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In the Field Blog

HOPE works in more than 35 countries worldwide. Please enjoy our blog as we document the successes and challenges of our work to provide Health Opportunities for People Everywhere.

A Year of HOPE

What an exciting year!

Posted By: Tom Kenyon, M.D., M.P.H. on January 4, 2017

Labels: Africa , Americas , China, Haiti, Macedonia, United States , Global Health Expertise, Disaster-Relief, Chronic Disease, Humanitarian Aid, NEXTGen, Women’s and Children’s Health, Health Care Education, Partners, Infectious Disease, Health Systems Strengthening, Volunteers

Our programs and professionals made tangible strides in building health capacity across the globe in 2016. Our volunteers inspired health workers every day in hospitals and clinics that serve the most vulnerable patients – newborns and their mothers.In Sierra Leone, HOPE volunteers shared lifesaving skills in neo-natal and maternal care with local nurses whose determination is matched only by our drive to improve the quality of health care in a place of great need.

When Haiti plunged back into crisis after Hurricane Matthew struck, threatening to undo the country’s hard work in rebuilding after the 2010 earthquake, HOPE medical volunteers rushed to support doctors and nurses at St. Therese Hospital in Nippes.

In Central Asia our teams were at the forefront of amazing innovations in TB detection and treatment, giving Project HOPE a voice at international forums. 

In Africa, we were on the frontlines, improving treatment for people living with HIV and are fiercely determined to work with partners seeking to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

In Europe, HOPE was there for thousands of people trapped in the migration crisis in Macedonia, in need of medicines and health care.

And closer to home, I was thrilled to see the Health Affairs journal, published by Project HOPE, expand its coverage of global health this year. I’m confident the journal will continue to be a crucial platform for the nation’s leading policy experts as a new administration takes office next month.

The global health challenges that await us in 2017 are enormous indeed. With a deeply dedicated staff at our headquarters in Virginia and offices around the world as well as the goodwill of our volunteers and continuing support of our dedicated supporters, we are poised to live up to our mission with even greater impact in 2017!

Check out more of HOPE’s lifesaving stories from 2016!

Hurricane in Haiti

Baby Tom Kenyon Smith

Bringing TB Awareness and Care to Migrant Workers in Kazakhstan

Ann Perez Named Volunteer of the Year

New Program in Malawi Seeks to Prevent New Infections and Lessen Impact of HIV

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5 Real Health Benefits of Helping Others

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• By: Elise Moreau
• January 17, 2017

• About Elise
• Follow Elise at @elisem0reau

Helping others makes us feel good. That feeling of making a difference in somebody else’s life — even in a small way — tends to trigger a deeper sense of satisfaction that doesn’t really compare to anything else.

Unfortunately, the realities of life don’t make it so easy to find the time in our busy schedules to volunteer for a cause that’s important to us, help a dear friend move to a new place or offer to take our young nieces/nephews to the park for an afternoon of fun. Sometimes, helping others in ways like these just doesn’t come as much of a priority as other things — like work, errands, yoga class, cleaning and so on.

A person who doesn’t necessarily prioritize generosity above their personal to-do lists isn’t automatically a selfish person. In fact, many people end up helping more people than they probably realize in their everyday lives — without being fully conscious of it.

It’s time to take notice of how being more helpful to friends, relatives, coworkers and even strangers really makes you feel. The more you become aware of this feeling, the more you’ll naturally want to do more to to help others, and the more you’ll be rewarded in physical, mental and emotional health benefits.

Here’s how.

1. You may live longer.

In a recent study, an international team of researchers conducted survival analyses of 500 seniors ages 73 to 103. They found that grandparents who helped take care of their grandchildren (not as primary caregivers) lived longer on average compared to grandparents who didn’t help take care of their grandchildren. Half of grandparents who lent a helping hand with grandchildren were still alive a decade after the first survey was conducted, and the same was true for seniors who didn’t have grandchildren but supported and helped their own children.

2. Your brain’s pleasure centers will become activated.

It turns out that giving feels just as good as receiving — if not more. A brain-imaging study revealed that when people donated money to charitable causes, the reward system in the brain becomes engaged in the same way as when people received money. In fact, more parts of the prefrontal cortex become activated when altruistic choices are made over selfish ones.

3. It can help you manage stress.

Research has shown that compassion is linked to lower stress levels. Fifty-nine subjects took a questionnaire that asked them about their levels of compassion and then completed a series of stressful tasks while they were evaluated by an evaluator who either acted in a supportive way, in a positive way or in a neutral way. Results showed that subjects who exhibited higher levels of compassion on the questionnaire ended up interacting more with the supportive evaluators than the other types of evaluators. They also experienced physical benefits like lower blood pressure, lower heart rate and lower cortisol levels compared to subjects who showed lower levels of compassion.

