THANK YOU ALL for being part of this extraordinary project. Here's to more Good News Rooms in Kono and beyond. Ways to help/more info: 1. To learn more about this project, here's a playlist: ua-cam.com/play/PLMs_JcuNozJbjCVbqOv2FGS6nOGlRKStK.html 1. Here is a semisecret video of my entire interview with Hawa, Success, and Marie. They are the best: ua-cam.com/video/zQ7pDNWUuok/v-deo.html 2. Make a monthly or one-time gift to support the MCOE and its mission to radically reduce maternal and child mortality: pih.org/hankandjohn 3. If you can donate $2,000 or more, please join the matching fund via this link: www.pih.org/maternal-center-excellence?form=match-for-sierra-leone Or if you have questions about a major gift, you can email me at sparksflyup -at- gmail 4. Join the Awesome Coffee Club! awesomecoffeeclub.com or get Sun Basin soap: good.store/pages/sun-basin-soap 5. SPREAD THE WORD. Your attention matters. Keep up to date on what's happening in Sierra Leone via www.pihsierraleone.com/ I am so, so grateful for this community. Thanks for being here with us. -John
John, I love that we are seeing the early fruits of this massive endeavor of hope and change! And it is so important that the project is empowering local people and teaching trades so even more things can be built in the future! It’s not about throwing money at a problem or plopping down resources we think they need-it’s about creating and supporting a community-based system that will continue to thrive and change lives. I’m so proud. 💛
If this was a pin, it got un-pinned on edit. Not like it won't be near the top anyway, but I'm not even sure it shows up properly when this happens when logged in on your own account due to how YT sorts stuff.
This hits hard, our first was a NICU baby, 5 weeks early from emergency C-section, change of circumstances and I could have lost both my wife and baby.
As someone who had to get driven to another city at the ripe old age of ten minutes because the hospital we lived next to didn’t have a nicu, this hits hard
I was a construction worker with a drug problem six years ago when I started studying philosophy by watching Crash course: Philosophy. I've been donating regularly since the sock club started and I had the extra income. I'm now finishing my freshman year as a philosophy major. This really hit me hard. I'm crying. Thank you everyone.
that’s awesome to hear. Do you go part time? I also am interested in pursuing philosophy as a degree, but I dropped out after my freshman year pursuing music education, and have trouble visualizing a future where I make it work (especially of course while managing to pay the bills).
Yooooo I had a similar story where I got my life back together after being inspired by scishow and while it’s not run by john I fucking always donate to the socks club. Stay strong bother it’s only up from here. You got a lot to look forward to.
"It's simply not acceptable. But also, we don't have to accept it." So much of the inequities and injustices of our time are NOT inevitable. They are the result of the choices we collectively make as a society. Thank you John, for showing me hope that things can get better, if we choose to make them so.
after watching a few videos on the terrible, ineffective 'help' many mission trips provide to the places they go, i needed this. the reminder that helping communities is possible, you just need to listen, and respond to the real needs. I love seeing all these people who have found work they can continue to do for the rest of their lives and who can use it now to create the structures they will need in the future.
Thanks for the kind words. I agree that it really has to begin with cultural humility--I don't know what the people of Sierra Leone need, and so I had better listen carefully when they tell me--and also the kind of long-term focus that is baked in to Partners in Health's model. No charity is perfect, and lots of mistakes will be made, but I really believe in PIH's model for change-making, long term intervention, and deep partnerships with governments and communities. -John
@@vlogbrothers John, having met a lot of people in the humanitarian aid world... Paul and PiH are just as respected and revered as he and they deserve. I think the new generation of humanitarian workers will be following the PiH model very closely.
I was a baby who needed specialized care. My parents drove all night through a blizzard to get me to the hospital that kept me alive. That was more than 40 years ago, and I'm so glad the special babies of the Kono district in Sierra Leone can receive the world class care they need, too.
I am a nurse and a longtime nerdfighter and I am just sitting here SOBBING at what profound and important work this is. I'm so happy and proud to be a part of this community.
Also a nurse and also shedding a few tears. So grateful that where I work is full of good news rooms and that more and more parents and families will get to experience the joy of taking their babies home 💙
@@vlogbrothers Long time viewer but first time donator, now a monthly sub! Thank you guys for not only the work you show here, but for generally being role models of compassion and curiosity. For so many years, you guys and your team have been inspiring for so many of us to learn and do more for ourselves and those around us, and to make a better world than the one we’re given. Keep rockin!
I work for a development organization in West Africa. Last week a colleague and his wife in Northern Sierra Leone lost their baby three days after birth because of the bad maternal and newborn health situation: the clinic staff didn't react to symptoms of deteriorating health and they didn't have enough resources once the parents managed to alert them. I'm upset but this video gives so much hope. Thanks John and all the supporters!
"All these babies are going to live." Is such a powerful statement and sentiment when you know it will be TRUE, especially after so much hardship for that community in the past, when that couldn't be a guarantee. The way it is not even a question. They WILL live. Absolutely made me sob 💖
I sobbed throughout this whole video. When this project first started, I formed a PIH Engage group on my college campus raising money for this specific goal. I remember telling everyone in my life over and over that one in 17 women in Sierra Leone will die in pregnancy or childbirth. God, I’m so glad that number is changing. COVID killed my little Engage team only a year after I started it, but this project and PIH changed the direction of my life irreversibly. I’m halfway through my master’s degree in public health, and that’s a path that I don’t know if I would have taken if not for the work of Hank and John, PIH, and this community. I’m so proud to be a part of this. DFTBA!
When my husband and I started supporting this project, we had no idea that our own journey to parenthood would’ve been deadly had we not been supported by maternal and fetal health specialists. This project has changed our lives and we will continue to support it for as long as we can.
I don’t think we could find a better video to override that 4 minute rule, this video made my day! I’m so glad we helped you and Hank with this, it’s been one of the greatest joys. That’s great to hear, when people do come together change DOES happen.
@@lovermillion idk. I think John should definitely have to *do* something for violating the 4 minute rule, but it should be an especially soft punishment.
My mom died a couple years ago, and my middle daughter was missing her tonight. My mom was a maternity nurse way back, so watching this together and making a donation was a great way to turn sorrow into something positive and hopeful. Thanks for always caring.
I just got home from what is hopefully my last prenatal appointment before I have my baby later this week. I am so thrilled and excited that other moms are able to start receiving similar care and that they can start coming to the Drs with confidence that they and their babies will be well. And I’m so glad we’ve been in a position to contribute to this project from the beginning!
like, come on. if you told me back in 2013 that these goofy nerds on youtube would help raise $40 million dollars to build a world-class maternal hospital in sierra leon there’s no way i’d believe you. this is the best community and im so damn proud to be a part of it. clearly not forgetting to be awesome
I have two daughters who enjoyed watching big machines and one of them is now at university studying engineering. It is awesome that so many women are involved in the construction of this project and I hope many girls get to watch them do it.
