and trust. It deserves your support.
On behalf of all of us at CHI and CAM, I want to extend my sincere appreciation for your generous support over the years. If you have any questions, or if you would like to discuss this transition further, please contact me at pcremieux@communityhealthinternational.org