4. It may help lower inflammation.

Medical researchers who examined cellular inflammation in self-reported “happy” people found that lower levels of inflammation was present in only certain types of happy people. Those who felt happy because their lifestyles involved lots of personal pleasures still had higher levels of inflammation. Those who had lifestyles characterized by purpose and meaning — or in other words, a life that involved helping others out — had lower levels of inflammation.

Related: Top 12 Anti-Inflammatory Foods

5. It can help you develop a more positive and open mind.

Some studies have linked a state of self-focus to anxiety and depression. Shifting one’s focus to others is an effective way to get out of the constant ”me” perspective where thought patterns can cause problems to seem worse than they really may be. Helping others is essentially a great way to get out of your own mind where you can see and experience things from other points of view.

Now you know that helping others doesn’t just feel good — it’s actually one of the healthiest habits you could incorporate into your life. So start thinking about the random acts of kindness you already make, and think about how you could make them more frequent or expand on them for an even greater effect.

Related ArticlesStudy Finds People Can Think Their Way to Falling in (Or Out) of LoveEven Small Amounts of Physical Activity Can Make People HappierRunning May Be As Good for Your Brain As Playing a Musical Instrument

Photo Credit: Thinkstock

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See animals and the environment through a surrealist's eyes

Amy Guidry uses dreamlike images to make a statement about the relationship between humans and the world.

STARRE VARTAN

December 19, 2016, 11:02 a.m.

 19

Themes like climate change emerge in Amy Guidry's painting, as you can see in 'Expatriate.' (Photo: Amy Guidry)

Fine artist Amy Guidry is a Louisiana-based painter who has been making art since she was 3 years old. Her surrealist art tackles the subjects that she's interested in exploring — she has looked at depictions of women via fairy tale narratives, and the wide variety of human experience. In her newest series, "In Our Veins," she delves into the human relationship with animals and the natural world.

'Shelter' hints at Guidry's promise: 'What seems illogical can come to life through a painting.' (Photo: Amy Guidry)

MNN: What was the impetus for your surrealist series about animals and environment, In Our Veins?

Amy Guidry: I've had an interest in animals and the environment since I was very young. I've been vegan for almost 18 years now. However, despite the fact that animals and the natural world were often present in my work, I felt the need to up the ante. I wanted to challenge myself both technically and conceptually. My paintings were becoming progressively more surreal, lending themselves to dreamlike backgrounds and unusual imagery. Surrealism allows me to delve into environmental issues and animal welfare issues, creating strange worlds that reflect the current state of our planet. What seems illogical can come to life through a painting. Though in many ways, I feel like what I paint is a mirror-image of our reality.

As she shows in 'The Pack,' Guidry says when we ignore the threads that connect everything together in nature, we see animals in pieces and parts. (Photo: Amy Guidry)

How do you use psychology in your work?

This series focuses on our relationship to the natural world and our connection to every living thing. As humans, we often view nature as a means to an end. Animals are viewed as pieces and parts — head, rump, wing, and so on. They are no longer sentient beings but things we eat or wear or put on our walls. If they are food, animals are renamed: cow becomes beef, chicken becomes poultry, etc. It's as if we're distancing ourselves from nature. While I have depicted this common viewpoint through paintings of just the head or bust of an animal, I have endowed them with personalities or traits that would be considered more “human” to emphasize their importance and do away with the notion that animals are less than humans. So each animal, be it mammal, bird, etc., has been endowed with something we consider a “human quality.”

I’ve also explored what I consider the opposite approach to these paintings. While in some works, I rely on eyes and facial expressions to convey a sense of connection and relatability to animals, other paintings show animals without faces or covered faces. I wanted to explore the idea of anonymity vs. connection. Without seeing their faces, does that make them any less personable or meaningful? And how does this apply on a global scale? For me, even without seeing their faces, I still see so much life and personality in these animals. I still see them as sentient beings.

'Survival of the Fittest' puts cows in an unusual role — both predator and prey. (Photo: Amy Guidry)

'In Our Vein's is dominated by horses, deer, bears, wolves, rabbits, cows and humans. Why these animals?

I feel like a lot of these animals blur the line between what would be considered domestic and what would be considered wild. As more wild habitat is being encroached upon by new houses and shopping malls, these animals are being forced out of their homes and find themselves having to adapt to this new urban landscape. They are wild, yet at the same time, people either think of them as cute nomads or dangerous intruders, depending on the species.

I'll use cows because I feel like they are the epitome of the agribusiness animal. They are used for meat, dairy, and leather, and it's because of them that forests are cleared and "predatory" animals are killed — all for the sake of ranching.

