Impact Foundation
About 5 years ago we made a donation to a local organisation, the Impact Foundation based in Haywards Heath to support their work in The Phillipines. Last year we donated money to another of their projects, the Jibon Tari Floating Hospital in Bangladesh, which brings healthcare and health education to the many isolated communities in this poor, mostly rural country. Partly as a result of the full and rapid feedback we received from Impact, we decided to support another of their healthcare projects this year – an immunisation programme in Asia. This project has two strands, inoculation of children to protect them against polio and inoculation of women to protect them against against Rubella (german measles). Our donation will provide lifelong protection from these diseases for 500 individuals.
Tools for Self Reliance
We have continued to support this worthy cause in 2008 both with a cash donation of £250 to help with the cost of shipping renovated tools and sewing machines to Africa and with old woodworking tools and a number of sewing machines (Singer round bobbin, manual, preferred) donated by supporters. These we take up to their Carshalton workshop for them to work their magic on. Your secretary, John Phillips, is happy to receive any of your unwanted tools and sewing machines.
Azafady
MAP has also provided more support this year for the Azafady programme in Madagascar, with a donation of £500. Our particular interest in this programme is a vegetable garden cultivated by villagers in an environmentally-friendly fashion. This not only provides them with food to eat and sell, but helps to promote the ideas behind sustainable agriculture. Unfortunately, many of the vital gardening tools used in the project were lost in a recent fire, so our donation this time will help replace them. Hopefully now, this important work will continue to contribute to the well-being of local people and help protect this important and unique but fragile environment.
Elephants Pumps
Elephant pumps have received plenty of favourable press reports recently as being “very good things”. They are cheap, simple and reliable devices to pump water from wells to the people who need it at ground level. Over the last two or three years we have provided money to Pump Aid to enable them to purchase five ‘elephant pumps’ for use in various parts of Africa. The literature and DVD they sent us showed just how useful and simple-to-maintain these pumps are and what a difference they make to the people who have them. This year we have donated a further £500 to purchase pumps destined for villages in Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Friends of Doublejoy
As a friend of Double Joy, a home and school for children orphaned by AIDS in Kenya, MAP has continued our support this year with a donation of £500. The recently received Christmas newsletter tells us that all is well with the school despite all the troubles in Kenya last year and that morale is high amongst the children, older students and staff, who now total 90. Our donation will help pay the teachers’ wages and the school fees of the children as they progress through the Kenyan school system.
Target TB
Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the world’s greatest killer diseases and the major cause of death in people with HIV/Aids. But it is curable, and with simple precautions taught by health workers, preventable to a large degree. Target TB, a Brighton-based charity that we have supported with donations of £1000 in 2007 and £500 this year estimates that £40 will provide the both the drugs to cure one infected person and the advice to prevent that person infecting 15 other people. Target TB works mainly in Africa and Asia as part of a international drive to control and begin to eliminate TB from the world by 2015. In a small way our contributions will help towards this important goal.
Bendoree Orphanage
Some years ago, an Oxted woman, Diane Bostock and her sister Audrey started a home for children orphaned by AIDS in Kitwe Zambia. Because of the local connection, we have been pleased to support the Bendoree orphanage with a number of donations over the years. These have helped with building work for animal pens and more recently helped towards buying a donkey and cart to take the children to school and bring back water and supplies to the orphanage. Our most recent donation will go towards the construction of a new schoolroom for this ever-expanding community.
Health Help International
A charity with a local connection that we have supported for the first time this year is Health Help International. This organisation, which a has philosophy similar to MAP’s of supporting self-help groups, works mainly in Zambia helping mission hospitals, clinics, schools and shelters for single mothers and in India, helping orphanages and clinics. We know that our donation of £500 will be put to good use.
Send-a-Cow
One of MAP’s founding principles was to give help to people so that they could help themselves and send-a-cow is a fine example of this. The cows and the training that goes with them not only provides an income for the owner with milk to sell and manure to improve their land, but acts as a focus for other local farmers to improve their farming methods and other villagers to come together to develop a local farming industry. I’m sure ‘our’ cows will be playing their part in this work in Uganda.
CARECO (Rodrigues)
For a number of years now we have been happy to support the work of a very successful honey-producing project on the remote Indian Ocean island of Rodrigues, having been introduced to the project via a local connection, Michael Duggan, a Redhill resident and Master Beekeeper. This endeavour, which was originally known as the Rodrigues Craft Aid project, provides income for many disabled young people on the island who would otherwise have to rely on the state or family for support. Michael played a vital role in advising on the setting up of the project and although no longer able to travel to Rodrigues, keeps us in touch with developments via committee member Ken Chapman. Donations from MAP have helped to expand and develop the business and to overcome problems caused by natural disasters such as the 2003 cyclone and the 2005 new year tsunami. This year we have donated a further £500 to help with the setting up of a new apiary complex.
Sight saving
Helping to save the sight of people in the third world has been one of our long-standing aims and so this year we have sent donations of £500 each to two eye charities, the Christian Blind Mission in Tanzania and the Jerusalem eye hospital. Money donated to the eye hospital pays for corneal grafts and to Tanzania for cataract operations and trachoma treatment, which transform lives for as little as £10.
Intercare
For a number of years Intercare has sent drugs that are surplus to requirements in the UK to various third world countries. Although this valuable service was temporarily halted in 2006/07 by new EU waste management regulations, the problems were overcome so that the service could continue. Jan Dungay has been co-ordinating MAP’s effort and would be happy to receive any packages (but not bottles!) of drugs that are no longer needed but still have at least 15 months shelf life remaining.
VSO
Although MAP no longer supports VSO directly because of the size of the financial commitment now required, we have continued to support an Indonesian girl, Rika, who is training to continue the work of our last volunteer, Becky Wickens. Monies collected from her supporters by MAP are sent off to her as and when she needs it. |
