Why I’m there and why Doctors of the World need your help.
Suzanne Clément and Natalie Brown duo celebrates the 10th anniversary of Doctors or the World Canada
Two Sophies on observer missions to Haiti and the Dominican Republic
Montreal (Quebec), January 29, 2009 – Suzanne Clément and Natalie Brown have enthusiastically agreed to become spokespeople for Doctors of the World Canada in 2009, as the organization celebrates its 10th anniversary. They will also serve as co-hosts at the benefit gala in Montreal on March 30, 2009.
As part of their commitment, the actors, who play, respectively, Sophie Paquin in Les hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin and Sophie Parker in CBC’s Sophie, will travel to Haiti and the Dominican Republic from February 8 to 14 to learn firsthand about the lives of the destitute and meet the beneficiaries and participants in the various projects organized by Doctors of the World in these countries.
During their trip, the two Sophies will be in the field observing how Doctors of the World carries out vaccination and nutritional support programs for children, family planning and pregnancy support programs, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs, and support programs for victims of violence. These programs have been developed specifically by Doctors of the World Canada for the Cité Soleil shantytown in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and the slums of San Luis in the Dominican Republic.
About Médecins du Monde Médecins du Monde is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1980. The mission of its network of 10 independent delegations is to help and care for vulnerable people in situations of crisis, war, natural catastrophe and exclusion throughout the world and in their own countries. To achieve these goals, Médecins du Monde relies on volunteer commitments from professionals in healthcare and other disciplines, and on the financial support of individual donors and donor agencies. The Canadian delegation of Médecins du Monde (www.medecinsdumonde.ca), founded in 1996, is currently participating in humanitarian and development aid projects in Haiti, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and Zimbabwe, as well as working with groups with no other access to healthcare in Montreal.
For interviews with spokespeople Suzanne Clément and Natalie Brown before, during or after their journey, please contact:
Born of the "French Doctors" movement of the 1970s, Médecins du Monde (Doctors of the World) is an international, non-profit medical organization dedicated to providing humanitarian assistance. To come to the aid of the world's poorest people, it relies on the voluntary commitment of professionals from healthcare and other fields.
Caring The primary mission of Doctors of the World is to provide care and protect lives. The organization's volunteers are committed to providing relief to the world's most vulnerable populations suffering the effects of crisis, war, natural disaster and marginalization, regardless of their ethnic, social, religious or political affiliation.
Helping Solidarity and mutual aid both share a common goal: to enable individuals to reach their full potential while respecting their differences. To that end, Doctors of the World provides communities and care-givers with local, on-the-ground assistance in order to best meet their needs while fostering their autonomy.
Bearing witness To be truly effective, Doctors of the World's mission goes beyond healthcare. As witnesses of obstacles to healthcare access and violations of human rights and dignity, our organization speaks out against injustice in any form and works with political authorities to improve the situation of civilian populations.
We know there is no healing without justice,
no enduring aid without civil society.
An International Network
Founded in 1989, Médecins du Monde's international network now comprises the following 9 autonomous delegations: Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, France, Greece, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. Each delegation develops and carries out its own humanitarian assistance projects using its own resources.
The network also includes six representative offices which are responsible for helping the delegations raise their international profiles, recruit volunteers and secure funding. Inter-delegation projects are carried out according to common priorities, like the fight against HIV/AIDS. The experience and expertise acquired are shared jointly between all delegations.
The Médecins du Monde international network consists of over 3,000 volunteers and 2,000 local employees in 69 countries.
The Birth of Médecins du Monde Canada (Doctors of the World Canada)
The Canadian delegation of Doctors of the World was founded in 1996 as a representative office of Médecins du Monde Switzerland. It launched its first projects in Haiti.
In May 1999, the Board of Directors of Médecins du Monde International officially recognized the Canadian delegation's independence. Dr. Réjean Thomas was named the Founding President, and the organization began to recruit volunteers and raise funds to carry out its own projects.
Projet Montréal was launched in 1999 in keeping with a local mission. The primary objective was disease prevention among street kids while giving them access to healthcare services. In the long term, the street patrol nurses and our volunteer doctors will also offer healthcare to sex workers, injection drug users, natives and immigrants in addition to facilitating their reinsertion into the existing healthcare system. Projet Montréal also includes a psychological support and professional coaching component for street workers working with this client group with a view to enhancing their quality of work life.
The organization has made the fight against HIV/AIDS one of its top priorities and has launched several projects in support of that cause around the world. It has also acquired considerable emergency response expertise. Between 1999 and 2005, the number of volunteers jumped from 8 to nearly 50, and the organization's annual budget grew from $335,000 to over $3.5 million. In 2005, 12 projects were carried out in 11 countries, compared to just three projects in 1999.
In 2006, the organization took a step back from its activities to redefine its priorities and objectives. From that point on, the focus has been on development projects in countries geographically close to Canada, in areas like Central America and the Caribbean. Doctors of the World Canada wishes to raise public awareness of humanitarian causes and strengthen its financial independence.