I watched that moment many times. The look of anticipation and hope that comes over her face really encapsulates what an incredible impact this project will have on so many lives.
I really admire all the women in particular but really everyone in this video doing such important and amazing work! I love that along with the primary goal/purpose of the project - maternal & child health - other goods are being created as well, such as the vocational training that's changing the lives of these workers & their families. And I love that they get to take so much pride in their labor - that's a precious thing.
@@elainebelzDetroit all of those things contribute to maternal and child health too! This project is such an amazing example of why western-minded charity and neoliberal spot fixing does work and why cresting healthy communities and systems does work! They are creating a space where everyone is set up for success and can set up the next generation for success as well. And how fitting one of those women is named Success ❤
I assume you mean the charity/spot-fixing DOESN"T work. :) A woman I know - brilliant community organizer who grew up unhoused -called it the "charity industrial complex." When I put it in religious terms (as a theologian, I tend to do that) I point out how such systems keep people in poverty so that the more well-off can practice their Christian virtue of charity - the kind that makes the "giver" feel/look good but doesn't help that much in the long run. Short-term fixes are important (e.g., feeding hungry people), but they have to be balanced with or, better, oriented toward this kind of long-term, visionary system- & community-building which in turn has to be led by the people within those communities (i.e., not by an outsider). Like, when we give to PiH, I like to think it's more than charity - we're supplying what we can (money) to help people who actually have the local knowledge & connections, etc., to identify and solve problems in a holistic way. To me, it feels like doing such a tiny part because having money is (from my perspective) an accident of markets, whereas all the work these folks in Sierra Leone are doing - that's the real work, and should be where we assign the greater value. To be fair, though, I really am doing such a tiny part because, well, I'm a theologian. I don't make much money. :D
Sometimes I feel like my monthly donation isn't enough, or like I don't donate enough during the P4A, but then I remember the power of community, and if we all give just a little, it becomes a lot
"It's simply not acceptable. And also, we don't HAVE to accept it." That had me tearing up. We need to keep reminding ourselves of this: for the climate, for each other, for all living things.
Like others here, I became a NICU and preemie mom last year. I spent 9 weeks on hospital bedrest and my 31 weeker twins spent 6 weeks on yhe NICU. I never had a doubt the entire time that we were receiving the best care possible, and I’m so happy for these women and their families that they will be able to feel the same way.
"This is the Good News room" is such a powerful quote. There are rooms all over the country where bad news breaks, but that room is not one of them. They have the training and support to save every one lucky enough to make it to that room. And from what I understand of earlier in the video, some have had to be turned away at the door. But work is being done to make more Good News rooms.
John's sharpie hat is almost as amazing as this project!! Thank you John for the update but most of all thank you nerdfighters!! P.S. the amount of women in this project is incredibly inspiring ❤
Between the baller sharpie hat and the work to decrease maternal mortality in Sierra Leone, John Chew must be one of the awesomest people on the planet.
The clips of Hawa, Marie, and Success talking about their work were the most moving parts of the video for me- and that's saying something, because this was an incredibly moving video. It's a reminder that this isn't just about a new hospital. It's about community, empowerment, and creating long-term solutions that will sustain this success and foster growth for years to come. When I hear the name "Partners in Health" I tend to hear "health" as being the main idea (probably because it's the last word in the phrase and usually the most emphasized, so it sticks the most) but I think "partners" is actually the key 🧡
I think you are right. This kind of training and employment can truly change a community. The money being spent here is also getting multiplied by going into the local economy and may be helping prevent some health issues from starting. The ripple effects may be immeasurable. I am studying public health and this is a huge inspiration to me.
I've been feeling a little bogged down by doomscrolling the last couple of weeks. Being reminded of the good people are doing and that I have contributed to by donating gives me a much-needed dose of hope! Thank you❤️
one of many things that has me crying here is these women smiling about how much this project has changed their lives. watching these beautiful Black women act so happy that they’ve gained the skills they needed AFTER being admitted to the job is what we need more of here in the US. thank you to you and nerdfighteria for changing so many lives. ❤❤
Hawa, Success, and Marie are such badasses - I love that they get to do this work along with everyone else involved. So cool to not only be contributing to building the MCOE but *also* giving people skills, as Hawa said, that are "not only for today; it's for tomorrow"
I legit cried at "Good News Room." I've had a tough day and really needed some good news. It's amazing that my little donations have helped add up to real-life babies and mommas surviving to go home to their families. What amazing things we can do when we all care about the same thing!
It means so much to be a tiny part of a movement like this. Thank you for showing us the good we can do together. Today this channel is the good-news room!
2 months ago today my brand new daughter was in a Good News Room. I’m so grateful that parents and babies in Sierra Leone have a Good News Room of their own. This was always an important project, but it hits so much closer to home today than it did before my daughter was born. This community is doing such incredible work. I’m so proud to be a part of it.
I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING I'm totally crying I'm proud of nerdfighteria, thank you John & Hank for becoming involved in this project and for bringing it to all of us.
I'm crying like a baby. Like a happy, healthy baby about to go home from the Good News Room. This is the good kind of crying. I look for to bawling my eyes out when the new building is officially open, too.
Thank you John for this update! If I hadn't had an emergency C-section in 2014 my daughter and I wouldn't have made it, and my second daughter would never have had a chance. I'm so happy to see this becoming available to mothers and children in Sierra Leone thanks to you, Hank, and all of nerdfighteria!
At a time where I have to watch certain people put so much money and effort into stopping other people from accessing healthcare, it's so joyful to see you guys doing something to improve it. THIS is how you show you care about babies and women. Just a blessing to witness.
I'm having a lot of difficulty writing this comment because my feelings are quite confusing. But, as a 5th year medical student who wishes to become a neonatologist, I'm so happy to be part of this community and to have been given the opportinuty to not only pay attention but help build this amazing project. I hope one day to be able to work alongside these healthcare professionals and become part of a good news room.
Knowing that we as a community are helping create "good news rooms" in a place that used to have so few is simply wonderful. It's an honour to be a monthly donor, thank you for sharing with us the importance of ongoing, systemic solutions.
I was not expecting to be filled with such gratitude and found myself starting to happy cry two minutes in. I am so proud of everything that has been and will continue to be accomplished!
