The Tea

2024-06-18 · letter vlog · John · 6:50 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Global development · mode: Personal essay · tags: fundraising ask, self promotion, heavy topic

John recounts how Nerdfighteria's donors and charity clubs helped raise over $40 million for Partners In Health's maternal health work in Sierra Leone, worries about sustaining long-term commitments, and announces that Good Store's coffee and new tea are relaunching as Keats & Co. to back PIH's comprehensive tuberculosis care starting in Lesotho, unsure the community can do both well.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — History of the Sierra Leone maternal health project: pledge, monthly donors, socks/coffee/soap clubs, results

★★★ John recalls that in 2019 the community began supporting Partners In Health and the Sierra Leonean government in their efforts to radically reduce maternal mortality. — 00:00:00 · Nerdfighteria, Partners In Health, Sierra Leone, maternal death · first in: 2024-01-16, The Bank of Nerdfighteria
★★ John says that in 2019 about 1 in 17 women in Sierra Leone could expect to die in pregnancy or childbirth. — 00:00:00 · Sierra Leone, maternal death · first in: 2022-11-15, 3 Years In: What Happened, Why, and What's Next
★★ John's family pledged $6.5 million, which eventually became $8 million, but they knew that was not nearly enough. — 00:00:00
★★ For PIH and the Ministry of Health, radically reducing maternal mortality meant everything from hiring many community health workers to building a teaching maternal and infant care center at Koidu Government Hospital. — 00:00:29 · Partners In Health, Koidu Government Hospital, Maternal Center of Excellence
★★ John says PIH needed to raise over $25 million before breaking ground, and building and running the hospital for a few years costs around $50 million. — 00:00:29 · Partners In Health, Maternal Center of Excellence
★★★ Thousands of people became monthly donors at pih.org/hankandjohn, giving $5 to $50 a month; they raised several million dollars over five years, all matched by a Nerdfighteria matching fund. — 00:00:58 · Nerdfighteria, Partners In Health
★★ Needing much more money, Hank proposed partly funding the project with an Awesome Socks Club; John thought it ludicrous, but says never bet against Hank Green. (playful) — 00:01:10 · Hank Green, Awesome Socks Club
★★★ The Awesome Socks Club became an explosive hit; with its sibling coffee and soap clubs it has raised over $8 million for the Maternal Center of Excellence project. — 00:01:27 · Awesome Socks Club, Awesome Coffee Club, Sun Basin Soap, Maternal Center of Excellence
★★★ Altogether they helped raise over $40 million for the project, and maternal mortality in Sierra Leone has already fallen by more than 50% since 2019, saving thousands of lives. — 00:01:27 · Sierra Leone, maternal death
★★ John says the hospital will not fully open until next year (2025). — 00:01:27 · Maternal Center of Excellence

00:01:56 — Long-term problems need long-term funding; PIH asks for help proving comprehensive TB care, starting in Lesotho; can they support two projects?

★★★ John says long-term problems like the systemic impoverishment of Sierra Leone's health care system demand long-term solutions like ongoing funding for it. — 00:01:56 · Sierra Leone
★★ The hospital's opening next year (2025) will be a beginning, not an ending, with ongoing funding needs for years or even decades. — 00:01:56 · Maternal Center of Excellence
★★ John says history shows health care systems get stronger through long-term investment, not short-term crisis response. — 00:02:26
★★★ John worries a lot that they will need to fundraise for a long time, which is hard once a project is no longer new and shiny. — 00:02:26
★★ The Awesome Socks Club helps because buyers think mainly about getting great socks, not about maternal mortality. — 00:02:26 · Awesome Socks Club
★★ John says there are many examples of failing to keep up or follow through with commitments in global health and equity, and he wants to be conscious of that. — 00:02:26 · global health, health equity
★★★ PIH told them it is starting a new strategy to prove that comprehensive TB care (finding, treating, preventing) can drive down the disease and strengthen health systems, and asked for their help. — 00:02:55 · Partners In Health, tuberculosis
★★★ John says tuberculosis is the world's deadliest infectious disease and kills over 100,000 people every month. — 00:02:55 · tuberculosis
★★ John says PIH, with a long history of expanding TB care, will prove that just as we need not live in a world where in some communities 1 in 17 women die in pregnancy or childbirth, we need not live in a world with TB. — 00:03:24 · Partners In Health, tuberculosis, maternal death
★★ PIH will start in Lesotho, where it has worked for almost 20 years and which has the world's highest TB incidence. — 00:03:24 · Partners In Health, tuberculosis

00:03:53 — Keats & Co.: coffee and new tea relaunched to fight tuberculosis; Keats and the billion TB deaths since