1999-2009: After ten years, the organization has over 30 projects around the world to its credit
Our Ongoing Projects:
Promoting a Healthy World
Haiti Doctors of the World Canada has made Haiti its primary focus. The organization is carrying out long-term projects in the country and invests considerable energy in response to its humanitarian crises. At this time, the following initiatives are underway in the Cité Soleil slum:
HIV/AIDS prevention, screening, care and treatment program
Program to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS • Assistance at the Choscal Hospital vaccination unit, maternity ward and paediatrics ward and help with nutrition management and laboratory operations
Promotion of sexual and reproductive health
Child development education program
Local capacity-building
Dominican Republic Doctors of the World Canada is active at the San Luis Hospital, located roughly 10 kilometres from the country's capital, as well as in the surrounding bateyes. Concretely, the organization is involved in:
Rehabilitating the hospital's care units
Providing basic healthcare
Operating mobile healthcare clinics in the bateyes
Working to prevent and detect cases of HIV and other ITSBs (infections transmitted sexually and/or by blood)
Building local capacities
Nicaragua Designed for battered women and teenage female sex workers in the Matagalpa region, this Doctors of the World Canada project seeks to:
Provide health and psychological care to battered women
Run a round-the-clock drop-in centre
Prevent and detect cases of HIV and other ITSBs among young sex workers
Build local capacities
Projet Montréal Since 1999, Doctors of the World Canada has been running a project in Montreal assisting people excluded from traditional healthcare services. Concretely, this project includes:
Two street patrol nurses providing healthcare services in Montreal's streets, where the poorest people can be found
Vaccination, health promotion, and HIV and ITSB prevention and detection
A team of volunteer doctors working with the two nurses
Group and individual sessions providing psychological support to community social workers
Health promotion project In partnership with the Sexperts group, a series of presentations is conducted in schools all year long. The goals are to teach students about a healthy, responsible sex life and make them aware of the risk of transmission of HIV/AIDS and other ITSBs.
Public outreach project Doctors of the World Canada will hold approximately 40 information sessions a year in secondary schools, CEGEPs, universities and hospital centres in seven Quebec regions. The sessions will coincide with four important events:•
International Women's Day : March 8
Regions visited: Quebec City/Laval and Montreal
World Health Day : April 7
Regions visited: Trois-Rivières/Sherbrooke and Montreal
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty : October 17
Regions visited: Gatineau/Ottawa and Montreal
World AIDS Day : December 1
Region visited: Montreal
Recent projects In recent years, Doctors of the World Canada has also been active in Indonesia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Palestine, Mozambique, Sri Lanka, Kosovo, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Vietnam, and it has carried out several emergency relief projects in Haiti.
10 Years: Worth Celebrating! In 2009, Doctors of the World Canada will organize a series of events to celebrate its 10th anniversary.
Communication and visibility
February 2009
Production of a video in Haiti featuring the 10th Anniversary Benefit Gala's two spokespersons: Natalie Brown (Sophie Parker in "Sophie" on CBC) and Suzanne Clément (Sophie Paquin in "Les hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin" on SRC, the CBC's French-language network)
March 2009
Appearance of a Médecins du Monde team on the program
"L'Union fait la force" on SRC
Launch of a new website
May 2009
Doctors of the World Canada Homecoming
Benefits
March 30, 2009: 10th Anniversary Benefit Gala
April 23, 2009: Stories from around the World
September 2009: An evening of music, with Olympic athletes as our DJs
December 2009: Médecins du Monde and Course Destination Monde
Awareness-raising and personal stories for the Canadian public Presentations and debates on humanitarian issues
Presentations as part of World AIDS Day, International Women's Day, World Health Day and the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
zanne Clément and Natalie Brown duo celebrates the 10th anniversary of Doctors or the World Canada
each their full potential while respecting their differences. To that end, Doctors of the World provides communities and care-givers with local, on-the-ground assistance in order to best meet their needs while fostering their autonomy.
The Birth of Médecins du Monde Canada (Doctors of the World Canada)
g with a local mission. The primary objective was disease prevention among street kids while giving them access to healthcare services. In the long term, the street patrol nurses and our volunteer doctors will also offer healthcare to sex workers, injection drug users, natives and immigrants in addition to facilitating their reinsertion into the existing healthcare system. Projet Montréal also includes a psychological support and professional coaching component for street workers working with this client group with a view to enhancing their quality of work life.
006, the organization took a step back from its activities to redefine its priorities and objectives. From that point on, the focus has been on development projects in countries geographically close to Canada, in areas like Central America and the Caribbean. Doctors of the World Canada wishes to raise public awareness of humanitarian causes and strengthen its financial independence.
Ongoing Projects:
Doctors of the World Canada is active at the San Luis Hospital, located roughly 10 kilometres from the country's capital, as well as in the surrounding bateyes. Concretely, the organization is involved in:
Designed for battered women and teenage female sex workers in the Matagalpa region, this Doctors of the World Canada project seeks to:
In 2009, Doctors of the World Canada will organize a series of events to celebrate its 10th anniversary.
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