My twin and I were born five weeks premature with an emergency C-section, and spent 3 weeks in the NICU. It's sobering that so many births are higher risk than that. I'm so glad that people like John are paying attention to this and the changes it's making to the lives of the people working on the project is also such a force for good in the world.
The nurse asking if a certain baby would survive (7:00) mirrors John's encounter in his chaplaincy where a doctor was treating a toddler with severe burns who was not likely to survive. Knowing the effect of that experience on John and the outcome of that particular child's life, together with the response in this video "all of these babies are going to live" is just heartwarming and outstanding.
I remember the first time it was brought up on the Dear Hank and John podcast after John's trip to Sierra Leone and how they weren't sure how to raise that amount of money. And now it's a reality. Beautiful
I started to tear up when John quoted “All these babies will live, this is the good news room.” Thank you John for your work with PIH and educating us all on it. Cheers!-Sam
I'm crying! Thank you for making it easy for us to support such an important cause. I got confronted with my privilege a few months ago when I developed severe preeclampsia early in my pregnancy. Simply because I'm lucky, my country could provide the life saving care I needed. Both my child and I are thriving today, when my husband came so close to losing his entire family. Every family deserves the same chance we got.
I'm about to become a father (due date is on Saturday!) and seeing this really makes me emotional. I've been following this since you started talking about it, and I've chipped in a little bit. I'm incredibly privileged to live in a part of the world where the odds my baby starting out life healthy and safe are very high, and seeing that what we've done together is saving real babies who *really* needed it is awesome in the literal sense. I am in awe.
Weeping at my desk with this one. Thank you for showing us the progress and for being one of many at the helm of this incredible project! I can’t describe what it feels like to see our collective action at work ❤
It's wonderful they can have a "good news room". Seeing this building site and those workers, especially the young women creating something that will change peoples' lives so significantly for the better is incredible. Thank you, John, for every time you directed our attention to this. You truly didn't forget to be awesome.
I can’t believe this is where we are as a community. I never would’ve imagined this, hoped for this, dreamed for this. I’m so proud of us, of John, of the incredible people in Sierra Leone who have the perseverance and tenacity to push this incomparable generational change for their home.
I was a NICU Premie baby and it brings me to tears knowing that the women and babies the centre serves and will serve can finally get the high quality care my family benefitted from. My mom and I would have died without it and I wouldn’t be here today and doing as well as I am without the doctors and nurses who cared for me. This is so wonderful!
I ultimately got a job at PIH after learning about their work from your videos. I've independently followed PIH and their updates on the MCOE since your first video and although I didn't work much with the team in Sierra Leone, I'm grateful I got to meet so many other incredible people working at different PIH sites. I mostly worked with those in leadership, but briefly got to meet with community health workers, physicians, and other staff at each of the country sites, and I have to say that there are some truly impressive, brilliant, kind, and resilient people behind this kind of work. Thank you John for speaking so strongly and so consistently about this project and for putting PIH in my mind for job applications - I am happy I got the experience to work at PIH when I did, and I want you to know your part in making that happen!
My very first memory is going to visit my little sisters in the NICU. I am so incredibly thankful to everyone who works with infants, since my sisters would almost certainly not have survived without the care they received. ❤
This is just what I needed to see today. Over the last 20 years or so my family has had more than its fair share of tragedy including the stillbirth of my first born son, in spite of having excellent healthcare and midwives and doctors here in the US. Our most recent tragedy was when my father died about a month ago, suddenly and very unexpectedly. It brings me hope while I am grieving and looking back on tragedy and loss to know that the mothers and babies of Sierra Leone will have safer births and that their families will not have to know the tragedy of stillbirth anywhere near so often. No mom should have to go through the pain of losing a child to preventable and curable problems. I’m so glad that this community has such a strong and kind wish to help others in need. That steady, thoughtful kindness is what brought me to vlogbrothers many years ago, and it’s what keeps me coming back to find hope when I am going through difficult times myself.
The disproportionate number of women working on the construction project because they are building themselves a safe place to have their children is so beautiful in its empowerment, giving people the opportunity to literally build their own future and the future of their children is absolutely incredible.
I’m a quadruplet, and I don’t know what would’ve happened if my mom couldn’t get a c-section, but it wouldn’t have been good. I also needed to be in the nicu for three weeks. It makes me upset that a family like mine would’ve been destroyed because of lack of healthcare. Thank you for making sure people like me can survive
I am a triplet and as such was a preemie -- my sisters and I were born at 28 weeks and spent months in the NICU. One of them had to have heart surgery at just a week or two old, and I had lung issues and had to be on oxygen. We all would have died without the excellent healthcare we were lucky enough to have. I am so, so happy to be part of Nerdfighteria and to be a small part of helping these mothers and babies get the care they deserve. I'm crying at this video. What a bright light of hope in an increasingly dark world. I love this community so much.
Came to the comment section to see if I wasn't the only person sobbing. It's so heartwarming to see nerfighteria going from bunch of kids finding to community which was excited about life to actually making a significant change in the world. This is honestly the best good news I've heard in a while.
I never want to be a mom myself. The monthly little reminder that I'm not on that path right now is about to start so hormones are doing the hormone thing. I know NICU nurses. My niece, who I love with all that I am, needed 12 hours in the NICU. Her upstairs neighbors needed weeks in the NICU. "This is the good news room" broke me in the best way. I'm so glad for everyone who gets the good news room. I'm always so impressed by your work and the work of this community. Thank you for making change where you saw you could, for moving mountains when you started with a pebble. Thank you for working to make the world better all the time.
Thank you for setting me down the road to being a community activist when I was just 14 and comment spamming during P4A to now working in the nonprofit sector having helped found an lbgtq+ focused housing program. Videos like these remind me that we actually can decrease the amount of worldsuck in our lifetime, if we work together and persist and build the hope we want with our own hands.
"All of these babies are going to live. This is the good news room." I have found myself so overwhelmed lately about the weight of so many public health issues we face in America and globally but this quote gave me hope and brought me to tears. I will carry this with me.
I remember watching the videos so long ago where they were washing their hands in blood soaked water. This has come so far and I am so proud of what this community has achieved, thank you for sharing John
I’m an EMT in the US that does critical care NICU and PICU ambulance transports alongside transport nurses and respiratory therapists. We transport babies from hospitals that don’t have resources to those that do, I can’t imagine living in a country where there is no higher level of care or better place to take your baby. Seeing all those babies with their cpap and bili lights warmed my heart sooo much. There are so many potentially fatal issues for babies (all ages) that are so treatable and I’m so happy that this room fixes them. So glad the babies and mamas can start getting the care they deserve
I wouldn't be alive without the healthcare my mom got and the NICU that took care of me when I was 9 weeks early in '86 in the U.S. I'm so glad that moms, babies, and kids will have access to a facility and amazing staff like this.
