In September Bob and I will be joining a work party visiting St Francis Hospital in Zambia. This mission hospital is in a remote, rural part of eastern Zambia, 500km from the capital Lusaka, with a catchment population >1.5 million. 

The hospital has 380 beds, sees 100,000 new outpatient referrals a year, performs 5,000 operations and delivers 3,000 babies. However, it receives half the funds it requires from the Zambian Government, staff are exhausted and often not paid, and chronic shortages of basic medical supplies and drugs are the norm. The hospital runs TB and HIV programmes, including one to reduce the number of HIV affected babies born to HIV positive mums. The patients are given one meal a day, but the only form of protein is beans. 

During our visit we will be working to provide a continuous power supply to parts of the hospital, including the Special Care Baby Unit where power loss causes the oxygen supply to shut off for hours at a time - life or death for babies - see the 'incubator' below:

We will also be supporting local doctors, surgeons, nurses and midwives and sharing knowledge with them. There is a thriving nursing and midwifery school, but no links (as yet) with Zambia's only medical school in Lusaka. 

The doctors have provided a list of desperately needed equipment, which we will be taking out with us - including a surgical drill, plates and screws, glucose monitoring strips, NG tubes, catheters, nasal cannulae, stoma bags, sutures etc etc etc. 

Thank you for your support. I know your donations will be hugely appreciated and put to good use. 

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