In a special IWD Crowdfund we’d love to fund training of 2 birthing assistants at Mulanje hospital in Malawi (£650). We’re asking all you inspirational ladies to help do something special for those in need.
Around International Women’s Day we turn our thoughts to developing nations where women still struggle to access the most basic resources. This May we will be visiting Mulanje Hospital in Malawi with EMMS International, a healthcare development charity, so our thoughts are with this very deserving cause.
For this crowdfund we’d love to raise £650 which would cover the cost of training two traditional birth assistants for the region. It’s a small amount that will make a vast amount of difference in a healthcare facility where 2,500 babies are born every year.
Malawi is a country with extremely high maternal mortality. In the U.S. 1 in 2,400 women are at risk of dying while giving birth; in Malawi, it is 1 in 36. There has been much recent press about maternal health in Malawi and how the new President Joyce Banda has made it her priority to tackle it head on. Through this project Joanne and Louise want to give the gift of 2 trained birth attendants to the Mulanje region from the community of funders.
EMMS International works with local partners to build capacity for the provision of maternal and child health services. Their work or projects have a direct impact through initiatives like community based centres providing vaccinations, nutrition and education to infants to vastly improve life chances.
The Mulanje Mission Hospital is located in southern Malawi, 50 miles from the country’s largest city of Blantyre, and nine miles from the border of Mozambique. The hospital sits at the foot of Mount Mulanje in a rural area made up of tea plantations and subsistence farms. The hospital was founded in the late 1800s by the Church of Scotland. It is now under the auspices of the Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian (CCAP) and a member of CHAM.
Once known as a maternity hospital, Mulanje PHC has grown to a 200-bed general hospital that now also includes a men’s ward, a paediatric unit, and an outpatient department. The hospital serves a population of around 75,000 (72 villages plus the town of Mulanje, pop. 20,000).
Joanne and Louise who are running the crowdfunding campaign are visiting the project in May 2013 and will deliver your message of support. They are covering the costs of the trip and will also donate the postage/ costs for the rewards. All donations given will go directly to the Mulanje Hospital Project delivered through EMMS International and their established partners in Malawi – for more info visit www.emms.org .
