There is no NHS in Kenya or East Africa. This project to manufacture ventilators locally in Kenya will save lives. Your urgent support to raise £25,000 is needed. No donation is too small, together we can help save lives.

Ventilate Africa - is a project based in Nairobi, Kenya, led by Gearbox (www.gearbox.co.ke ), a not-for-profit engineering company. Using open-source ventilator designs provided by the UK, Gearbox will lead engineers and clinicians with the support of the Kenya Ministry of Health, to urgently build and manufacture ventilators using locally (readily) available materials at a relatively low cost to address the acute shortage of ventilators, in Kenya East Africa in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Urgent specialist equipment is being supplied- in order to assist with the production of ventilators and other essential medical equipment, Blakell Europlacer (www.europlacer.com) a global electronics manufacturer with the support of Wellers Impact Limited (www.wellersimpact.com) a UK-based Impact Investment Manager has agreed to provide a SMT (Surface Mount Technology) production line to support Gearbox tackle this medical emergency.

We need to get it to Kenya - the equipment needs to be quickly air freighted to Kenya to create the first SMT production line in Sub- Saharan Africa outside South Africa. To ensure that that production can commence at the earliest, we are urgently raising funds to assist with air freight of the machinery, as well as the set-up, training and maintenance costs. We anticipate that this will cost approximate £25,000.

There are good reasons to fear that COVID-19 will be particularly dangerous to Africa, especially to tens of millions of people with tuberculosis, living in informal settlements or whose immune system is compromised by HIV. Little is known about what the infection means for people who have malaria or are malnourished.

Key lessons for epidemic response are to act fast but act locally. African hospitals need testing kits, basic materials for hygiene, personal protective equipment for health and key workers and equipment for assisted breathing. There is a global shortage of all of these and a scrambling among developed countries to get their own supplies relegating Africa to the back of the queue.

Note: Giving Works (Registered Charity Number: 1078770) will facilitate collection of donations, UK Gift Aid can be claimed where you are an eligible donor.

For additional information about the project, please contact

Neil Sandy: neil.sandy@wellersimpact.com | +44 7590 573516

Roopal Kanabar: roopal.kanabar@wellersimpact.com | +44 7401798856

Link to full press release: https://www.wellersimpact.com/post/kenya-covid-19-emergency-response

Prototype Demo Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5u4Pdg9Ixw&t=1s