President’s Message

I first visited St. Albert’s in 2000 as part of a Fulbright grant. My respect and admiration for the doctors and staff there lead to the founding of BHA in 2009, thanks to a $30,000 gift for the hospital that had two stipulations: the donor had to remain anonymous and the gift had to be tax deductible. That gift became the seed grant for BHA, which was founded with invaluable assistance from a small group of friends who became the founding board. Now, 10 years later, BHA has achieved a considerable record of accomplishment. 

President's Message

We owe those accomplishments to the many contributors who believed in and supported our efforts to help St. Albert’s Mission Hospital. Many of them donated dollars; others donated time and expertise. We would not be here without them.

I will leave you with a few photographs that for me represent the challenges faced by St. Albert’s and the people who come for care, and the hope offered by donations to BHA.

Doctors and nurses at St. Albert’s routinely face shortages of basic supplies and drugs. After spending the day in the Zambezi Valley with the hospital’s community home-based care team, we returned and observed these disposable gloves, washed and drying overnight for use the next day .
Water rationing at St. Albert’s in 2016 was so strict at one point surgeon’s had to scrub before an operation by having a nurse pour water over their hands from a pitcher.
Photo courtesy of St. Albert’s Mission Hospital.

St. Albert’s and Karanda mission hospitals care for people who are desperately poor. I once spent a day with a family that lived a few miles from St. Albert’s. That night, they provided a paraffin lantern that symbolizes for me the level of poverty in the area.
Photo of Zimbabwean woman Rosa Sande and her husband Samuel Mateo. Rosa visited the St. Albert's cervical cancer prevention clinic for screening. Serious precancerous changes were found. A St. Albert's surgeon performed a hysterectomy that prevented the cancer. Rosa encourages other women to be screened, especially those in remote areas. “It can save a woman’s life,” she says.
BHA’s efforts provide hope and can be live-saving. During our 2015 visit, we met Rosa Sande and her husband Samuel Mateo. Rosa visited the St. Albert’s cervical cancer prevention clinic for screening. Serious precancerous changes were found. A St. Albert’s surgeon performed a hysterectomy that prevented the cancer. Rosa encourages other women to be screened, especially those in remote areas. “It can save a woman’s life,” she says.

Thank you and keep well…Darrell