Ebrima and I had a very serendipitous meeting two weeks ago with a paediatrician and midwife who work in the Gambia with Maternal & Childhealth Advocacy International (http://www.mcai.org.uk/). They wanted to meet with us to talk about oxygen for ambulances in the Gambia. It turns out they have also recently sent a big shipment of clean delivery kits to the Gambia that are being distributed through the Maternal and Child Health Unit at the Ministry of Health. And... we've got some for the birthing house! What a relief... we were really struggling to find kits or the components of kits anywhere else we were referred in country and thought we may have to order from overseas.
We owe another huge thank you to the Jammeh Foundation for Peace hospital. They donated all three hospital beds to the house. They rely often on donations, which makes their donation to us all the more touching.
We're sending out invite letters this week for the grand opening!! It's taking place on Saturday, March 19th. Whoo hoooo! Here is the program for the day:
10 am - cooking and traditional Jola dancing begins
2 pm - lunch
4 pm - official grand opening ceremony
The ceremony will include: speeches from the project managers (Ebrima and I), the village alkalo, traditional birth attendant and village health worker, the women's association, the community health nurse and representatives from different Ministry of Health units. There will be an opening prayer and we will plant a commemorative tree. We will also be handing out the birth and death registers to representatives from the 13 villages in Babucaar's catchment area. Finally, guests can tour the house.
We can't wait.
No comments:
Post a Comment