BY MUMSARCADE

MUM’s was launched in 2005 after Linda McDonald was working a night shift in the Simpson’s Maternity Unit in Edinburgh. That night, Linda heard stories and saw photographs of one of the worst maternity hospitals in Malawi. Babies dying daily and mothers were dying weekly due to lack of resources. It was shocking in this day and age and most shocking of all was knowing that their deaths could be avoided.

Linda set out to try and help raise money for a better chance for these mothers and babies. The Linda McDonald Charitable Trust was set up in October 2006 – Scottish Charity no.SCO37759

WHAT MUMs DOES:

MUMs feed over 700 children, 6 days a week, mostly below five year olds.

They have recently bought an ambulance to transfer women from a clinic they are supporting run by a wonderful Malawian midwife called ‘Charity’. The ambulance will transfer women in difficult labour to the hospital. It will be run and maintained by the clinic.

They have also paid for a Grinder to grind the maize, soya beans and groundnuts for the porridge( phala)that they feed at the stations.

Currently there are also foundations laid for the building of two centres in two of the villages, for feeding and teaching the children on our programme.

MUMs also sponsors a midwife who works full time in Bwaila Hospital. You can read her blog about her time there here. It can be quite harrowing at times I should warn you. www.birthingadream.blogspot.com

MUMs works on the beliefs that:

All mothers in Malawi deserve safe and caring maternity provision

Malawi’s children should be well-nourished and have educational opportunity

Nurses with AIDS or concerned about contracting AIDS should be supported

Working closely with the local community is vital to ensure needs are identified, money raised is spent wisely and the maximum number of people benefit.

By helping Malawi’s rural communities to help themselves, communities are empowered and more sustainable in the long term.

You can find out more about the fabulous work that MUMs does on their website – www.mumsrecipes.org

If you would like to donate any baby or children’s clothes then please get in touch with me: ness@totaldeliciousness.co.uk even if you can only give 1 baby vest, it will make a world of difference!