Ebenezer Clinic was started in the early 1900s by the Wesleyan church but started to fall into disrepair after 1968 when Swaziland became independent and the missionaries returned to their homelands. In 2011 when HIV was rife in the country, Precious, a superintendent of a local church, felt a deep concern for all the people who were dying every day because they couldn't afford the transport costs to access the healthcare they needed. So, with her church's blessing and by working with the Ministry of Health, she stepped in and directed the repair of the clinic so that it could become functional again. The government recognised the need for a healthcare facility in such a rural setting and so has continued to facilitate the running of the clinic by providing medication and some staff, however the ongoing monthly running costs of the clinic are entirely dependent on donations.

For budgetary reasons, the clinic is entirely nurse-led but benefits from the voluntary help given by any doctors who come along to it. Despite being small in size, it manages to offer the following care:

• Antenatal and postnatal clinics (no delivery unit although unexpected deliveries do happen from time to time!!) Postnatal clinic includes immunisations and baby checks

• Walk-in / general outpatient clinic every day

• HIV & Antiretroviral Treatment clinic

• TB screening and TB treatment clinic

• Home based care to provide food and social intervention for HIV positive patients / those too ill to obtain food for themselves

• Blood tests are done on a Monday and Wednesday but have to be taken to the local secondary hospital and usually the results take more than a week to get back, so sometimes patients don't return for their results.

Precious has also set up some wonderful initiatives - GLOW - Girls Leading Our World - which teaches young girls the value of completing their education before becoming pregnant and how to reach their full potential so that they can take their place as respected and effective women in their communities, as well as the Tin Club - for children living with HIV - to provide them with the support to improve their sense of self-worth and self-belief.

By virtue of all these services provided, since 2011, this clinic has made an amazing difference to a wide community. In particular, the death rate from HIV has improved markedly and most of the babies are now being born HIV negative. It has shown itself to be sustainable since 2011 but unfortunately the clinic is presently teetering on a financial knife-edge for the following reasons:

• Some renovations have to be undertaken so that the Swaziland Health Department can completely equip the clinic with computers for record and inventory control.

• It is also necessary to put in a mini laboratory which will house equipment to do HIV-related blood tests as well as various other basic but diagnostically helpful tests.

• Because some of the patient waiting area will be lost as a result of these renovations, a new waiting room will need to be built to protect the patients from the baking sun or the driving rain.

• Because finances have been tight the condition of the clinic is not as it should be, so the toilet and hand-washing facilities need to be repaired and improved and new hand-washing facilities need to be installed in each consulting room.

• When patients come in with wounds and abscesses they have them treated but the clinic has no autoclave which makes sterility a real challenge.

• Precious also has a dream of opening a Soup Kitchen attached to the clinic because so many of the people are so poor that many of them eat only one meal a day, and usually it is of low nutritional value.

• Alongside this she’d like to buy a kiln so that women from the community can bake bread every day to sell as a small business enterprise initiative.

Most doctors, after only one day of being there, feel intractably drawn to Ebenezer because of Precious' commitment to, sacrifice for and vision for the clinic. The way in which this clinic meets the community's needs that would otherwise not be met is truly inspiring and touching. Every day people attend this clinic who face such difficult challenges but yet seem to remain content with life and their lot in it. I have worked there voluntarily on 2 separate occasions now and keep being drawn back to it for all the reasons mentioned above as well as others that are difficult to articulate simply because they are felt, rather than understood.

Although Precious does what she can to keep the clinic running she does not charge those who cannot afford to pay because she knows this will cost them a meal or two. She plants vegetables in the grounds of the clinic and sells them but the clinic has now run out of money. If it cannot meet the building specifications that the government requires of it, it will close. I treated babies there who would have died had the clinic not been there. I say this not to be dramatic but to impress on anyone reading this how vital it is that, together, we raise enough money to ensure that these rural people can continue to be offered their basic human right to good healthcare. Some aspects of the project are visionary and are not fundamental to the clinics existence, however, for the equivalent of a few hundred pounds, they could deeply impact the lives of many children and adults from this poor area of Swaziland.

I'm asking you to stand with me to contribute to this clinic-with-a-heart and help me to make a difference to people you may never meet but whose lives will be touched as a result. How much you give is not what is important. The fact that you are giving is important.

And whether you donate or not, please pass this request on to as many of your friends as possible. We need to raise as much as possible, as soon as possible. Thank you so much for your time and your contribution. Blessings to you.