St Andrew's Clinics for Children
issues two newsletters a year, one in the summer and one at Christmas.
The health team in Nigeria has assured STACC’s Directors that it has the capacity and resolve to double its number of monthly clinics. These are held in rural villages around Ile-Ife in Osun State. In response, the Directors have agreed to double the monies for Nigeria and to send £12,000 for the purchase of another 4WD vehicle. In our society we tend to expect money to be transferred at the click of a mouse. That may happen with online banking in Europe, but sending funds to Africa recently has been quite frustrating with all the money being returned to our account in Glasgow. The problem seemed to be solved early in June so more clinics and more treatments will soon be available.
The clinic building at Gombani on Pemba Island, Zanzibar, has reached the point where major refurbishment is urgently needed. This clinic is financed jointly by STACC and the Ivo de Carneri Foundation from Milan. STACC has been able to allocate £7500 to cover half the costs with IdCF contributing the other half. The health team has managed to find a temporary facility so that free health care can continue while the work is carried out. The Gombani clinic has just been given a new Toyota 4WD vehicle to sustain its outreach provision. Until the outreach service began, some people were walking for over two days carrying sick children for diagnosis and treatment.
STACC continues to contribute to the cost of running the Children’s Ward at St Kizito’s Hospital, Matany, Uganda. The Directors have decided to increase its support by a further £10,000 annually.
The work of caring for Maasai children and their mothers at Lake Magadi, Kenya, continues with malaria management having high priority. A committee of mothers has been formed to plan the provision of health care, calculate costs and so on. All expenditure has to be approved by STACC’s “agent” – Ms Sharon Looremeta of Practical Action. This system contributes to national development by helping local people to own and manage community affairs.
In the last Newsletter we announced the establishment of a new clinic in Bongo District, Ghana. We eagerly await more news of the progress of the health care there which has also been delayed because of unexpected problems over the transfer of funds to Africa.
Not all STACC’s supporters will know how STACC was born. In 1990 Dr Mary Hodges, working in Freetown, Sierra Leone, indicated that if £500 became available she would be able to convert a small building into a site for a clinic. The money was raised by Westbourne School for Girls in Glasgow and in 1992 Mary’s initiative was formally registered as St Andrew’s Clinics for Children. Since then, other schools, churches, businesses, universities, clubs and trusts have supported all STACC’s projects. The extent to which individual friends sustain STACC is demonstrated by the fact that 300 people will be sent this newsletter. You are bettering the lives of thousands of African children and easing the anxiety of their families – long may this continue.
Please continue to support STACC.