Once in a while, a moment comes when standing up for an idea, joining a movement that is bigger than one’s own immediate interests, defines an era.
We believe the commitment to use the frugally innovative 5-2035 vision of community empowerment in Mauritius as model in our fight to curb CNCD (chronic non-communicable diseases – related preventable conditions of type II diabetes, stroke and cardiovascular disease) is that kind of idea and we are at that kind of moment.
By being a volunteer for the GFCH, besides the ultimate satisfaction of being part of a most worthwhile cause, you will also receive updates on ways in which you and your community can implement common sense sustainable measures to improve your health and those who are near and dear to you.
Please sign up here and see below our GEAPS 5 fields of action where you can help.
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The motto of the GFCH is Concordia res parvae crescunt (“Small Things Flourish by Concord” or “In Unity, Strength”). If everyone contributes just a little bit of time using their talents, the collective result will be empowered local communities that will enable the revolution in health care we seek.
The 5-2035 vision is in essence driven by the SEED-SCALE (Self-Evaluation for Effective Decision-making + System for Communities to Adapt Learning and Expand) model of sustainable community-based human development we follow [1]. At the GFCH, in practice, we view SEED-SCALE as syncretic of the Koranic concept of Umma | Shura | Maslaha (community | mutual consultation | public interest), American philosophy of pragmatism and Indian practice of jugaad (frugal innovation).
Your effort as a volunteer will unify us in strength to curb CNCD. The 5-2035 endeavor will define this century’s path to prosperity, good health and quality of life for Mauritius as a model for the rest of the world. We will be delighted to have you on board.
GFCH GEAPS 5 fields of action for members; how you can help.
The 5 fields of action for members is easily recalled invoking the GEAPS acronym:
G – as in grassroots mobilization
E – as in excellence in clinical and scientific aspects of community health
A – as in advocacy, political, governmental and sociocultural
P – as in partnerships, public-private
S – as in spreading of the 5-2035 vision
A. Grassroots mobilization to empower communities to act for better health
By sensitizing your local community about the 5-2035 vision, you can become an advocate to introduce the plan into your community and help in decreasing the burden of CNCD locally. See one of our major efforts in generating grassroots momentum called the 7-Nation Uprising. Be part of this transformative movement.
How you can help: we need Mauritians and friends of Mauritius to be grassroots leaders, from the spectrum of ground game leadership to community health committee leaders (CHC). Please see our Organization Chart for positions currently available and what specifically is required to carry our mission. Please let us know if you are interested in any position of leadership and someone will get in touch with you .
B. Promotion of clinical and scientific excellence
We are in advanced planning efforts to invent a new health care professional designation called a Community Health Officer (CHO). For further details, see here. We also plan to work with Mauritian stakeholders to develop the supervising clinician role. We have a large network of clinicians and scientists who have advised us as we developed the 5-2035 vision. We would welcome more input to improve on what we already have proposed.
How you can help: we are currently looking for practicing nurses, physicians and scientists to provide input on our vision. The more input we receive from the community, the better we think our plan will be in practice.
C. Political, governmental and sociocultural advocacy
The GFCH is fiercely apolitical but we realize that as an organization we need to use political tools of consensus building, reaching out citizens to promote the 5-2035 vision. While we think that a life of public service is a fine calling, our mission demands that we are transparent and seek help from all political colors. Type 2 diabetes touches most families in Mauritius. About one adult in five lives with the condition, and more than one in three has diabetes or pre-diabetes (National NCD Survey, 2021). Much of the harm it causes can be prevented or delayed. Source: Mauritius National NCD Survey, 2021 (adults aged 25–74).
At the GFCH, we also view civil servants as our allies in the fight against CNCD. We understand the resource and regulatory constraints that civil servants have to work within. Our organization aims to work with government officials to facilitate their good work.
Mauritius is a country where religious and sociocultural organizations exert a profound sway. As the 5-2035 vision projects to serve all citizens of Mauritius as a model of national unity for the nation and the world, the GFCH is committed to engage these organizations to further our goals. We want to be culturally sensitive to every segment of the Mauritian society and opening a respectful dialogue with sociocultural components of our rainbow nation will be sought after by our leadership.
How you can help: we need to spread the word amongst the various stakeholders in Mauritius and we would be very interested in engaging any individuals or groups who can lend us a helping hand to reach our 5-2035 vision. Please let us know how you can creatively help in this regard.
D. Promotion of public-private partnerships
We think that engaging the private sector, especially social entrepreneurship, will stimulate innovation and efficiency in the deployment of the 5-2035 vision. When citizens are invested in a cause as entrepreneurs, it accelerates SEED-SCALE process; we view such engagement as vital to the 5-2035 vision success.
How you can help: we need to connect with companies located in Mauritius to engage them to participate in our 5-2035 Corporate Wellness Program. Please contact us if you have leads that could help us start with a solid base of work force as a pilot for the 5-2035 vision.
E. Spreading of the 5-2035 vision
We are transparent in our ambition that we will strive to spread the success of the 5-2035 vision to communities around the world. Our ultimate goal is to see Mauritius be the ground-zero in our fight against CNCD worldwide through community empowerment and frugal innovation. To this effect, we have plans to publish our findings as we develop the 5-2035 community health program in peer-reviewed scientific and clinical publications. We have begun engaging and will accelerate our engagement with international organizations that will help us in capacity building to replicate the 5-2035 vision worldwide.
How you can help: we need to connect with international health and other organizations to brief them on our progress and would benefit from an international input to improve our 5-2035 operation in a pragmatic and frugally innovative manner. Please contact us if you have leads that could help connect with international organizations or governments to spread the 5-2035 vision.
Please see the 5-2035 Executive Summary to have an overview of our plan or request the full 76-page 5-2035 White Paper for further details. If you have any specific questions, please do not hesitate to leave your comments or contact us.