★★★ John asks, not rhetorically, whether they can support two very long-term projects, and says he doesn't know. (unsure) — 00:03:53
★★★ Good Store's socks and soap stay oriented around maternal mortality, while coffee and now tea relaunch as a new brand, Keats & Co., to fight tuberculosis. — 00:03:53 · Good Store, Awesome Socks Club, Sun Basin Soap, Awesome Coffee Club, Keats & Co., tuberculosis
★★★ Keats & Co. fully debuts later this year (2024) but launches to Nerdfighteria now with green, mint, chai, Earl Grey and other teas, plus a strainer, all carefully sourced. — 00:04:22 · Keats & Co., Nerdfighteria
★★ John says the share of people who sign up for their coffee and stay signed up is in the high 90s percent. — 00:04:52 · Awesome Coffee Club
★★ A link in the doobly-doo and an offer code give 50% off the first tea subscription order. — 00:04:52 · doobly-doo, Keats & Co.
★★★ When John Keats died of TB in 1821 nothing could stop it, but in the 200 years since around a billion people have died of TB, and now we have the tools. — 00:04:52 · tuberculosis, Keats & Co.

00:05:21 — Saying yes to PIH, many crises, the community's power and limited resources; sign-off

★★★ John finds it infuriating that the world's deadliest infectious disease still kills over a million people a year though curable. — 00:05:21 · tuberculosis
★★★ John doesn't want to undermine the Sierra Leone maternal work, but PIH calls comprehensive TB care the next big thing in global health equity. — 00:05:21 · Partners In Health, health equity, maternal death, Sierra Leone, global health
★★★ When PIH says so, you say yes; everyone faces versions of this, with many crises and no one able to address all of them. — 00:05:45 · Partners In Health
★★ John doesn't want the community only in the crisis-addressing business: they are also silly nerds doing silly stuff like going to Rax. — 00:05:45 · Nerdfighteria
★★★ John has seen the community's power in reducing maternal mortality in Sierra Leone and driving down TB drug and test prices: never underestimate Nerdfighteria. — 00:05:45 · Nerdfighteria, maternal death, tuberculosis, Sierra Leone
★★★ John hopes they can do both well over time but doesn't know that they can; resources are limited, including money and attention. (unsure) — 00:06:14
★★★ John thinks PIH is right that someone must prove comprehensive TB care can work even in impoverished communities where TB is rampant. — 00:06:14 · Partners In Health, tuberculosis
★★ Paul Farmer (quoted): As John's late friend Paul Farmer often reminded him, resources are limited but less limited than they have ever been. — 00:06:14

In the description and comments

★★ The description and John's channel comment invite viewers to join the thousands of monthly donors to the Sierra Leone project at pih.org/hankandjohn. — video description · Partners In Health, Sierra Leone
★ In a channel comment John says the tea is currently only available in the U.S. and Canada, for freshness reasons. — creator comment · Keats & Co., Canada