I donated money equivalent to about two days of work for me to PIH last year. I'm incredibly lucky to have the privilege to do so. As a woman in a 80% male profession, I was shocked & pleased to see the high proportion of women in the construction team - I know how much of a difference it makes to not be the only one. I'll be thinking of them and this video as I try to donate a few more 'days' this year. It gives me so much hope to be a small part of the chain of women supporting women.
My beautiful kiddo would have died without her NICU nurses and the facility in which we were cared for. She stayed for two weeks and was very small at 3.5 lbs. I am so proud to be a longtime Nerdfighter and the legacy of kindness and generosity lives on with her now at 6. Much love from me and my Athena and dont forget to be awesome! ❤❤❤ 🖖
This is a ringing endorsement of my personal philosophy that none of us is as smart as all of us. Every single one of us, from the very bottom to the very top has a perspective that has some value and deserves some attention. We can all contribute to making the world a better place, even if it is only by being an object lesson. My husband has gotten me into watching "The Expanse" and all I could think was, "Surely, if we put our minds to it, we can make a better future than this for humanity!" Well done, John, Hank and all of Nerfighteria! We can certainly use some of these lessons to improve healthcare right here in our local communities and throughout the world. If the Pandemic has taught us anything, it is that healthcare is a security issue for the whole human race!
"Also, we don't have to accept it." Made me cry. Legit tearing up at that simple sentiment, things are bad and we dont have to sit and take it. ❤ thanks Intern for bringing this story to my attention and giving me this hope
Oh my god. “The good news room” is the most emotional title for a room ever even if it’s unofficial. That’s amazing that there is a good news room. I want all the babies to be in the good news room! I want there to only be good news rooms! Nerdfighteria is amazing
Oh John, I so look forward to these updates! As the mama of a little boy who once needed the good news room and who now loves watching construction equipment, I want so badly for these families to get the same care as we did-and now it looks like they do and will continue to.
NICU mom here and seeing this come to reality makes me so happy! My daughter and I would have died if not for access to an emergency C-section and a NICU unit. Everyone should have access to this type of care!
I was having a real nihilistic day and struggling to find hope again. Thank you John, thank you to the construction workers and nurses and doctors and students building this hospital together, and thank you to this community.
My aunt was a nurse who also trained others in Sierra Leone. She's sadly passed now, but she would be so excited to see what has been done to give people such beautiful chances.
So proud to be a nerdfighter! This project isn’t a bandaid, quick, make the donators feel good kind of thing that all so often happens with foreign aid. It’s so good to see it being done the right way, employing locals and truly listening to them and thinking of the long term issues like supplies and staffing. Thank you for sharing this with us all!
I'm overwhelmed with joy seeing this.. like so many other moms/parents, I also had a baby in NICU for 59 days. Hes 12 now and doing great. I'm blessed we had access, and I'm greatful and humble.
“Look at what humans can do when we come together” really resonated with me. Looking at that hospital being built, Hank and John, made me really think about what humans can do when they are BROUGHT together. Thank you so much for bringing this community together. Thank you for being the avenue and impetus of this change. Thank you for being you :)
Whenever I start to have doubt in humanity, nerdfighteria pops up and reminds me of the beauty and love we are capable of. I am so happy about this progress and future development to improve the lives and outcomes for these mothers and babies.
THANK YOU ALL for being part of this extraordinary project. Here's to more Good News Rooms in Kono and beyond. Ways to help/more info:
1. To learn more about this project, here's a playlist: ua-cam.com/play/PLMs_JcuNozJbjCVbqOv2FGS6nOGlRKStK.html
1. Here is a semisecret video of my entire interview with Hawa, Success, and Marie. They are the best: ua-cam.com/video/zQ7pDNWUuok/v-deo.html
2. Make a monthly or one-time gift to support the MCOE and its mission to radically reduce maternal and child mortality: pih.org/hankandjohn
3. If you can donate $2,000 or more, please join the matching fund via this link: www.pih.org/maternal-center-excellence?form=match-for-sierra-leone Or if you have questions about a major gift, you can email me at sparksflyup -at- gmail
4. Join the Awesome Coffee Club! awesomecoffeeclub.com or get Sun Basin soap: good.store/pages/sun-basin-soap
5. SPREAD THE WORD. Your attention matters. Keep up to date on what's happening in Sierra Leone via www.pihsierraleone.com/
I am so, so grateful for this community. Thanks for being here with us. -John
Where can I find the semi-secret video, please? 😊
Pls release Looking for Alaska Part 2
John, I love that we are seeing the early fruits of this massive endeavor of hope and change! And it is so important that the project is empowering local people and teaching trades so even more things can be built in the future! It’s not about throwing money at a problem or plopping down resources we think they need-it’s about creating and supporting a community-based system that will continue to thrive and change lives. I’m so proud. 💛
@@larochejaquelein3680 please dont bark orders at people just be polite and let them live :) have a good day friend
If this was a pin, it got un-pinned on edit. Not like it won't be near the top anyway, but I'm not even sure it shows up properly when this happens when logged in on your own account due to how YT sorts stuff.
As a NICU momma, this hit hard. My baby would've died. We were lucky that she was in the Good News Room. Wishing this for parents everywhere.
Same, NICU momma and severe preeclampsia leading to emergency c-section. We all would have died.
This hits hard, our first was a NICU baby, 5 weeks early from emergency C-section, change of circumstances and I could have lost both my wife and baby.
I’m glad you and your baby got the care you deserved, may life give you and your baby the care and love you deserve
As someone who had to get driven to another city at the ripe old age of ten minutes because the hospital we lived next to didn’t have a nicu, this hits hard
This made my day. As a NICU baby I am forever grateful for the resources that let me live. Thank you parents for sharing.
I was a construction worker with a drug problem six years ago when I started studying philosophy by watching Crash course: Philosophy. I've been donating regularly since the sock club started and I had the extra income. I'm now finishing my freshman year as a philosophy major. This really hit me hard. I'm crying. Thank you everyone.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ dftba!!!
that’s awesome to hear. Do you go part time? I also am interested in pursuing philosophy as a degree, but I dropped out after my freshman year pursuing music education, and have trouble visualizing a future where I make it work (especially of course while managing to pay the bills).
Congratulations to you and well done on your amazing achievement. :)
So glad for you! Good for you!
Yooooo I had a similar story where I got my life back together after being inspired by scishow and while it’s not run by john I fucking always donate to the socks club. Stay strong bother it’s only up from here. You got a lot to look forward to.
