Dear Friends –
Your donations to support the work of Better Healthcare for Africa are easing suffering, saving lives and preserving families in many ways. Some of these funds were contributed in honor of my birthday in August, some were contributed to support the work of Dr. Lowell Schnipper, some were raised by a student fundraiser and some were contributed by BHA Board members. During the past two years, these funds have helped meet critical needs at St. Albert’s and Karanda Mission Hospitals.
Two outstanding examples of these critical needs: Expanding the St. Albert’s poultry project by 1,000 hens, which greatly increased the number of eggs the hospital could sell for income to help meet daily needs. Second, a shipment of critically needed medical supplies and equipment.
Container update
The equipment and supplies loaded onto the container were provided by Supplies Overseas (SOS ) located in Louisville, Kentucky. They include an anesthesia machine, oxygen concentrator, dental chair, cast saw, centrifuge and a range of adult and pediatric supplies related to anesthesia administration, general surgery, intravenous administration, orthopedic supplies, oxygen, syringes, suction apparatus and clinical laboratory supplies.
Once we had the documents for duty-free clearance in hand — it took nearly six months to obtain approval for duty-free importation from the government of Zimbabwe — SOS loaded the items, which included a pallet of supplies for Karanda Mission Hospital, into a 40-foot container. It left SOS by train 17 December. It has crossed the Atlantic and changed vessels twice along the way. It is scheduled to arrive at the Port of Biera, Mozambique, in early March.
Key dates for our container’s journey
- 22 December: Arrive in Norfolk, Virginia, from SOS in Louisville, Kentucky.
- 30 December: Loaded on board the vessel Athenian.
- 03 February: Arrive in Port of Mundra, India (on the northwest coast).
- 21 February: Depart Mundra on board the vessel Emirates Asante.
- 25 February: Arrive Port of Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
- 07 March: Depart Jabel Ali on board the vessel Kumasi.
- 26 March: Arrive Beira, Mozambique.
From Beira, the container will travel by truck to St. Albert’s Mission Hospital. The entire shipment and its transport to the two hospitals cost $19,000. We will let you know after the container arrives at St. Albert’s.
Meeting other critical needs
In addition to the container, BHA recently sent $5,000 to St. Albert’s to help Dr. Julia Musariri meet a number of critical needs that include restoring air conditioning to the St. Albert’s operating theatre and COVID-19-related supplies. (The pandemic has recently hit the hospital and its staff hard.)
Cervical cancer prevention
Also, thanks to grants obtained by BHA board member Dr. Lowell Schnipper, we also continue to support the cervical cancer screening and prevention programs at St. Albert’s and Karanda.
As of December 31, 2020 the combined programs have screened more than 22,994 women. Of these, approximately 1169 had VIAC positive lesions, and approximately 40% of these received treatment to remove the abnormal cells. For these women, treatment has prevented cervical cancer.
Thank you for your generous support
My personal thanks to everyone for your support of BHA. I especially want to thank those who send monthly donations, which are greatly needed and much appreciated, and those who donate in support of Dr. Schnipper’s important cancer prevention work in Zimbabwe. (Donate here to support Dr. Musariri or Dr. Schnipper.)
Take care and keep safe…Darrell
