Josefina Bonilla Nicaragua 1992 Grantee US-Canada Program PhD in Public Health: University of North Carolina
Nicaragua shuddered after one of the deadliest Atlantic storms, Hurricane Mitch, ripped through the country in 1998, leaving some 3,800 people dead. The country faced a loss of half of its GDP and some $734M in destruction, including hospitals and health centers. International aid was imperative, but how to organize it? Nicaraguans cooperated with NGOs to form a network that successfully distributed aid to combat cholera, malaria, parasites, and a host of other conditions wrought or worsened by the devastation.
In a Facebook address, Josefina relates the origins of this network called the Red NicaSalud or Nicaraguan Health Network. She says, “the NicaSalud Network began in September 1999, as a USAID-funded project that combined the efforts of a group of national and international organizations present in the country to restore and protect the health of the population affected by Hurricane Mitch.”
Her leadership was more than an office job. She was the director of several projects funded by important donors such as the World Bank and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Almost 20 NGOs simultaneously carried out a standardized program to reach the poorest of the poor in remote areas of high vulnerability. Josefina successfully led the efforts of a broad network of human resources to create new methodologies for educating the populace and generating behavioral change. Years of continuous work contributed to improvement in some of the main health-related conditions of the population; the nutrition and health of women and children improved significantly.
Josefina's strengths include her ability to negotiate with government authorities and other sectors of civil society, cooperation agencies and community leaders. Her eagerness to communicate and educate the population with a skill that is widely accepted by social actors has yielded excellent results. Making visible the realities and social and health needs of farmers, women, and indigenous populations in remote communities, has been a continuous focus for Dr. Bonilla.
She contributed regularly to Facebook, writing articles often with a focus on mothers and children, advocating breastfeeding, family planning and the importance of physical activity and family nutrition. She has traveled to the field, educating and communicating and has reached out to communities to end violence against women. Using modern social networking, she is on top of social media to broadcast her message about the right of every person to obtain the healthcare and protections they deserve.
Dr. Bonilla is now part of a Multidisciplinary Scientific Committee fighting COVID-19 - a group of Nicaraguan professionals made up of doctors, epidemiologists, pediatricians, gynecologists, pulmonologists and other health specialists, together with experts in education and psychology As a group, they put their knowledge and experience at the service of the government and citizens in order to provide recommendations based on scientific evidence, taking into account that today in the world the number of people affected by COVID reaches close to 20,000,000 cases with the spread moving faster than expected.
Dr. Bonilla has recently been elected as president of the Nicaraguan Medical Association, an important organization of physicians of all specializations.
You can see the work of Dr. Bonilla on this committee by going directly to their webpage: https://www.comitecientificomultidisciplinario.org/ or following them in their social media where they are very active.
