An ambulance for Arrow Web Hospital
For those of you who have been following our blog, you may remember that Arrow Kenya board had to make a very difficult decision in August, to give up on our project to ship recycled medical equipment from the UK to Kenya. Although many of our UK supporters had managed to fundraise £1800 to pay the shipping charges, our main donor pulled out at the last minute. Everyone was really disappointed as we had been working on this for over two years with Aid to Hospitals Worldwide http://www.a2hw.org.uk , and Alison Lowndes from AVIF http://www.avif.org.uk/.
We contacted the UK donors and asked them if they would like their donations returned or used to pay for the conversion of a second hand matatu (minibus) to an ambulance and for new mattresses and covers for hospital beds. As we need to transfer about 20-30 patients per month to larger specialist hospitals, the Kenyan National Hospital Insurance Fund inspectors had told us that an ambulance was a priority. So, in August our local garage set to work on the matatu; meeting the NHIF standards which included a bed, water supply and first aid equipment.
Working on the inside of the ambulance after the seats had been taken out
Our new ambulance - fit for purpose
The ambulance is now being checked over by the Ministry of Health before we can start using it. This will make a big difference to patients who have had to be transferred in Bram's car or by board members in the past.
Thank you again to Alison Lowndes and all our very generous UK donors who made this possible.
Melissa's dream is still in the lead
With just over three days of voting to go, Melissa's dream to fund urgently needed resuscitation equipment for newborn babies at Arrow Web Hospital, is still in the lead.
With 4892 votes so far, we are nearly 1000 votes ahead of our nearest rival. However, a lot can happen in a few days, so please keep voting and pass on the link to your friends. Your response to this has been overwhelming- so a big thank you to everyone who has supported us, especially to Melissa Ostoga from Australia. Melissa started supporting us via our "village" on Nabuur, a global network of volunteers.
Melissa's dream will help ensure all mothers will deliver healthy babies at Arrow Web Hospital
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