Our Mission
Reversing deforestation of tropical rainforests for planetary health
Contact Us
3804 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR 97214 | 503.688.5579 | info@healthinharmony.org
Health In Harmony
Healthcare to Heal the Planet
Along with the rest of the world, we were saddened to read the coverage several weeks ago about the precipitous decline of the world’s orangutan population over the last 16 years. Fascination with these incredible cousins of ours is what first drew me to Borneo 20 years ago, and I left with a concern for them and our whole planet that has fueled the work of Health In Harmony ever since.
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Last month, we welcomed Ashley Emerson as Health In Harmony's new Program Director. With a Masters in International Development, Community, and Environment from Clark University and years of experience leading and developing international programs around the world, we are thrilled to have her on the team. And to give you the chance to get to her know too, we sat down with her this week for an interview.
“This is my first time seeing an orangutan in the wild with my own eyes,” said Tian.
Tian is one of several students involved in ASRI Teens, an after-school conservation education curriculum for high schoolers through ASRI's Planetary Health Education Program. Similar to ASRI Kids, which targets primary and middle schoolers, the ASRI Teens study issues related to health and our environment. They also go outdoors to learn, and last November went on an overnight field trip with International Animal Rescue (IAR).
At Alam Sehat Lestari (ASRI), we believe that the communities we work with are the best solvers of their own problems, and it is our job to listen to them and help them find solutions. And listening is not something we do only once - it is a continuous process the helps us constantly refine our programs. So on January 15th, ASRI held radical listening meetings with villages around Gunung Palung National Park.
February's latest and greatest reads on environmental conservation, global health, and everything in between.
For our last What We're Reading of the year, we've rounded up our staff's favorite articles of the year. What were your favorite picks of 2017?
“Please show me, where is Indonesia?”
“Here!” the students called as they simultaneously pointed to Indonesia.
Kebun Keluarga (Kitchen Gardens) is one of ASRI's conservation programs, focusing on alternative livelihood development. This program works with women who live around Gunung Palung National Park, teaching them how to cultivate the small plots of land they manage next to their homes.
Since 2007, Health In Harmony and our partner Alam Sehat Lestari (ASRI) have reduced illegal logging (by 89% as of 2017), achieved important health outcomes (such as reducing infant mortality rate), and helped lift families living around Gunung Palung National Park (GPNP) out of poverty. We’ve done this by using radical listening to facilitate community-designed solutions to the integrated problems that people face. Could the same approach work in other parts of the world?
“Now we have hope. Now we KNOW change is possible!”
This is what one man told Kinari about his community over the last ten years. Health In Harmony has focused on data since creating a baseline survey in 2007 to monitor behavior change and health impact over time. But we haven’t figured out a way to quantify hope. We can’t quite measure how important respect, love, and commitment are to the changes we see (though we’re working on it!).
Dear friends of Health In Harmony,
I just got back from a wonderful seven weeks in Kalimantan and I want to thank you all for helping make the hospital possible. Because of visa issues, I had not actually been back since November when the ASRI team officially moved into the building. So for me, the last time I saw the building was in the first week of the team using it.
Every year, we host the Journey to Borneo so that you can see the work you make possible - from conserving vital ecosystems, to improving access to health care, to generating sustainable livelihoods for families. Here are 5 reasons we hope you can join us on one of our upcoming trips. Read More
Interview with Adam Phillipson, the Great Apes Program Officer at the Arcus Foundation, who visited our partner ASRI in May.
Guest blog by Jake Sargent
I first learned of Health In Harmony only six months ago – I had recently co-founded a venture fund, called Softmatter, to invest in sustainable consumer start-ups, and was looking for inspiring stories of disruption to share with our small community of like-minded investors and social entrepreneurs. I can’t pinpoint the moment when I decided my time, and resources, were best utilized helping to cultivate a shift in our global consumption – but it stemmed from five years as the creative director of a fashion brand and being a participant in an inefficient system that produces waste at all levels of the supply and distribution chains. We can find, and support, a better way.
August's latest and greatest reads on environmental conservation, global health, and everything in between.
This past February I had my first opportunity to visit our partner ASRI and colleagues. I’d like to tell you about one new and particularly innovative initiative I saw called the Garden to Forest program. It’s illustrative of how we approach the conjoined challenges of human development and conservation of our natural world.
Internships with local high schools and universities allow our partner ASRI to share their knowledge of safe, sustainable farming practices with the broader community. In return, these young interns bring fresh ideas and innovation to the program, keeping ASRI at the forefront of the Planetary Health movement through an influx of talent from all backgrounds.
Guest blog by Arvian Heidir
Meet members of the ASRI team through this beautiful photo series by supporter, Arvian Heidir. Read More
Thanks to so many donors, supporters, and friends, our flagship partner ASRI celebrated their 10th anniversary on July 13th. To mark this incredible occasion, ASRI hosted an open house and festival on hospital grounds. Read More
