The need in Africa

Although the people of Sub-Saharan Africa most probably live on some of the richest land in the world, they are constantly faced with social-economical challenges. With a wealth of oil, diamonds and gold buried under fertile soil in countries like Mozambique and Angola, it is hardly thinkable that people are dying from hunger and poverty.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned that $69 million was needed urgently to feed some 2.6 million people currently facing malnutrition. The WFP also said that more than 145,000 tons of food were required immediately to ensure people in five countries — Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe ‚ who are already facing hunger, are fed. ( May 2002)

On top of that, malaria is widely spread taking more lives in Africa then any other disease. Over one million people are killed each year, about 3,000 a day, and the majority of the victims are children (a child every 40 seconds). Nine out of 10 malaria cases occur in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Furthermore, an estimated 3.4 million new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa in the past year mean that 28.1 million Africans now live with the virus. AIDS killed 2.3 million African people in 2001. According to the UNAIDS, several parts of southern Africa have HIV prevalence rates among pregnant women exceeding 30%. Without adequate treatment and care, most of them will not survive the next decade. (UNAIDS 2001)

 

Our aim

Because of the great need, DFL started the division, Aid to Africa, to reach out to Sub-Saharan developing countries by bringing medical relief to areas where there is none available. Three basic medical services are rendered during outreach clinics to needy communities i.e. dental, eye and minor surgery.

The demand for proper medical care lead to the development of a mobile clinic which we are in the process purchasing . We are also in the process of building our first permanent clinic in Mozambique. The project is aimed primarily at countries that have a much lower standard of living and medical care than South Africa.

Our members donate their time and experience as qualified medical doctors for this project. Trips consist of 2-3 week excursions, where DFL’s members do the actual clinical fieldwork. Medicines have been donated for this purpose.

As the specific need in a certain areas become more clear, DFL would also implement some of our other successful projects.

DFL has gained valuable experience in South Africa over the past 11 years, which we would like to offer to other needy communities.

Which countries will be visited?

Apart from South Africa, DFL currently focus on three countries i.e. Mozambique,Angola and Zambia. In future we might expand and include other countries e.g. DRC (Congo), Burundi, Rwanda etc.

 

The Terrain, the challenge..

One of the challenging parts of our work is getting the right medical equipment for the challenging geography and demography. Some of the places that DFL visit do not have roads to travel on, testing the endurance of both the driver and vehicle. Bridges are sometimes washed away after heavy rains leaving you with only a GPS and past experience to reach your next destination. Countries like Angola and Mozambique, a large, poor and mostly undeveloped countries, and engulfed in civil war for many years during which much of the infrastructure collapsed. Landmines are stills scattered over large areas making it dangerous to travel.

Why is DFL getting involved?

Doctors For Life has been involved in AIDS care, prevention, awareness and research in South Africa for almost 10 years. Through these and other already established projects we will be capable of introducing and sharing our skills, projects and material to our needy and fellow African countries. At no time does Doctors For Life International intend to forsake our current sustained projects in South Africa but rather add value and experience to them as we encounter new challenges in other countries.

Zavora Clinic update

The unidade sanitaria in sihane in Mozambique started to do consultations from the end of july 2009. Also there is a maternidade for deliveries. The first eight months  there are done  fourty deliveries. This month ( april ) is nearly the double of the average.  There is some unexpected pathology. We experienced the blessings of the Lord. Also four baby’s died after referring.

We see about two thousand patients in the unidade sanitaria each month. Most common are the bacterial  infectious diseases from skin , ears and airways. And of course malaria, injuries and wounds. With a basic group of about fifteen different medicins we can give help for the biggest part of the patients. To do much, with little. Furtheron there is a variety of, sometimes severe, pathology. Often you can do nothing, sometimes give help.

The work is done by volunteers.  Until now most of the time there is a doctor and a nurse/midwife. When they not are at present , other volunteers come to help. Basically we need more workers for doing the consultations and the deliveries. Also for workers that want to do the job when somebody goes home for some weeks or a month.  Also there is a man for the technical problems and the maintenance.

We work with a monthly amount of money of about fifteen thousand rands. This is for medicins and salaries for interpreters and local workers. And basic supplies for the building where the volunteers live. By example petrol and gas. When we could spend more, that should not be a problem.

