I’m raising money for Medic Assist International (reg charity no. 1104760). It’s a small but fantastic organisation that has been supporting healthcare to vulnerable communities for 20 years.

People in the poorest communities rarely have access to adequate healthcare and the nearest hospital or clinic can be many miles away.  MAI supports trusted and highly competent local partners as they provide life-changing medical care and support to people in very difficult circumstances.

I’ve seen first hand the astonishing dedication of community care-givers in Embo in South Africa as they support HIV and TB patients. Embo is an informal settlement of roughly 50,000 people where the levels of poverty, HIV and TB are shockingly high.  MAI supporters funded a local clinic that is now transforming health outcomes and provides 100 patient appointments a day.

I’ve met the leaders of the hospital in Chinchpada, India who take teams into the local villages to provide community based palliative care - bringing dignity and comfort to people near the end of their lives as well as raising awareness of cancer and the need to seek early treatment. MAI supports the palliative care team and has also helped the hospital build a new isolation ward and intensive care unit.

In Chad, MAI supports mother & child projects to tackle chronic child malnutrition - 1 in 10 children die before their 5th birthday and 1 in 15 women die in childbirth. 

In South Sudan MAI supports primary health clinics tackling child immunisation, HIV and malnutrition.  There is just 1 doctor per 100,000 patients in this part of South Sudan and 1 in 7 mothers die of pregnancy-related causes.

Please do visit MAI’s website www.medicassistinternational.org to read more about these projects and the stories of lives transformed.

To mark MAI’s 20th birthday, it’s supporters are taking part in “Challenge 20” events and activities.  I’m baking cakes and David is donating his glorious dahlias and boxes of veg from his allotments. 

Thank you for your support!