"It's simply not acceptable. But also, we don't have to accept it."
So much of the inequities and injustices of our time are NOT inevitable. They are the result of the choices we collectively make as a society. Thank you John, for showing me hope that things can get better, if we choose to make them so.
after watching a few videos on the terrible, ineffective 'help' many mission trips provide to the places they go, i needed this. the reminder that helping communities is possible, you just need to listen, and respond to the real needs. I love seeing all these people who have found work they can continue to do for the rest of their lives and who can use it now to create the structures they will need in the future.
Thanks for the kind words. I agree that it really has to begin with cultural humility--I don't know what the people of Sierra Leone need, and so I had better listen carefully when they tell me--and also the kind of long-term focus that is baked in to Partners in Health's model. No charity is perfect, and lots of mistakes will be made, but I really believe in PIH's model for change-making, long term intervention, and deep partnerships with governments and communities. -John
@@vlogbrothers John, having met a lot of people in the humanitarian aid world... Paul and PiH are just as respected and revered as he and they deserve. I think the new generation of humanitarian workers will be following the PiH model very closely.
@@vlogbrothers well said!!
“Hope is NOT crazy!” Thank you to everyone who has a part in actualizing this good news. Onward in hope!
Hope is crazy, but we should do it anyway.
Onward!
Hope is real. It is a force. There is no false hope.
I was a baby who needed specialized care. My parents drove all night through a blizzard to get me to the hospital that kept me alive. That was more than 40 years ago, and I'm so glad the special babies of the Kono district in Sierra Leone can receive the world class care they need, too.
I like your dp. The Moldy Peaches are coming to Europe this month.🎉
@@sexyscientist Up up down down left right left right B A Start
I am a nurse and a longtime nerdfighter and I am just sitting here SOBBING at what profound and important work this is. I'm so happy and proud to be a part of this community.
🧡🧡🧡 -John
Also a nurse and also shedding a few tears. So grateful that where I work is full of good news rooms and that more and more parents and families will get to experience the joy of taking their babies home 💙
not a nurse but definitely sobbing. Everytime John posts about Sierra Leone, I cry. It's wonderful
I worked in nursing for 15 years before it destroyed my back and yeah, same
@@vlogbrothers Long time viewer but first time donator, now a monthly sub! Thank you guys for not only the work you show here, but for generally being role models of compassion and curiosity. For so many years, you guys and your team have been inspiring for so many of us to learn and do more for ourselves and those around us, and to make a better world than the one we’re given. Keep rockin!
I work for a development organization in West Africa. Last week a colleague and his wife in Northern Sierra Leone lost their baby three days after birth because of the bad maternal and newborn health situation: the clinic staff didn't react to symptoms of deteriorating health and they didn't have enough resources once the parents managed to alert them. I'm upset but this video gives so much hope. Thanks John and all the supporters!
That's so heartbreaking. I'm sorry. Thank you for sharing this story and reminding us that better healthcare in SL simply cannot wait. -John
I'm crying on my break at work over "this is the good news room." So proud to be a part of this community that pays attention.
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The feels are real
Omg same
Yep.
Yeah, I lost it at “good news room.”
"this is the good news room" genuinely made me cry. I am just so proud of this community and just so happy to hear how far we came.
I got immediate goosebumps when "this is the good news room" was said
"All these babies are going to live." Is such a powerful statement and sentiment when you know it will be TRUE, especially after so much hardship for that community in the past, when that couldn't be a guarantee. The way it is not even a question. They WILL live. Absolutely made me sob 💖
I was doing ok until that part of the video. Now I’m crying too
Unexpectedly, "this is the good news room" made me burst into tears. I'm so proud of you and Nerdfighteria for making this happen!
I also lost it a “good news room”❤
I'm not a crier, but I did feel a swell of emotion at that.
Yeah that got me too.
me too! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
I'm sobbing like a baby
I sobbed throughout this whole video. When this project first started, I formed a PIH Engage group on my college campus raising money for this specific goal. I remember telling everyone in my life over and over that one in 17 women in Sierra Leone will die in pregnancy or childbirth. God, I’m so glad that number is changing.
COVID killed my little Engage team only a year after I started it, but this project and PIH changed the direction of my life irreversibly. I’m halfway through my master’s degree in public health, and that’s a path that I don’t know if I would have taken if not for the work of Hank and John, PIH, and this community. I’m so proud to be a part of this. DFTBA!
This random internet stranger is very proud of you 💜
It's moving to read your efforts to better health care. What are your plans after MPH?
Kudos to you on your current and future efforts! DFTBA!!
I love this so much! DFTBA!
@@OneTraveller same to you, internet stranger! 💛
Thank you for reminding us that Good things happen slowly over long periods of time, with incremental progress and collective effort.
Thank you.
Amen!
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When my husband and I started supporting this project, we had no idea that our own journey to parenthood would’ve been deadly had we not been supported by maternal and fetal health specialists. This project has changed our lives and we will continue to support it for as long as we can.
I'm happy that your story seems to have a good ending :)
The baby good?
I don’t think we could find a better video to override that 4 minute rule, this video made my day! I’m so glad we helped you and Hank with this, it’s been one of the greatest joys. That’s great to hear, when people do come together change DOES happen.
One of the greatest joys indeed. And hopefully we're just getting started. -John
Educational videos aren't subject to the 4 minute rule! Who else learned a lot from this video? ✋
@@lovermillion I learned that I need a sharpie hat in my life.
@@jortand the awesome sharpie hat club.
@@lovermillion idk. I think John should definitely have to *do* something for violating the 4 minute rule, but it should be an especially soft punishment.
My mom died a couple years ago, and my middle daughter was missing her tonight. My mom was a maternity nurse way back, so watching this together and making a donation was a great way to turn sorrow into something positive and hopeful. Thanks for always caring.
I just got home from what is hopefully my last prenatal appointment before I have my baby later this week. I am so thrilled and excited that other moms are able to start receiving similar care and that they can start coming to the Drs with confidence that they and their babies will be well. And I’m so glad we’ve been in a position to contribute to this project from the beginning!
Congrats! Sending you all good wishes and vibes as you enter the last few days of pregnancy! -John
like, come on. if you told me back in 2013 that these goofy nerds on youtube would help raise $40 million dollars to build a world-class maternal hospital in sierra leon there’s no way i’d believe you. this is the best community and im so damn proud to be a part of it. clearly not forgetting to be awesome
I also would not have believed you! -John
‘All these babies are going to live, this is the good news room.’ Not going to lie, this hit in the feels.
