In October 2023 I will be taking a break from my Sussex based midwifery practice. I am going to Malawi with the Ripple Africa team, as a volunteer midwife. I will be away for around 3 months, during which time I will be working in a very rural area, working alongside local midwives and healthcare staff.
Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, with huge issues as a result. Many people are subsistence famers, and access to reliably safe drinking water and electricity are not yet available to all.
Mothers and babies die because of malnutrition and because of a lack of basic facilities which we take for granted. It is estimated that 3-4 women in every 1,000 giving birth will die – most due to things which are preventable in the UK. In the clinics I am going to there are no scans, very few drugs, no doctors and no access to c/sections. I have so much to learn.
The project team ask that volunteers do not that “stuff” with them. Much of the well meant donations of baby things, medical equipment as so on which projects are given is just not what is needed or cannot be used, and then a waste disposal problem is created. Instead, I am fundraising to make cash available in the project to be used for whatever is most needed currently. Ripple Africa believes in “Giving a hand up, not a hand out” – meaning that they work to build stronger and self sustaining communities. This means that projects include food and energy generation projects, education, sanitation and more, alongside the immediate healthcare work.
I am meeting all my own costs, travel, accommodation, travel vaccines and so on. If you feel able to donate, even a small amount, it would be very much appreciated. Any donation goes straight to Ripple Africa. Donate here. Thank you