SANTA BARBARA, California, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Direct Relief today launched a Facebook fundraiser to provide medical care to Rohingya mothers and children in the world’s largest refugee camp.

Mass violence in Myanmar has forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people to flee their homes with only what they could carry, seeking refuge over the border in Bangladesh.

More than 600,000 Rohingya people are now living in the Kutupalong-Balukhali refugee camp. While striving to secure shelter and sustenance, their already precarious situation is compounded by extreme weather, including monsoon rains and cyclones that pound Bangladesh every year and have turned the refugee camps into mud fields.

Medical care for the Rohingya is extremely limited, with few places for women and children to receive medical treatment. Parents need health facilities to treat their children when they are sick and soon-to-be mothers need regular care and potential life-saving treatment when giving birth.

That is why Direct Relief is raising support for the Hope Foundation for Women & Children of Bangladesh, a local health organization providing critical care to the Rohingya.

From July 25 through August 10, Direct Relief will match every donation made to Hope Foundation on Facebook, up to a maximum of $100,000. Facebook has waived all processing fees for fundraisers hosted on the platform, meaning Hope Foundation will receive 100 percent of donations made through fundraiser.

The fundraiser page is available at this link: Rally for the Rohingya People

When Rohingya communities began fleeing into Bangladesh, Hope Foundation was already providing free health care at its established maternity hospital on the outskirts of Cox’s Bazar, more than an hour’s drive from the nearest refugee camp. Seeing the urgent medical needs among the newly arrived refugees, Hope Foundation rapidly scaled up its operation, establishing maternal health clinics across the camp and beginning work on a field hospital.

If the Hope Foundation receives the funds needed to complete construction and purchase medical equipment, the field hospital each month will be able to safely deliver more than 100 babies, provide prenatal care to 400 women, and serve more than 6,000 outpatients. The facility will be the first field hospital of its kind, providing critical care, reducing travel time to the nearest medical clinic, and increasing the overall health of refugees in the camp.

Because many patients find it difficult or impossible to travel, Hope also manages six to nine outreach clinics at any given time, making every effort to reach pregnant women and new mothers in the camps who cannot trek to health facilities. Hope also operates four ambulances and a fleet of 20 tomtoms (three-wheeled vehicles) to shuttle patients. As the rains worsen and walking becomes more treacherous, these transport options will become increasingly important.

For more information on the Hope Foundation, please see the following articles:

About Direct Relief

Established in 1948 with a mission to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies, Direct Relief delivers lifesaving medical resources throughout the world—without regard to politics, religion, ethnic identities, or ability to pay. With operations spanning more than 70 countries and all 50 states in the U.S., Direct Relief is the only charitable nonprofit to obtain Verified Accredited Wholesale Distributor (VAWD) accreditation by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. Among other distinctions, Direct Relief earns a perfect score of 100 from independent evaluator Charity Navigator, was listed among the world’s most innovative nonprofits by Fast Company, and has received the CECP Directors’ Award, the Drucker Prize for Nonprofit Innovation, and the President’s Award from Esri for excellence in GIS mapping. For more information, please visit https://www.DirectRelief.org.

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