@4:00 That subtle smile, filled with pride, as Marie says "and now, I'm a welder" is so powerful!
“all these babies are going to live” that one got me. this is so great
I have two daughters who enjoyed watching big machines and one of them is now at university studying engineering. It is awesome that so many women are involved in the construction of this project and I hope many girls get to watch them do it.
Yes! I love when little kids watch big machines, and I love when they grow up and still love big machines.
"All these babies are going to live. This is the good news room!" 😭😭😭Thanks for sharing this good news.
And that was the exact moment the tears couldn't be held back. I am so grateful that the people of Sierra Leone are letting us share in this joy.
The emotion on Marie's face at 4:17, when Success talks about using the center in the future, is priceless.
I watched that moment many times. The look of anticipation and hope that comes over her face really encapsulates what an incredible impact this project will have on so many lives.
Seeing the pride these women have in their work (and the pride on John’s face and in his voice) has made my day ❤
I really admire all the women in particular but really everyone in this video doing such important and amazing work! I love that along with the primary goal/purpose of the project - maternal & child health - other goods are being created as well, such as the vocational training that's changing the lives of these workers & their families. And I love that they get to take so much pride in their labor - that's a precious thing.
@@elainebelzDetroit all of those things contribute to maternal and child health too! This project is such an amazing example of why western-minded charity and neoliberal spot fixing does work and why cresting healthy communities and systems does work! They are creating a space where everyone is set up for success and can set up the next generation for success as well. And how fitting one of those women is named Success ❤
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I assume you mean the charity/spot-fixing DOESN"T work. :)
A woman I know - brilliant community organizer who grew up unhoused -called it the "charity industrial complex." When I put it in religious terms (as a theologian, I tend to do that) I point out how such systems keep people in poverty so that the more well-off can practice their Christian virtue of charity - the kind that makes the "giver" feel/look good but doesn't help that much in the long run. Short-term fixes are important (e.g., feeding hungry people), but they have to be balanced with or, better, oriented toward this kind of long-term, visionary system- & community-building which in turn has to be led by the people within those communities (i.e., not by an outsider). Like, when we give to PiH, I like to think it's more than charity - we're supplying what we can (money) to help people who actually have the local knowledge & connections, etc., to identify and solve problems in a holistic way. To me, it feels like doing such a tiny part because having money is (from my perspective) an accident of markets, whereas all the work these folks in Sierra Leone are doing - that's the real work, and should be where we assign the greater value. To be fair, though, I really am doing such a tiny part because, well, I'm a theologian. I don't make much money. :D
@@elainebelzDetroit There's a difference between being charitable and giving to charity.
Sometimes I feel like my monthly donation isn't enough, or like I don't donate enough during the P4A, but then I remember the power of community, and if we all give just a little, it becomes a lot
Yes yes yes
"It's simply not acceptable. And also, we don't HAVE to accept it." That had me tearing up. We need to keep reminding ourselves of this: for the climate, for each other, for all living things.
Like others here, I became a NICU and preemie mom last year. I spent 9 weeks on hospital bedrest and my 31 weeker twins spent 6 weeks on yhe NICU. I never had a doubt the entire time that we were receiving the best care possible, and I’m so happy for these women and their families that they will be able to feel the same way.
"We don't have to accept it."
Damn straight.
"This is the Good News room" is such a powerful quote. There are rooms all over the country where bad news breaks, but that room is not one of them. They have the training and support to save every one lucky enough to make it to that room. And from what I understand of earlier in the video, some have had to be turned away at the door. But work is being done to make more Good News rooms.
John's sharpie hat is almost as amazing as this project!! Thank you John for the update but most of all thank you nerdfighters!!
P.S. the amount of women in this project is incredibly inspiring ❤
Glad to see they will be training the women behind them in the future too and hopefully it can continue so this can sustain itself.n
Before Green John even mentioned Chew John’s hat, I thought, “That’s a rad use of hat.”
Between the baller sharpie hat and the work to decrease maternal mortality in Sierra Leone, John Chew must be one of the awesomest people on the planet.
The clips of Hawa, Marie, and Success talking about their work were the most moving parts of the video for me- and that's saying something, because this was an incredibly moving video. It's a reminder that this isn't just about a new hospital. It's about community, empowerment, and creating long-term solutions that will sustain this success and foster growth for years to come. When I hear the name "Partners in Health" I tend to hear "health" as being the main idea (probably because it's the last word in the phrase and usually the most emphasized, so it sticks the most) but I think "partners" is actually the key 🧡
this is a beautiful thought.
I think you are right. This kind of training and employment can truly change a community. The money being spent here is also getting multiplied by going into the local economy and may be helping prevent some health issues from starting. The ripple effects may be immeasurable. I am studying public health and this is a huge inspiration to me.
Thank you for articulating this. So so resonant. 💖
I've been feeling a little bogged down by doomscrolling the last couple of weeks. Being reminded of the good people are doing and that I have contributed to by donating gives me a much-needed dose of hope! Thank you❤️
I’m a NICU nurse and knowing that so many babies will be saved because of PIH and Nerdfightaria is so incredible I can’t put it into words
i have never in my life seen a medical setting so filled joy, dignity and compassion. thank you to this community
one of many things that has me crying here is these women smiling about how much this project has changed their lives. watching these beautiful Black women act so happy that they’ve gained the skills they needed AFTER being admitted to the job is what we need more of here in the US. thank you to you and nerdfighteria for changing so many lives. ❤❤
Hawa, Success, and Marie are such badasses - I love that they get to do this work along with everyone else involved. So cool to not only be contributing to building the MCOE but *also* giving people skills, as Hawa said, that are "not only for today; it's for tomorrow"
I legit cried at "Good News Room." I've had a tough day and really needed some good news. It's amazing that my little donations have helped add up to real-life babies and mommas surviving to go home to their families. What amazing things we can do when we all care about the same thing!
It means so much to be a tiny part of a movement like this. Thank you for showing us the good we can do together.
Today this channel is the good-news room!
2 months ago today my brand new daughter was in a Good News Room. I’m so grateful that parents and babies in Sierra Leone have a Good News Room of their own.
This was always an important project, but it hits so much closer to home today than it did before my daughter was born. This community is doing such incredible work. I’m so proud to be a part of it.
I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING
I'm totally crying
I'm proud of nerdfighteria, thank you John & Hank for becoming involved in this project and for bringing it to all of us.
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I'm definitely crying. It feels so good to see such a beautiful thing happening. I almost can't believe how amazing this is.
I'm crying like a baby. Like a happy, healthy baby about to go home from the Good News Room. This is the good kind of crying.
