Things are starting to step up with our Africa trip now, as it fast approaches. We continue to be encouraged by your support, and the continued support of even more companies willing to help, and donate things to us.
Anyway, for those of you who haven't seen it already I thought I would speak a little bit about Shammah Health Centre and Burundi Youth for Christ (BYFC) where Hannah and I will be working for the first 6 months of our trip.
People keep asking us where Burundi is, and why we are going there. Here's a letter I wrote to prospective sponsors which includes a lot of this info and answers to questions, I thought the facts of it were a bit shocking if I am honest, and happy that even if in a small way we can help to change this.
Shammah
Medical Clinic & Tour du Burundi
GLO
has a number of partner organisations in Burundi one of which is
Burundi Youth for Christ (BYFC). Shammah Medical Clinic is based
within the BYFC complex which also consists of an orphanage, a
school, and guest houses. The
clinic will not only offer care to the children at the Gitega
orphanage, but it will also serve the surrounding community. We hope
the clinic will be pivotal in curbing Malaria, AIDS, and malnutrition
in Burundi.
Opening
in early 2014 after
almost two years of preparation and construction,
is the Shammah Health Center (SHC), a medical facility opening its
doors to serve a rural community outside of Gitega, Burundi’s 2nd
largest city center.
Josh
and Nadine Guenther are two nurses from Canada who have given up
three years to oversee and run the operation at Shammah Heath Centre.
They are living in Gitega at their home next to Shammah Medical
Clinic. We will be working with them in the center for a 6 month
period to assist them with the daily running.
Through
years of civil war, Burundi’s healthcare system faltered and
failed. Today, 1 in 5 children will die before the age of five. One
woman out of every nine will die due to complications of childbirth.
Malnutrition is rampant, preventative education is nowhere to be
found, and families continue every day to suffer the loss of loved
ones due to preventable and treatable conditions. The average life expectancy is around 50 years.
At
the SHC, they have a completed building, government permission to
open, and an eager staff ready to make an impact in their community.
Upon opening in 2014, they will impact their community through the
provision of safe, ethical healthcare, primary health prevention and
education, and engage with community leaders to provide lasting
change through programs for food security, community health workers,
and family planning.
Currently,
funds for running the clinic are limited, and this clinic will cost
around £37,500 per year to run. This includes the salaries of the
staff, medication and equipment, taxes, utilities, office supplies,
and maintenance costs. The start up costs for the clinic are double
the annual cost due to the initial purchase of equipment, and
supplies.
To
raise funds for this medical centre, I along with 20+ other men have
committed to a seven day, 400+ mile bicycle ride, in Burundi - the
Tour du Burundi! Our purpose is to raise awareness of the
medical centre and other partners supported by GLO and also to seek
out donations from people such as yourselves who are interested in
supporting a clinic which will undoubtedly save lives and treat
curable diseases.
Funds
from the Tour this year will go towards capacity-building projects,
targeting malnutrition prevention and family planning, as well as
contributing to the construction of infrastructure that will bring
power to the health center, dramatically increasing the amount and
quality of services that will be offered to the community.
If you would consider sponsoring us for this, please contact us via the website, or visit our JustGiving page here: http://www.justgiving.com/faulknersinafrica
If thats too technical, you can even use the text giving service using details from the image below! All you need to do is text TDUB99, the amount you wish to give to 70070. Simples!
I (Andy) have recently been asked if I would like to be involved in a sustainability project which BYFC are planning to run shortly. The project involves developing the land next to the health center as a starter area for becoming a seedling distributor. This would have us growing plants to be given or sold into the community for our community members with land to begin growing their own vegetables, fruits and beans, in order to defeat malnutrition at its source. It'll be based on the model used by www.gardensforhealth.org
This is a really exciting idea, and definitely gives me something new and exciting to look forward to. There are also future plans at BYFC to purchase dairy cows, so I may even be able to get involved in that!
Quick update on the Ambulance project for Nairobi
Things are progressing nicely, we have nearly all the electrical/monitoring equipment now for the inside and have been very, very blessed in making contacts for medical supplies - which fingers crossed we should have plenty of now. Work started yesterday on the external conversion, and the final stripping out of all old electrical wiring. Next week we should see the emergency lighting/sirens and interior lighting fitted.
I'm not going to post any photos of the Ambulance on here/website/Facebook until Hellen, the founder and director of Lina Medical Services has seen it, but they will come!
Anyway, I speak far too much (sorry) and I need to get on my turbo trainer for an hour or so - thanks for reading.
One last thing, and plea - PLEASE COULD YOU SHARE OUR WEBSITE WITH YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, ACQUAINTANCES on your Facebook status if you have it? www.faulknersinafrica.co.uk
or get them to 'Like' our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AndyandHannahInAfrica?fref=ts
THANKYOU!!!!
Andy (and Hannah but she's not here) x
No comments:
Post a Comment