'Change can happen.' Vlogbrothers maternal care project pays off. How soap, sock sales help
Green on Tuesday announced that a Sierra Leone maternal and infant care center, for which they began fundraising in 2019, is scheduled to open in January.
In 2019, the social media stars pledged $6.5 million to support the building the Maternal Center of Excellence at the Koidu Government Hospital in Sierra Leone's Kono District.
Then, statistics indicated that one of every 17 women in Sierra Leone died in pregnancy or childbirth.
In launching the effort six years ago, Green said, 'systemic long-term problems demand systemic long-term solutions.'
Green announced on the Vlogbrothers YouTube channel Tuesday that the full $20 million needed to break ground on the project had been raised.
'Today … we get to see some of the ways that long-term sustained, open-ended attention and resources can mean long-term change for the better,' he said.
The facility will provide care to up to tens of thousands of people each year and radically reduce maternal and infant mortality in and around the district, Green said.
'The Fault in Our Stars' author Green said the brothers reached their goal with the help of supporters who became monthly donors to the project at pih.org/hankandjohn, others who came together to establish a matching fund, and those who contributed through the purchases of socks and soap at the Greens' online Good Store.
Since the start of the campaign, with efforts by the government and organizations such a Partners in Health (PIH), the maternal mortality rate in Sierra Leone has declined to one in 74, helped by increases in nursing students and residents studying there as the facility became a teaching hospital, as well as more community health workers, Green said.
PIH is an international nonprofit public health organization providing healthcare in the poorest areas of developing countries by building medical facilities and hiring and training local staff. PIH supports Wellbody Clinic and Koidu Government Hospital.
'This is a reminder that when we pay attention to a crisis and focus resources on that crisis, change can happen. The world can get better,' Green said.
Maternal death: A maternity wing closed. One month later, a young mom died when she couldn't get care.
Construction on the Maternal Center of Excellence will be completed in October, and it will open to patients in January 2026, starting with inpatient care before opening up to outpatients.
Most of the funds the Green brothers raised came from their Nerdfighteria fan community, but Green recognized the systematic and financial support of the Sierra Leonean Ministry of Health.
'Sierra Leone is a vastly safer place to give birth than it was in 2019 and while Nerdfighteria certainly isn't the main character of that story, we have played a role,' Green said. 'I think in many ways, we can cite this as the greatest accomplishment in the 18-year history of this strange and lovely little YouTube channel.'
'This teaching facility is going to become a reality, dramatically improving the kind of care available to babies and moms in eastern Sierra Leone,' he said.
Green encouraged continued donations through PIH and Good Store purchases to help maintain the facility.
'It needs to continue being a huge collaboration. We need your ongoing support for the MCO because its funding needs do not end with the completion of the building's construction. This will be a world-class training facility that strengthens and supports Sierra Leone's healthcare workforce.'
John Green: Author connects deadly disease to Stetson hats, svelte figures and weighted vests
Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cheryl.jackson@indystar.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X.com:@cherylvjackson or Bluesky: @cherylvjackson.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: John Green's 'greatest accomplishment' on YouTube will save lives
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