Hello everyone,

Thanks very much for thinking about donating! I’m off to Sierra Leone in in the autumn with VSO and the RCGP. I’m going to be working in a hospital in Makeni for a year and will be teaching, supporting and working with staff at the hospital and peripheral clinics.

Sierra Leone is a very poor country that is still recovering from a ten year civil war. It came 180th on the human development index in 2011 (out of 187 countries). This is a score based on life expectancy, literacy, education and quality of life. Life expectancy is just 46 years and one in five children don’t reach their 5th birthday. There is a lack of healthcare facilities in the country, partly due to the recent war. There is one health care worker for every 5,260 people, whereas in the UK this ratio is one to 77 people.

VSO works in many countries across the world. VSO sends volunteers to pass on their knowledge and skills and so aims to have a sustainable approach to fighting global poverty.

To start my fundraising attempts Lucy and I are going to swim 10 kilometres (between us) in the chilly outdoor swimming pool in Hathersage on 21^st June! 

If you don't want to log in to donate you can text CERI83 £5 to 70070 to donate a fiver or CERI83 £10 for ten pounds.

Thanks very much,

Ceri Gallivan

PS Some people have been asking what the money might be spent on:

£20 will keep a volunteer midwife for a week in Sierra Leone training nurses to save mothers from dying in childbirth 

 £24 will enable a VSO volunteer to provide 2 weeks training to 28 nurses in Sierra Leone 

 £37 can keep a VSO obstetrician working in West Timor, Indonesia, for one week, safely delivering 12 babies 

 £40 can pay for specialised training in life-saving skills, such as resuscitation, that could help save two children who arrive at hospital close to death 

 £50 can help one HIV positive woman in Mozambique to start her own business and give food, shelter and hope to her family 

 £72 could help fund a team of VSO volunteers – GP, paediatrician and midwife – for a month in one hospital where staff have had no previous training 

 £150 can help VSO keep an education management adviser in Nepal for one month, planning education for the poorest children 

 £200 can pay the living expenses of a VSO volunteer in Sierra Leone for 1 month and 3 weeks 

 £250 can help VSO keep a nurse in Sierra Leone for two and a half months, educating local health workers and communities to combat malnutrition, malaria and dysentery 

 £500 can train 10 HIV positive women in Mozambique to start their own business, giving them and their children income and hope 

 £900 can help a VSO social work adviser in Bangladesh to set up and run a six-month training programme so that students become peer-to-peer educators for street children in Dhaka 

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. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.