How We Give Back
We believe that giving back and taking care of our brothers and sisters around the world is our social responsibility. We constantly strive to live in gratitude for what we have and the freedoms we’ve been given. Being grateful is also about awareness.
There are millions around the world that are lacking the basic necessities to live. Though they live and struggles are relative to their environment, most of our sisters and brothers do not have a high living condition. They are barely surviving the day.
The healing properties of the stones and oils that we promote are not only for our own health and well-being but for the well-being and health of others around us. We are all connected to each other as we are connected to this beautiful earth. When one of us suffers, we all suffer.
When you wear LavHa Essential Oil Jewelry, you are helping to cultivate the awareness, compassion and love to all those around you, and around the globe through goodwill and intention. Your thoughtful purchase also goes to helping many of those in need, from the women who hand-make each piece of jewelry to the Peruvian, Ugandan and Filipino artists and tailors that embed hope, connection, and peace into each collaborative design.
Organizations We Give To
UGANDA- Health Access Connect (HAC)
Health Access Connect is a Ugandan public healthmedical humanitarian organization working in remote villages on the shoresin the islands of Lake Victoria to assist patients whose health is neglected by distance, time, and expenses necessary to visit the nearest health centre clinic. In 2014, HAC implemented the Medicycles program to bridge the gap between the patients and the clinics.
Problem: In Uganda people who live in remote areas have trouble accessing basic healthcare. There are clinics and doctors, but patients often have to travel far, which can be expensive and time-consuming. HIV has reached epidemic levels in fishing villages surrounding Lake Victoria: upwards of 20% in some places.
In some rural areas of Uganda, there is only 1 health care facility per 20,000 people. To reach the nearest health facility, people have to travel more than 10 miles (16 km) and pay $4-$10 to reach the nearest health facility, which is a significant financial burden to most people. Those difficulties make healthcare inaccessible for many Ugandans.
Opportunity: Uganda has clinics, medical professionals, and a lot of services available to citizens at reasonable prices and some occasionally free of cost. While there may not be health workers near all villages, there are many ways to reach the people who live there (edit: who would otherwise be inaccessible).
Solution: Medicycles facilitates the implementation of monthly 1-day comprehensive health clinics in remote villages by transporting health workers with medication and equipment to and from health facilities via motorcycle taxis.
We achieve this through 3 components:
- MICROFINANCE. We offer low-interest loans to experienced motorcycle taxi drivers to purchase their own motorcycle. The loan allows the motorcycle taxi driver to start a small business and improve his income.
- 1-DAY CLINICS. As a condition of this loan, drivers must service 3-4 villages with monthly clinics. They transport 3 health workers and their equipment to villages, and those health workers provide services, including anti-retroviral treatment, malaria treatment, HIV tests/treatment, deworming, family planning, and child checkups.
- COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS. Community groups collect $0.30-$0.60 from each patient to pay fuel costs and health worker stipends. We connect groups to their health facility and empower them to manage the mobile clinics on their own to establish a long-term strategy for health service delivery.