Kupona Foundation to host fundraiser

Money will aid efforts in Tanzania

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » The Kupona Foundation has been around since 2009, helping Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania to address the maternal health challenges in the country.

On Thursday night, for the second straight year, the now Saratoga Springs-based non-profit, hosts “A Night for Health & Hope” to raise funds for CCBRT.

“[Tanzania] is known for Mount Kilimanjaro and the safaris and the Serengeti, but [it’s] severely impacted by extreme poverty and that’s a huge burden especially for people who need access to quality healthcare, so a lot of things we take for granted in the U.S. sometimes: safe surgery if you break your leg, if you need an emergency C-section,” said executive director Abbey Kocan. “...the very basic access to safe surgical and obstetric care is what we focus on at Kupona.”

Kocan joined Kupona four years ago. Back in 2012, she and her husband worked in management consulting in New York City when her husband had an opportunity take a project in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Dar es Salaam, is one of the fastest growing urban centers in the world.

Kocan, who played for a women’s soccer team in New York, had a connection through her coach’s

good friend — who was the former ambassador to Tanzania from Belgium — who helped start Kupona Foundation.

She volunteered at the 200-bed hospital that does 10,000 surgeries a year for five months.

“If you’re in the U.S. and you’re born with congenital cataracts ... you go to the hospital, you have corrective congenital cataract surgery, you stay checked up, you may need glasses at some point but you can see,” said Kocan. “If that goes unidentified or untreated the child becomes blind.”

It was early 2014 when Kocan joined the organization, moving it to Saratoga Co-Works on Regent Street in early 2015.

Kupona focuses on three things specifically: mobilizing resources through fundraising and consumables for medical care, amplifying stories to raise awareness and connect technical experts to the hospital like the OB-GYN Kupona sent to Tanzania for a year to train doctors.

On Oct. 12 at 5:30 at Saratoga National Golf Club, attendees will have the opportunity to enjoy an open bar, food stations and a silent auction while supporting Kupona’s work.

For Kocan, being involved in the non-profit gives her perspective.

“It really wasn’t until I had my son two years ago in Saratoga Hospital and it was the day after where I realized he wouldn’t have survived. They never would have known that there was a problem and they had to do a C-section, and it gives you great perspective and that’s nice, but also it’s a great opportunity to get involved in something that is a lot bigger than you,” said Kocan. “It’s the one person that you help, but it’s really about changing the trajectory of healthcare in another country that is desperately in need. I think that our partnership with this local organization is also really unique.”

It’s not just a U.S. organization trying to help a foreign country. Tanzania’s government is behind this operation 100 percent, officials said.

“We can actually change the entire system of the healthcare in Tanzania. It’s not like we are throwing funds and resources into a blackhole. It’s building a system that’s going to completely change this country, and we work in partnership with the government, so everybody is on board,” said Samantha Bossalini, Development and Communications Associate of Kupona. “It’s a machine that works really well, and we’re flexible to change to making sure this works for everybody involved. This is a long-term goal, and we’re seeing shortterm results and that’s really encouraging.”

Kupona’s goal is to help Tanzania’s healthcare stand on its own.

“The vision in the end is that we work ourselves out of a job. We do this well enough that they can stand on their own and they don’t need us anymore. And how cool is that? Then we go focus on something else or another country,” said Kocan. “It’s kind of amazing what the power of people coming together can do.”

Tickets for the event can be purchased at the door.

For more information on the foundation, visit kuponafoundation.org.