At February’s Business Meeting we were pleased to welcome Gordon Cowie MBE, Chairman of Friends of Sick Children in Malawi who told us about the work this organisation does in a paediatric unit at a Malawi general hospital. The dedication and commitment of him and his wife is humbling and we have been happy to support them when we have been able to.
The statistics about the levels of poverty and the details of life with very little access to good health care for children are frightening and Gordon and his team have worked substantial miracles fund raising and organising the renovation and equipping of semi-derelict hospital wards including the provision of orthotic aids, wheel chairs and home chairs, providing piped oxygen to the children’s wards and resuscitation trolleys for moving children from the operation theatre to intensive care beds. Another major project has been education for medical staff, and funding to provide regular gifts of money for retired nursing staff to enable them to return to work.
In terms o
f fund raising, Gordon told us of a member of staff who ran 110km and raised £55,000 for the resuscitation trolleys and how the Christmas Appeal raised £27,600. The need for funding continues and we were proud to have donated £1000 during the last year. “A drop in the ocean” is the phrase that springs to mind however.
