- In 2016 INSEAD Gemba 16 and TIEMBA 17 raised £13,300 this allowed Maternity Worldwide to equip a new Maternity Centre in Kiryabutuzi, Uganda.
- The new challenge for 2017 is to raise £26,316 – we want to have an even bigger impact and build a whole rural maternity centre, this time in Malawi.
- Take part in the Malawi Bike Ride and Programme Visit with other GEMBA/TIEMBA participants this September (23rd Sep – 1st Oct) let’s use business as a force for good – or, if you can’t come, donate to support the building of the maternity centre.
- Saskia Gentil is organising the trip and her and Adrian Brown would love you and your friends to join us!
Previously…
With generous support from INSEAD GEMBA 16 and TIEMBA 17, who raised £13,300 at their Summer Auction, we were able to equip our new Maternity Centre in Uganda. Adrian Brown, Chair and Co-founder, was delighted to officially open the maternity centre in Uganda on 9th March. This was only possible due to the generosity of INSEAD GEMBA 16 and TIEMBA 17 funding equipment and medicines for the centre, so thank you, we have installed a plaque in your honour!
What?
We plan to build a maternity centre in the rural and remote village of Mitumbiri Village in TA Mlumbe in the Zomba region of Malawi where our Country Director, Grace, grew up. Having worked in Zomba for the last 3 years there are still vast areas with little or no access to essential maternal and newborn healthcare. The distance to vital healthcare tragically results in women dying during pregnancy and childbirth. In Malawi the risk of dying during childbirth in 1 in 34 – compared to 1 in 6,900 in the UK. We believe no woman should die giving birth so are working to address this staggering inequality.
We plan to build, equip and staff a maternity centre which will provide essential ante-natal care for women in the surrounding rural villages with a population of 50,000, it will have two delivery beds, four postnatal/antenatal and two full-time midwives. Women will be able to deliver their baby there, or will be referred to the hospital if a complicated delivery is likely, they will also be able to access post-natal and newborn care from the midwives. The centre will also provide space for a Health Surveillance Assistant to provide public health services and family planning, a covered area for women’s groups and other community groups to meet, vaccination and child health services, anti-retroviral therapy and malaria treatment. These will be provided by a medical assistant. The staff will be employed by the government District Health Officer.
In total, to build the maternity centre it will cost £26,316. Maternity Worldwide has ambitious plans for this area and if we surpass this target funds will be used to support the government in developing a larger Health Centre in Chingali and for our community based projects to improve women’s knowledge around maternal health.
Why?
Here’s Grace, our Country Director in Malawi, explaining why this is so important. Grace grew up in TA Mlumbe and qualified as a midwife, she moved to the UK for several years and was Associate Director for Community Services with the NHS, whilst in London she joined Maternity Worldwide as a Trustee. In 2012 Grace moved back to Malawi to develop our programme there and has worked tirelessly over the years with a local team of dedicated staff and partner organisations to deliver outreach maternal healthcare to 80 villages over 3 years. We now need to extend this work to another area with huge need to ensure no mother dies during childbirth.
How YOU can get involved…
- Join our INSEAD GEMBA/TIEMBA Malawi Bike Ride and Programme Visit
Join us on 23rd September – 1st October 2017 for a programme visit and bike ride through the stunning Southern Malawi for GEMBA/TIEMBA and friends. Spend 3 days cycling through tea plantations in the shadow of Mount Mulanje and beautiful local villages, spend 2 days visiting our current programme and see first-hand the impact we’re making then finish the trip with a day on safari at the Liwonde National Park in a luxury game lodge! All money raised from the trip by the team will go directly to funding the new maternity centre so you know that every Pound, Euro or Dollar you raise will make a huge, life-saving difference to this community. To find out more about the trip and to sign up please click here.
- Contribute to the building of the maternity centre
If you can’t come on the trip but would still like to contribute to the building of this essential maternity centre then please visit our Malawi Appeal page here and make a donation.
