How can you best impact the health of people living in poverty?

BY ISN STAFF | January 23, 2013

Dear Ignatian Solidarity Network,

Today, the world faces many challenges. With the world’s deep inequalities in the burden of disease and access to care, it can be daunting to face these issues on an individual basis. As a member of the Ignatian Solidarity Network, you believe in a preferential option for the poor in health care. But how can you as an individual best impact the health of people living in poverty?

We can further a movement by acting together.

You are not alone in believing that a just world is a world free of “stupid deaths.” PIH | Engage is a grassroots movement of people who are working together to realize the human right to health. Communities all over the country have committed to advocate for global health policy change, to educate others about critical global health issues, and to generate unprecedented resources to move the needle on access to care in Malawi.

Interested in getting your parish, school, or group of family and friends involved?

1. Register as a Community Coordinator using this link: http://act.pih.org/page/s/community-coordinator-application.
2. Get on NationalField: We’ll invite you to NationalField, the social network for PIH | Engage. This is our primary hub for documents, sharing best practices, and tracking the progress of the movement. Get in the habit of checking NationalField on a regular basis by just logging in and poking around for a few minutes a day.
3. Get up to speed: Once you’re on NationalField, read the resources we’ve developed to help make your job easier. We’ve attached some here to help you get started, but they can all be found on NationalField as well. There’s lots to read, but start with these three and let us know what you think.
   • Documents at a glance – List of all of our resources for you
   • PIH | Engage Overview materials – A quick PPT overview of PIH | Engage
   • Community Coordinator Guide – Everything you need for your role as a CC
4. Schedule a one-on-one call with your Regional Organizer to help you get started with your community. They are amazing sources of knowledge and energy, and we’ve found that a phone call is the best way to get started!

Thank you so much for all that you do to advance social justice in your lives. I hope that we can work together to advance a broad social movement for health as a human right.

Dr. Joia Mukherjee, Chief Medical Officer at PIH, said, “No data in the world, no good vaccine, no potent medicine will get to the poorest of the poor without you. There will be no equity without solidarity. There will be no justice without a social movement.”

Onward,
Jon

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Jon Shaffer
Community Engagement Coordinator | Partners In Health
E: [email protected] | O: 617-998-6576 | C: 503-789-4677
888 Commonwealth Ave, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02215
www.pih.org | Facebook | @PIH