Natalie is making a huge difference to CleanBirth.org and women in Salavan Province, Laos.

She is an Australian psychologist who recently completed her first year as a medical student in Sydney Australia. She has extensive experience volunteering in Peru and Chile.

Natalie found CleanBirth.org on the internet and approached me to get involved. Here’s more about her motivation to get involved in her own words:

As part of my medical degree I am required to complete a social justice elective in an area of my choosing. My parents have been living and working in Vientiane for the past year and for this reason Laos has very much been on my radar. Through my interest in obstetrics in developing countries and being familiar with an Australia NGO Send Hope Not Flowers, CleanBirth.org caught my eye as an earnest and extremely valuable venture where I could potentially lend a hand.

From December 19-23, Natalie will be working closely with Dr. Nong and Noy, OVA staffer/CleanBirth.org’s part-time project manager on the ground.

They will distribute kits and review nurses’ data on Dec 20th and train the nurses on our new data tracking tool for Village Volunteers.

On Dec 21st they will coordinate the training of another 12 Village Volunteers in a Salavan District clinic. The nurses will teach the Village Volunteers not only to spread information about safe birth but also how to distribute and track the AYZH Clean Birth Kits.

We are so grateful to Natalie who is paying her own way and volunteering her time!