Rotary clubs and districts grant for Obstetric Emergency Training in the Congo
Sep 09, 2024 6:40 PM
Betsy Brill of HandUp Congo
Rotary clubs and districts grant for Obstetric Emergency Training in the Congo
HandUp Congo is a small, non-government organization based in Australia and registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission. It was created to make a difference to the health and well-being of Congolese communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo – a country that ranks at the bottom of the United Nations Human Development Index. HandUp Congo remains small by choice, continuing to focus on food security, education and emergency medicine. Remaining small allows us to successfully engage with our Congolese project partners. We regularly visit Congo with skilled volunteers and communicate with donors and volunteers about our projects. This presentation is related to an international grant opportunity extended to the Kirkland club by Lucy Hobgood-Brown with the Rotary E-Club of Greater Sydney.
In 2005 HandUp Congo was founded by Anne and Lucy Hobgood, two sisters who grew up in Congo, and their friend, Betsy Brill. Betsy Brill is a former journalist and business editor who has spent more than a year travelling, studying, and writing about microfinance approaches in Egypt, India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. She brought her knowledge of microfinance and sustainability to the trio’s fledgling efforts when they organized in 2005. “The world is filled with problems,” Betsy says, “but solutions fascinate me. Sharing those solutions – taught by women in other developing countries – is the most rewarding thing I’ve done in my life.” Betsy, who was the catalyst for the Microcredit project, lives in San Francisco and spends part of the year in a small village in France.
Betsy, who was the catalyst for the Microcredit project, is a woman of a certain age… among the first recipients of the polio vaccine in the 1950s and the most eager to receive the COVID19 vaccine in 2021. A former journalist, editor, and publication designer, today she is an exhibited sculptor in clay. She now lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, and San Francisco, California.