3E Project: Healthcare
April 2012: Sue Biggs’ article on fundraising ideas and other ways you can support 3E Project: Healthcare
3E Project: Healthcare is a partnership between Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland (SIGBI) and the international medical charity Maternal and Childhealth Advocacy International (MCAI) – and its partner Advanced Life Support Group (ALSG). This is a three year fundraising challenge which will save the lives of countless critically ill women, babies and children in the Gambia.
Training of Birth Attendant
This joint venture, 3E Project: Healthcare, focuses on access to appropriate healthcare through education, empowerment and enablement to women, children and babies of The Gambia where, currently, a staggering one pregnant woman or girl out of every 49 will die from the complications of pregnancy or childbirth. Furthermore, for every death, another 30 women and girls are left disabled or seriously injured. Both organisations believe that lack of appropriately trained health workers contributes to the problem. For example, in The Gambia, there are only five trained midwives for every 1,000 births. As a result, women and girls often face preventable life-threatening situations at all stages of pregnancy, and sadly, many die due to lack of appropriate and timely treatment.
The 3E Project: Healthcare aims to change this appalling situation by creating an effective path of emergency care from the home to the hospital, and they plan to do so in 4 ways:
- Training health staff, community workers, and traditional birth attendants in emergency skills (and then training some of them to become trainers so they can continue to teach their colleagues);
- Refurbishing health care facilities;
- Supplying necessary medical devices, drugs, and equipment and ;
- Setting up emergency transport facilities (ambulances and boats).
Maureen Maguire, the President of Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland (SIGBI) says: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with MCAI to not only educate but empower and enable the women of The Gambia at this most critical time of their lives.”
Dr Rhona MacDonald, Executive Director of MCAI says: “Working in partnership with The Gambian Government, we want every women, baby, and child of The Gambia, the former centre of the UK slave trade, to access emergency health care in a quality health facility given by appropriately trained health workers when they need it.”
This project meets the Soroptimist International focus for all members worldwide to empower women and girls through Education and Leadership www.soroptimistinternational.org/our-projects/educate-to-lead
For Soroptimists there is a template press release available from the Members area of this website, more resources are available from the Project Resource Centre, and you can also download the leaflet .
“Tell me and I forget; show me and I remember; let me do and I understand.”
To donate to this Project, either complete the donation form in the left hand side panel of this webpage, or send a cheque, made payable to SIGBI Limited, to SIGBI Ltd, 2nd Floor, Beckwith House, 1 Wellington Road North, Stockport, SK4 1AF. Include a note to say that it is for 3E Project: Healthcare.