Threads in this video

looked back · Maternal Center of Excellence: the brothers' Partners In Health project in Sierra Leone (2019) — John recalls that in 2019 the community began supporting Partners In Health and the Sierra Leonean government in their efforts to radically reduce maternal mortality. (00:00:00)
result reported · John asks viewers to donate to Partners In Health at pih.org/hankandjohn (2019) — Thousands of people became monthly donors at pih.org/hankandjohn, giving $5 to $50 a month; they raised several million dollars over five years, all matched by a Nerdfighteria matching fund. (00:00:58)
looked back · Awesome Socks Club: monthly sock subscription (2016) — Needing much more money, Hank proposed partly funding the project with an Awesome Socks Club; John thought it ludicrous, but says never bet against Hank Green. (00:01:10)
milestone · Awesome Socks Club: monthly sock subscription (2016) — The Awesome Socks Club became an explosive hit; with its sibling coffee and soap clubs it has raised over $8 million for the project. (00:01:27)
milestone · Maternal Center of Excellence: the brothers' Partners In Health project in Sierra Leone (2019) — Altogether they helped raise over $40 million for the project, and maternal mortality in Sierra Leone has already fallen by more than 50% since 2019, saving thousands of lives. (00:01:27)
predicted · John: the Maternal Center of Excellence will fully open in 2025 (2024) — John says the hospital will not fully open until next year (2025). (00:01:27)
restate · What makes charity or aid work well? — John says long-term problems like the systemic impoverishment of Sierra Leone's health care system demand long-term solutions like ongoing funding for it. (00:01:56)
rule change · Good Store: the brothers' store and subscription box at good.store giving all profit to charity (2023) — Good Store's socks and soap stay oriented around maternal mortality, while coffee and now tea relaunch as a new brand, Keats & Co., to fight tuberculosis. (00:03:53)
rule change · Awesome Coffee Club: the brothers' coffee subscription for charity (2022) — Good Store's socks and soap stay oriented around maternal mortality, while coffee and now tea relaunch as a new brand, Keats & Co., to fight tuberculosis. (00:03:53)
launched · Keats & Co.: the brothers' coffee and tea brand fighting tuberculosis (2024) — Keats & Co. fully debuts later this year (2024) but launches to Nerdfighteria now with green, mint, chai, Earl Grey and other teas, plus a strainer, all carefully sourced. (00:04:22)
restate · Which causes deserve the most support? — When PIH says so, you say yes; everyone faces versions of this, with many crises and no one able to address all of them. (00:05:45)
restate · What is the community for? — John doesn't want the community only in the crisis-addressing business: they are also silly nerds doing silly stuff like going to Rax. (00:05:45)
reminder · John asks viewers to donate to Partners In Health at pih.org/hankandjohn (2019) — The description and John's channel comment invite viewers to join the thousands of monthly donors to the Sierra Leone project at pih.org/hankandjohn. (video description)
restate · Is it acceptable that how long people live depends on where they live? — John finds it infuriating that the world's deadliest infectious disease still kills over a million people a year though curable. (00:05:21)
restate · Do people achieve more together than as individuals? — John has seen the community's power in reducing maternal mortality in Sierra Leone and driving down TB drug and test prices: never underestimate Nerdfighteria. (00:05:45)
result reported · John asks would-be donors of $2,000 or more to join the PIH Sierra Leone matching team by email (2019) — Thousands of people became monthly donors at pih.org/hankandjohn, giving $5 to $50 a month; they raised several million dollars over five years, all matched by a Nerdfighteria matching fund. (00:00:58)
partly came true · John: at current rates, matched monthly donations to the PIH Sierra Leone project will raise over $15 million over five years (2020) — Thousands of people became monthly donors at pih.org/hankandjohn, giving $5 to $50 a month; they raised several million dollars over five years, all matched by a Nerdfighteria matching fund. (00:00:58)
repeated · John: as a teaching hospital the Maternal Center of Excellence will train the next generation of Sierra Leonean health care workers (2019) — For PIH and the Ministry of Health, radically reducing maternal mortality meant everything from hiring many community health workers to building a teaching maternal and infant care center at Koidu Government Hospital. (00:00:29)
result reported · John asks viewers to press Danaher and Cepheid to cut GeneXpert TB test cartridges to $5 (2023) — John has seen the community's power in reducing maternal mortality in Sierra Leone and driving down TB drug and test prices: never underestimate Nerdfighteria. (00:05:45)
result reported · John asks viewers to pressure Johnson & Johnson to drop its secondary bedaquiline patent (2023) — John has seen the community's power in reducing maternal mortality in Sierra Leone and driving down TB drug and test prices: never underestimate Nerdfighteria. (00:05:45)
launched · Partners In Health's comprehensive TB care project in Lesotho (search, treat, prevent), backed by Keats & Co. (2024) — PIH told them it is starting a new strategy to prove that comprehensive TB care (finding, treating, preventing) can drive down the disease and strengthen health systems, and asked for their help. (00:02:55)

Where the stories that moved here went next

John asks viewers to press Danaher and Cepheid to cut GeneXpert TB test cartridges to $5 (2023) — reported back; last: result reported, 2025-09-30
John asks would-be donors of $2,000 or more to join the PIH Sierra Leone matching team by email (2019) — reported back; last: result reported, 2025-05-13
John asks viewers to donate to Partners In Health at pih.org/hankandjohn (2019) — reported back; last: thanks, 2026-08-28
John asks viewers to pressure Johnson & Johnson to drop its secondary bedaquiline patent (2023) — reported back; last: result reported, 2025-10-01
John: the Maternal Center of Excellence will fully open in 2025 (2024) — proved wrong
John: at current rates, matched monthly donations to the PIH Sierra Leone project will raise over $15 million over five years (2020) — partly came true
Keats & Co.: the brothers' coffee and tea brand fighting tuberculosis (2024) — running; last: milestone, 2026-03-17
Maternal Center of Excellence: the brothers' Partners In Health project in Sierra Leone (2019) — completed; last: looked back, 2026-09-01

Mentioned

Central: Keats & Co. · maternal death · Partners In Health · Sierra Leone · tuberculosis

Also: People: John Keats · Paul Farmer

Projects: Awesome Coffee Club · Awesome Socks Club · Good Store · Sun Basin Soap

Organizations: Koidu Government Hospital · Maternal Center of Excellence · Ministry of Health and Sanitation (Sierra Leone) · Rax Restaurants

Terms: doobly-doo

Concepts: community health worker · global health · health equity · infectious disease

Places: Lesotho

Only in the description or credits: Canada

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