I look for to bawling my eyes out when the new building is officially open, too.
YOU’RE RIGHT, I AM CRYING, but so are you! Pass the Kleenex, please.
We're all crying together.
Thank you John for this update! If I hadn't had an emergency C-section in 2014 my daughter and I wouldn't have made it, and my second daughter would never have had a chance. I'm so happy to see this becoming available to mothers and children in Sierra Leone thanks to you, Hank, and all of nerdfighteria!
…sings the song without the words and NEVER STOPS AT ALL
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beautiful hope
At a time where I have to watch certain people put so much money and effort into stopping other people from accessing healthcare, it's so joyful to see you guys doing something to improve it. THIS is how you show you care about babies and women. Just a blessing to witness.
Amen and seconded
I'm having a lot of difficulty writing this comment because my feelings are quite confusing. But, as a 5th year medical student who wishes to become a neonatologist, I'm so happy to be part of this community and to have been given the opportinuty to not only pay attention but help build this amazing project. I hope one day to be able to work alongside these healthcare professionals and become part of a good news room.
Thank you for sharing this. I hope your upcoming journey treats you well. Big hugs.
I am a health care worker in south africa and i am sobbing at how much better this community has made the world
Knowing that we as a community are helping create "good news rooms" in a place that used to have so few is simply wonderful. It's an honour to be a monthly donor, thank you for sharing with us the importance of ongoing, systemic solutions.
This is such a powerful example of what social media, money, and humans can do.
I was not expecting to be filled with such gratitude and found myself starting to happy cry two minutes in. I am so proud of everything that has been and will continue to be accomplished!
My twin and I were born five weeks premature with an emergency C-section, and spent 3 weeks in the NICU. It's sobering that so many births are higher risk than that. I'm so glad that people like John are paying attention to this and the changes it's making to the lives of the people working on the project is also such a force for good in the world.
This is good news for Kono and for Sierra Leone at large. Waiting to give our maximum as a clinician to save more lives of our mothers and our babies.
The nurse asking if a certain baby would survive (7:00) mirrors John's encounter in his chaplaincy where a doctor was treating a toddler with severe burns who was not likely to survive. Knowing the effect of that experience on John and the outcome of that particular child's life, together with the response in this video "all of these babies are going to live" is just heartwarming and outstanding.
I remember the first time it was brought up on the Dear Hank and John podcast after John's trip to Sierra Leone and how they weren't sure how to raise that amount of money. And now it's a reality.
Beautiful
In which John succeeds in not crying while narrating the overwhelmingly good news and faith in humanity
I started to tear up when John quoted “All these babies will live, this is the good news room.” Thank you John for your work with PIH and educating us all on it.
Cheers!-Sam
I am a resident doctor and I hope one day I can work here! So proud of you John!
I'm crying! Thank you for making it easy for us to support such an important cause.
I got confronted with my privilege a few months ago when I developed severe preeclampsia early in my pregnancy. Simply because I'm lucky, my country could provide the life saving care I needed. Both my child and I are thriving today, when my husband came so close to losing his entire family. Every family deserves the same chance we got.
So glad that you and your child are here with us and thriving. -John
Seeing things like this give me the most genuine and profound hope for the future
I'm about to become a father (due date is on Saturday!) and seeing this really makes me emotional. I've been following this since you started talking about it, and I've chipped in a little bit. I'm incredibly privileged to live in a part of the world where the odds my baby starting out life healthy and safe are very high, and seeing that what we've done together is saving real babies who *really* needed it is awesome in the literal sense. I am in awe.
Cultist simulator 👀
Congratulations! I hope all went well & that the newest nerdfighter is as awesome as their parents
Weeping at my desk with this one. Thank you for showing us the progress and for being one of many at the helm of this incredible project! I can’t describe what it feels like to see our collective action at work ❤
Same. Was just taking a short break to eat a sandwich, now I am crying.
It's wonderful they can have a "good news room". Seeing this building site and those workers, especially the young women creating something that will change peoples' lives so significantly for the better is incredible.
Thank you, John, for every time you directed our attention to this. You truly didn't forget to be awesome.
I can’t believe this is where we are as a community. I never would’ve imagined this, hoped for this, dreamed for this. I’m so proud of us, of John, of the incredible people in Sierra Leone who have the perseverance and tenacity to push this incomparable generational change for their home.
This public health nerdfighter is crying many happy tears. Thank you for showing us the progress. I am so honored to be a part of this.
"all these babies are going to live. this is the good news room" are words that will bring me to tears
I was a NICU Premie baby and it brings me to tears knowing that the women and babies the centre serves and will serve can finally get the high quality care my family benefitted from. My mom and I would have died without it and I wouldn’t be here today and doing as well as I am without the doctors and nurses who cared for me. This is so wonderful!
To know that my socks helped people is very good indeed.
This is a testament to the fact that people coming together can make big changes.
I ultimately got a job at PIH after learning about their work from your videos. I've independently followed PIH and their updates on the MCOE since your first video and although I didn't work much with the team in Sierra Leone, I'm grateful I got to meet so many other incredible people working at different PIH sites. I mostly worked with those in leadership, but briefly got to meet with community health workers, physicians, and other staff at each of the country sites, and I have to say that there are some truly impressive, brilliant, kind, and resilient people behind this kind of work.
Thank you John for speaking so strongly and so consistently about this project and for putting PIH in my mind for job applications - I am happy I got the experience to work at PIH when I did, and I want you to know your part in making that happen!
My very first memory is going to visit my little sisters in the NICU. I am so incredibly thankful to everyone who works with infants, since my sisters would almost certainly not have survived without the care they received. ❤
This is just what I needed to see today. Over the last 20 years or so my family has had more than its fair share of tragedy including the stillbirth of my first born son, in spite of having excellent healthcare and midwives and doctors here in the US. Our most recent tragedy was when my father died about a month ago, suddenly and very unexpectedly. It brings me hope while I am grieving and looking back on tragedy and loss to know that the mothers and babies of Sierra Leone will have safer births and that their families will not have to know the tragedy of stillbirth anywhere near so often. No mom should have to go through the pain of losing a child to preventable and curable problems. I’m so glad that this community has such a strong and kind wish to help others in need. That steady, thoughtful kindness is what brought me to vlogbrothers many years ago, and it’s what keeps me coming back to find hope when I am going through difficult times myself.
I'm sorry about your dad. Sending love your way.
“Collectively, we are much more likely to solve the problems that we pay attention to.”
The disproportionate number of women working on the construction project because they are building themselves a safe place to have their children is so beautiful in its empowerment, giving people the opportunity to literally build their own future and the future of their children is absolutely incredible.