As for incorporating humans, I do so to emphasize that we are all part of the animal kingdom. I’ll sometimes combine a human with another animal to illustrate that connection. Other times, I may just paint the human brain as a symbol of sentience and our moral obligation to the welfare of these animals.

'Untitled 'Heads' (Photo: Amy Guidry)

How do you find your images when you create a new painting?

The images I come up with are inspired by issues or events that I feel a need to cover through my work. I start out with thumbnail sketches of the basic concept behind a painting and I’ll do maybe 50 variations on that concept until I have the right one. Then I’ll draw out the piece to size. If I feel like it would work better a bit larger or even smaller, then I’ll draw it out again. Once I have that final composition worked out, I’ll then transfer that drawing to canvas, sometimes just tracing what I just did with tracing paper. I try to keep my drawing on canvas fairly basic, and work out the rest with paint. Then I do a rough layer of paint, just working out the basic image and getting the colors down. The subsequent layers of paint are to build the colors, and refine the details of everything, getting more detailed until the final layer of paint.

If I need a reference, I rely on my own pets, myself, or my husband as live models. I also have anatomical models and books, though I use that as a guide. I take a lot of artistic license because sometimes a literal translation just doesn't suit what I'm going for.

'Crutch' hints at the sacrifices animals make to make way for human development. (Photo: Amy Guidry)

How does your local environment (or another one) find its way into your paintings?

So far what I've been painting has been on more of a global scale, really, though I do plan on doing some pieces more specific to this area (Louisiana), especially because of our wetlands. I've been focused on climate change, so oceans have been a dominant theme as of late. I also incorporate desert scenes for not only an apocalyptic feel, but to also illustrate the change in landscape due to the clear-cutting of forests.

Your color palette is very specific; is this to make it easier to reproduce colors time and again or for some other reason?

The colors are really dictated by the subject matter, that being said, there are some choices I make regarding the background which are completely intuitive. I may use a more dramatic sky if I want the overall feel of the piece to be a bit dark.

Twenty-Nine Adorable Kittens In One Video - Cats vs Cancer

Twenty-Nine Adorable Kittens In One Video - Cats vs Cancer: This could be the greatest video of 2016. There are 29 reasons why, and each one is cuter and cuddlier than the next. Cuteness overload!!

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8 ways cats say 'I love you'

They may have a reputation for being aloof, but cats have ways of showing affection for their humans.

LAURA MOSS

June 24, 2015, 8:51 a.m.

 182

Your kitty may not give kisses like a dog, but a slow blink across the room means the same thing. (Photo: sigmadp2j/flickr)

Unlike dogs, cats don’t greet their owners with wagging tails and sloppy kisses, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have genuine affection for their human companions.

Cats simply express their affection in more subtle ways, and all you need is a basic understanding of feline behavior and body language to see all the little ways your kitty says, “I love you.”

Head bumps and leg rubs

Cats have scent glands concentrated on certain parts of their bodies, including their cheeks and heads. When your kitty rubs her head or face against you, she’s marking you with her scent and claiming you as part of her family group. This scent is a source of both comfort and familiarity for your kitty.

Grooming sessions

Grooming is another way that cats spread their scent to mark territory. If you have multiple cats, you may have seen them grooming each other, a social practice cats use to establish a common scent among the family group. By sharing a scent, your feline friend is creating a sense of belonging.

Slow blinks

When your kitty looks at you and slowly closes his eyes, as in the video below, he’s showing that he’s content and comfortable around you. In fact, this slow-blinking behavior has even earned the nickname “kitty kisses.”

“The concept of closing their eyes to you in a slow way is not something that they would do,” says cat behaviorist Jackson Galaxy. “They’re letting you know that they are vulnerable to you.”

Exposing the belly

Another way cats can show that vulnerability is by rolling over and exposing their bellies. This is a sure sign of trust and shows that your cat is comfortable around you.

Kneading

When kitties knead your lap or a surface near you, it means they’re relaxed and content. As kittens, the behavior is used to stimulate a mother’s milk flow, but continuing the action into adulthood can express comfort.

Kitty underfoot

If your feline friend follows you from room to room, jumps onto tables and counters to be near you and always seems to be right where your step, she clearly enjoys your company — especially if it’s not near feeding time.

Tail position

How your cat holds her tail can tell you a lot about how she’s feeling. A tail held straight in the air is often used as a greeting, so you know your kitty is happy to see you. In fact, Dr. John Bradshaw, author of the book, "Cat Sense," says this is "probably the clearest way cats show their affection for us."

A tail held upright with a curve at the tip like a question mark also indicates familiarity, friendliness and affection.

Purring

While a cat's purr isn't an always indication of love and happiness — cats also purr when they're scared or injured — a happy cat may express affection by purring when he's curled up in your lap or rubbing against your leg.

Want to show your kitty you love him too? Jackson Galaxy tells you how in the video below.