MEDICAL AID TO THE NEEDY
(added 25th July 2001)

About six months ago I was visiting my father, who was at Derriford hospital. While I was there, I decided to try to find out what actually happens to all the old medical equipment and supplies. Somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered an old friend telling me that charities which work in developing countries could apply for the redundant equipment.

I started enquiring, and after what seemed a very long and frustrating time of hearing "I'm sorry sir, I have no idea", I was just about ready to forget about it all, when finally a very nice young lady answered "I'm not sure, but if you give me a minute I think I know someone who can help". And from that began the first of what has now become almost weekly trips to Plymouth to pick up equipment and supplies ranging from small boxes of bandages to a very large operating theatre light (see photo right - the photo shows less than a third of the amount of supplies we've picked up already).

So we have decided that wherever possible we feel duty bound to try to help supply any other Christian charity (regardless of denomination) who, like us, do not have the finances to be able to just go out and buy what we need and take it out to Africa or anywhere else. We have two main problems; firstly, as I have already said, a lack of finances, and secondly, a lack of storage space. If we can raise £750 we could have a 40-foot certificated container delivered to us here at Tavistock, which would solve our storage problems, and then when we are able to raise another £5,000 all we would need to do is send out the container which we had already bought.

As you are reading this you may be wondering how you can help! Well, maybe you know somebody who runs a business who would be willing to sponsor the purchase of part or all of the container. And in return we could (depending on how much is donated) give their business a free advert on our web site for up to 3, 6, 9 or 12 months. Also, you may have (or know someone who has) unused equipment that could go towards setting up a hospital in Africa. We're very keen to get hold of an ambulance!

As you can see from the photograph above, we have a desperate need to help improve the quality of health care. (The photo shows one of the better hospitals which we help with - I'll leave it to your imagination to think what the rest are like.) We also need help with staffing and training, so how about spending 6 months or a year living and working in Rwanda? You would be able to help train local African people who in turn can take over the day-to-day running of their own hospital.

If you think you could help in any of these areas, e-mail us or call us on 01822 616625 (phone/fax).