GUATEMALA GIVING
U of W graduate helps out
A grade-school project aimed at helping Guatemalan schoolchildren inspired Dominique Ferrarelli to launch her own humanitarian effort for new mothers and children in the impoverished Central American country. KareKits for Guatemala is the 23-year-old’s ambitious initiative to supply midwives, new mothers and children with life-saving materials and knowledge about health and wellness.
Now a second-year medical student at an American university, the recent University of Windsor graduate never forgot the presentation she saw at Sacred Heart elementary school in LaSalle. Ferrarelli said her class was putting together school supplies and hygiene products for a Woodslee-based charity named Guatemala Hope. They gathered in the gym to see a presentation on life in Guatemala.
“It was the first time I saw someone who lived in drastically different living conditions than me,” Ferrarelli said.
She and her classmates got a chance to experience life as a Guatemalan child. They spent the school day wearing only socks, no shoes, and they ate a small bowl of rice at lunch.
“I knew then that I wanted to help Guatemalan schoolchildren,” Ferrarelli said. “KareKits is the manifestation of a dream of mine for over a decade.”
Her interest in global health only grew during her time studying biochemistry.
She took part in several campus projects and an outreach trip to Portugal.
Last year, she decided to make her KareKits dream a reality. Ferrarelli raised seed money through a Gofundme campaign, a grant and some funding from the Clinton Global Foundation. Her project was selected for presentation at the foundation’s annual conference last year in Boston.
KareKits aims to reduce prenatal, maternal, neonatal and pediatric deaths in Guatemala, a country that suffers from some of the highest infant-mortality rates in Latin America.
In 2014, Guatemala ranked 31st out of 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries in terms of the Human Development Index, which measures life expectancy, knowledge and standard of living. Ferrarelli enlisted the help of a trio of fourth-year biochemistry students in Bilal Soufan, Catalin Gramisteanu and Nasyr Malik. While she focused on developing a kit for midwives, the students put together a STEM-based curriculum related to medicine, nutrition, oral hygiene and more for the children.
“To be at the forefront of an initiative like this is amazing,” Soufan said. “We’ve been working on different projects at university for a while but to get an opportunity to make an impact globally is incredible.
“I really hope I can continue to work on this project my entire life.”
The KareKits for midwives include information on infections, haemorrhaging and newborn care along with a simple training device. In Guatemala, midwives are present for 80 per cent of births. The KareKits for new mothers include a blanket, a baby bottle, infant hat and socks and basic medical information.
The KareKits for kids have school supplies and activity books geared to health and hygiene. Ferrarelli has started assembling some of the kits in the basement of her family home in Amherstburg. Her goal is to deliver kits in person by 2019.
A new Gofundme page explains that a $10 donation funds a midwife kit, a $20 donation funds a kit for mothers and $25 funds a kit for kids. More information is available at gofundme.com/karekitscgiu, at karekitsblog.wordpress.com/ or on Facebook at facebook.com/GuatemalaKareKits/