December 2021
‘TIS THE SEASON FOR GIVING
SAVE THE MOTHER, SAVE THE WORLD
Dear Supporters,
A note to thank-you all for your wonderful support over the past year. Together we have made safe birth, maternal healthcare and family planning a possibility for many thousands of women who otherwise would have no access to such care. Further, your support has enabled the complex work of Fistula repair for many hundreds of women, returning their hope and dignity and enabling them to rejoin their families and communities.
This year – for our Christmas Giving Campaign, we are focusing on a project in each of the regions where we fund Dr Andrew Browning’s and Valerie Browning’s projects.
The Barbara May Maternity Hospital (BMMH), The Afar, Ethiopia
At the time of writing, the Civil War in Ethiopia has intensified and has come within kilometres of the Barbara May hospital in Mille. The Afar people have bravely driven the rebels back on numerous occasions and on a variety of fronts as the rebels try and take the main Djibouti trade road. The rebels are also destroying crops, food storage, schools, clinics and critical infrastructure as they advance and retreat.
Valerie and her teams are the only ones in this remote area feeding many thousands of displaced people, carting water to communities, tending the sick and relaying news of the conflict to the outside world. Not only caring for pregnant women, the BMMH is also tending casualties.
The fighting is particularly vicious with boys and girls as young as 13 taking up arms. It is heartbreaking. The BMF is continuing to fund additional food supplements for pregnant and lactating mothers, and will need to do so for the foreseeable future.
We are aiming to raise an additional $25,000 to fund the food program.
Vision Maternity Care Hospital (VMC), BarhirDar, Ethiopia
While the conflict has not reached BarhirDar, many local people have joined the government army to fight the rebels. The amazing team at VMC continue to provide an oasis of calm and expert care for expectant mothers but we want to ensure critical infrastructure such as water is secured so services can continue if the conflict escalates locally.
Accordingly we are very keen to connect the recently dug bore and are aiming to raise an additional $20,000 for this critical upgrade which will secure consistent and clean water for the hospital and the women it serves.
Kivulini Hospital, Arusha, Tanzania
More than 10% of the women delivering their babies with Maternity Africa are teenagers. Some are rape victims. Others have been taken advantage of in other ways, and have challenging personal and domestic circumstances. On discharge, they face acute social and economic problems whilst caring for their new babies.
The Teenage Maternity Program at Kivulini specifically focuses on young girls who present with an unplanned pregnancy.
Many have little or no education and no means to fund their pregnancy and birth and the ongoing care of their baby. This program is holistic and aims to provide both pre and post-natal maternal health support, financial support, family planning advice and ongoing assistance/education in an out-patient capacity.
We are aiming to raise an additional $10,000 which will put 350 teenage girls through the program.
Great Christmas Gift ideas!
Wonderful holiday reading with royalties going to the Foundation!
A Doctor in Africa – an inspiring story of Andrew Browning’s work in the remote and vastly under-resourced regions of East Africa with under-privileged women. $34.99 through all good book stores, online or through the Foundation. info@barbaramayfoundation.com
Maalika – My life among Afar Nomads of Africa – Valerie Browning and her husband Ismael continue to wage an incredible struggle, bringing health and education to the Afar tribes of Ethiopia who would otherwise have nothing. Valerie’s story is an astonishing adventure and a testament to how determination and passion can achieve extraordinary things. Order here: https://bit.ly/3bpnN7M
How you can Help
Donate
All donations more than AUD$2 are fully tax-deductible.
Securely online: www.barbaramayfoundation.com
Direct Debit: Westpac BSB: 032 716 Acc: 403 741
(Please email David Browning on daviddaphne1@gmail.com if you DD so we can send a receipt).
For further information: Jo Crowley, General Manager
jo.crowley@barbaramayfoundation.com
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