I’m a quadruplet, and I don’t know what would’ve happened if my mom couldn’t get a c-section, but it wouldn’t have been good. I also needed to be in the nicu for three weeks. It makes me upset that a family like mine would’ve been destroyed because of lack of healthcare. Thank you for making sure people like me can survive
I am absolutely sobbing. I am thankful for this community and the good that it has brought to this community
I am a triplet and as such was a preemie -- my sisters and I were born at 28 weeks and spent months in the NICU. One of them had to have heart surgery at just a week or two old, and I had lung issues and had to be on oxygen. We all would have died without the excellent healthcare we were lucky enough to have. I am so, so happy to be part of Nerdfighteria and to be a small part of helping these mothers and babies get the care they deserve. I'm crying at this video. What a bright light of hope in an increasingly dark world. I love this community so much.
Came to the comment section to see if I wasn't the only person sobbing. It's so heartwarming to see nerfighteria going from bunch of kids finding to community which was excited about life to actually making a significant change in the world. This is honestly the best good news I've heard in a while.
I never want to be a mom myself. The monthly little reminder that I'm not on that path right now is about to start so hormones are doing the hormone thing. I know NICU nurses. My niece, who I love with all that I am, needed 12 hours in the NICU. Her upstairs neighbors needed weeks in the NICU. "This is the good news room" broke me in the best way. I'm so glad for everyone who gets the good news room. I'm always so impressed by your work and the work of this community. Thank you for making change where you saw you could, for moving mountains when you started with a pebble. Thank you for working to make the world better all the time.
Thank you for setting me down the road to being a community activist when I was just 14 and comment spamming during P4A to now working in the nonprofit sector having helped found an lbgtq+ focused housing program. Videos like these remind me that we actually can decrease the amount of worldsuck in our lifetime, if we work together and persist and build the hope we want with our own hands.
Yes!
"All of these babies are going to live. This is the good news room."
I have found myself so overwhelmed lately about the weight of so many public health issues we face in America and globally but this quote gave me hope and brought me to tears. I will carry this with me.
I remember watching the videos so long ago where they were washing their hands in blood soaked water. This has come so far and I am so proud of what this community has achieved, thank you for sharing John
I’m an EMT in the US that does critical care NICU and PICU ambulance transports alongside transport nurses and respiratory therapists. We transport babies from hospitals that don’t have resources to those that do, I can’t imagine living in a country where there is no higher level of care or better place to take your baby. Seeing all those babies with their cpap and bili lights warmed my heart sooo much. There are so many potentially fatal issues for babies (all ages) that are so treatable and I’m so happy that this room fixes them. So glad the babies and mamas can start getting the care they deserve
Actively crying at my desk at work. I'm so proud of what this community has managed to accomplish
I wouldn't be alive without the healthcare my mom got and the NICU that took care of me when I was 9 weeks early in '86 in the U.S. I'm so glad that moms, babies, and kids will have access to a facility and amazing staff like this.
This is so beautiful and so, so big. Amazing news indeed. The things this community is able to do are always astonishing to me.
I donated money equivalent to about two days of work for me to PIH last year. I'm incredibly lucky to have the privilege to do so. As a woman in a 80% male profession, I was shocked & pleased to see the high proportion of women in the construction team - I know how much of a difference it makes to not be the only one. I'll be thinking of them and this video as I try to donate a few more 'days' this year. It gives me so much hope to be a small part of the chain of women supporting women.
My beautiful kiddo would have died without her NICU nurses and the facility in which we were cared for. She stayed for two weeks and was very small at 3.5 lbs. I am so proud to be a longtime Nerdfighter and the legacy of kindness and generosity lives on with her now at 6. Much love from me and my Athena and dont forget to be awesome! ❤❤❤ 🖖
This is a ringing endorsement of my personal philosophy that none of us is as smart as all of us. Every single one of us, from the very bottom to the very top has a perspective that has some value and deserves some attention. We can all contribute to making the world a better place, even if it is only by being an object lesson. My husband has gotten me into watching "The Expanse" and all I could think was, "Surely, if we put our minds to it, we can make a better future than this for humanity!" Well done, John, Hank and all of Nerfighteria! We can certainly use some of these lessons to improve healthcare right here in our local communities and throughout the world. If the Pandemic has taught us anything, it is that healthcare is a security issue for the whole human race!
"Also, we don't have to accept it." Made me cry. Legit tearing up at that simple sentiment, things are bad and we dont have to sit and take it. ❤ thanks Intern for bringing this story to my attention and giving me this hope
Oh my god. “The good news room” is the most emotional title for a room ever even if it’s unofficial. That’s amazing that there is a good news room. I want all the babies to be in the good news room! I want there to only be good news rooms! Nerdfighteria is amazing
Oh John, I so look forward to these updates! As the mama of a little boy who once needed the good news room and who now loves watching construction equipment, I want so badly for these families to get the same care as we did-and now it looks like they do and will continue to.
NICU mom here and seeing this come to reality makes me so happy! My daughter and I would have died if not for access to an emergency C-section and a NICU unit. Everyone should have access to this type of care!
I was having a real nihilistic day and struggling to find hope again. Thank you John, thank you to the construction workers and nurses and doctors and students building this hospital together, and thank you to this community.
My aunt was a nurse who also trained others in Sierra Leone. She's sadly passed now, but she would be so excited to see what has been done to give people such beautiful chances.
So proud to be a nerdfighter! This project isn’t a bandaid, quick, make the donators feel good kind of thing that all so often happens with foreign aid. It’s so good to see it being done the right way, employing locals and truly listening to them and thinking of the long term issues like supplies and staffing. Thank you for sharing this with us all!
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I'm overwhelmed with joy seeing this.. like so many other moms/parents, I also had a baby in NICU for 59 days. Hes 12 now and doing great. I'm blessed we had access, and I'm greatful and humble.
My heart is more full today for watching this. :) I’m glad I’ve been able to be a small part of it.
“Look at what humans can do when we come together” really resonated with me. Looking at that hospital being built, Hank and John, made me really think about what humans can do when they are BROUGHT together. Thank you so much for bringing this community together. Thank you for being the avenue and impetus of this change. Thank you for being you :)
Whenever I start to have doubt in humanity, nerdfighteria pops up and reminds me of the beauty and love we are capable of. I am so happy about this progress and future development to improve the lives and outcomes for these mothers and babies.
crying. so grateful to be able to support PIH through P4A and other awesome nerdfighter projects. thank you for bringing these stories to us
Always in awe at how much you do and give. Here's to more lives being saved and treasured!