AID grant no. LAC-0616-G-SS-5127-00 to the People to People Health Foundation, Inc. to support the intercountry technical transfer, child survival initiative in Northeast Brazil

Project HOPE, which has already worked in Ceara state in northeast Brazil for over 2 years, will continue its existing child survival program, extending its services into a wider area of the state and possibly into neighboring states. Project HOPE will train and support 50 community health workers (CHW"s) and also support the services of 10 local public health nurses and 2 U.S. pediatricians. Participation of rezadeiras (traditional healers) will be sought in delivering ORT packets and in health education efforts. The CHW"s will serve as a bridge from the official health system to the local health system for follow-up care, ORT, immunization, growth monitoring, and health education. The public health nurses will supervise services at the health posts and those of the CHW"s. They will also be responsible for training the CHW"s. The two pediatricians will work full-time in project supervision, data collection, continuing education of and support for the nurses and CHW"s, and efforts to encourage understanding of the project among Brazilian physicians. The ORT packets will be distributed to CHW"s by the nurses and to rezadeiras by the CHW"s. Both the rezadeiras and the CHW"s will distribute packets as needed in the community. In all, the project will serve some 113,500 children aged 0-5 and their mothers. The University of Virginia will provide consultant services to the project.