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Help me to help the people of Kenya! Let me tell you a bit about myself and why I need your help raising money …… I work for the NHS at Torbay Hospital as a Communications Officer.  I have known about the Kenya Orthopaedic Project (KOP) for the last few years due to a friend’s involvement.  KOP is a charity that works with public hospitals in Kenya to enhance existing orthopaedic services and trauma care.  I never I thought I would get a chance to be a part of something like this as I am not clinically trained.  However…..I then discovered that a coordinator is also required for each visit and is a vital role for the project as it frees up the clinical staff to perform more operations and provide more clinical treatment.  So….. on 22 June 2012 I am off to Nanyuki in Kenya for 10 days to coordinate a team of NHS professionals, including surgeons, anaesthetists, radiographers and scrub nurses who will be providing a trauma service and carrying out orthopaedic operations on local children, adults and the elderly (ie fixing their bones).    We will be working 12-15 hour days to ensure as many operations as possible are performed.  My role will include providing administrative and project management support to the clinical team, liaising with patients and ensuring they are listed for theatre in an agreed order, that teams are aware of what equipment is required, that all records are kept up to date and that local hospital notes remain with the local hospital’s clinical teams.  Liaising with patients will no doubt be a challenge as some live up to 200 miles away with no means of communication, others struggle to even find £5 for the basic hospital administration fee which means they could lose the chance to have thousands of pounds worth of treatment free (it will be my role to help resolve these issues for the patients).   The cost of flights and accommodation needs to be self-funded by each of us, as all of the money donated by the sponsors of the project will go directly towards paying for the anaesthesia, surgical equipment and analgesia for the patients.  The time out for the trip is taken from our annual leave allowance so it will not affect the NHS service we leave behind for 10 days.     Please help support and sponsor me in my attempts to raise the required minimum of £800 – in fact I intend to try and exceed that target and reach £1,000 but can only do so with your help!   A broken bone here in Britain is a simple injury that can be treated, but in Nanyuki, it may never be treated due to lack of funds, supplies and/or knowledge.  Orthopaedic surgery is expensive, and with the average wage being just over a pound a day, many patients with traumatic injuries just cannot afford the necessary treatment.  Many people in Nanyuki are left with permanent pain, physical deformities and no use of the affected limbs, often no longer able to work to provide for their families. The clinical work the team do is extremely valuable, however even more important is the legacy of the teaching they provide which is building local capacity to improve care in the long term so that each time the team goes they are leaving a little bit more behind.  Eventually this should lead to the KOP missions becoming redundant! Have a look at the KOP charity website:  <a href="http://www.egho.co.uk/KOP">http://www.egho.co.uk/KOP</a> to see what it’s all about. Read the stories and look at the photos. They say much more than I ever could.   Thank you for looking at my JustGiving page and I really hope you feel able to sponsor me.   Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity. So please dig deep and donate now.

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