Until now we can say, that we see that the Lord is working in our midst. In the hearts of the people that live here and that come to the clinic. Sometimes they come from far away, sometimes more than fifty kilometers. Every morning we give a devotion. We visit a few times each week the people in their homes, to bring the gospel. Our motivation is to find and to do the will of God and to be His witness in our daily work and life. We come together every evening for prayer.

We invite you to come and join us. You can contact Doctors for Life for information.

Jan and Eefke Roos

 

Paul Zuidema

 

Aid to Africa current News

Update on the 2011 Aid to Africa medical outreach to Angola

20111102 Aid to Africa
The team finally reached the first destination of Cuito Cuanavale after about six days on the road. The target area is isolated and the team had to travel on bad roads, some of which were marked with land mine warnings! The 500 litre drinking water tank broke off the truck, damaging the vehicle, and one of the trailers broke down twice. Thankfully the damage was not too serious and everybody arrived safely in a hot Cuito Cuanavale.
The clinic started on Monday and the first few patients who received cataract surgery had their eye pads removed today (2nd Oct). Their joy at being able to see again was wonderful to witness. One man, Joao Babtista, a pastor, is looking forward to preaching again and being able to read his bible. For the last few years he has preached from memorized bible versus. Joao is one of 18 blind patients who have received surgery so far. They team also attended to about 300 other patients. The DFL team of 3 doctors, 2 nurses and the support team will continue working in Cuito Cuanavale for 4 days and then move on to Mavinga for another 4 days of work.

DFL medical team returns from Malawi after 121 surgeries

20110727 Aid to Africa
Doctors for Life’s team of eye specialists, doctors and volunteers have returned home after a successful eye surgery and medical outreach to Bengula, Malawi. Nick Ashton, a volunteer from the UK, was responsible for fundraising and organising the outreach. The trachoma and cataract eye surgeries were done in Nsanje hospital in compliance with the department of health of Malawi. Iris ministries helped with the logistics and preparations for the outreach and were the base from which DFL worked. This is DFL’s third eye surgery outreach to Malawi in the past 2 years. The medical work included 121 trachoma, cataract and cancer surgery procedures. In addition we also handed out glasses for refractive errors and did general examinations for other diseases. Everything was done free of charge. We are thankful that everything went so well!

Land surveying at Doctors for Life Clinic at Zavora, Mozambique

20110725 Aid to Africa
A small team including a land surveyor and architect are currently doing volunteer work at DFL’s clinic in Zavora. The purpose of their visit is to develop detailed site plans and architectural drawings of possible additions to the clinic. The new buildings will include a laboratory, prenatal examination, vaccination, dental, and ultrasound rooms. Part of the development of the site will include plans for a theatre with 2 wards of 14 beds. DFL started developing plans for a theatre about 2 years ago. It will allow us to deliver much needed medical surgery like caesareans and eye surgery etc. Both the architect, Mr Harald Thiede, and the land surveyor, Mr Dirk Olivier, donated their time and expertise to help DFL with the plans and brought along all the equipment for the task.

Doctors for Life medical outreach in Malawi

20110718 Aid to Africa
An Aid to Africa medical team is currently visiting the remote villages of Bengula and Nsanje in the southern districts of Malawi. This will be our third outreach to these neglected areas in the past 2 years. Nicholas Ashton, a volunteer from the UK has organised this specific outreach. He is joined by an eye specialist team led by Dr Herman Roodt.(More..)

Zavora Clinic Encounter by Dr Tony Moll

Health workers have an amazing privilege, as few opportunities can match working in a local community clinic enabling one to “parachute” right into the heart of a different culture. In a short time you can experience a real and immediate connection to the inner workings, social dynamics, humour and hardships of a foreign people.  A two week working trip at Zavora Clinc in Mozambique was an unforgettable experience for my whole family. I relieved Dr Paul Zuidemar, Zavora’s permanent doctor while he took a short break. Before arriving I did feel nervous about two things, having no lab, X-Ray or theatre backup on site, and not being familiar with the signs and symptoms of malaria which is endemic in the Zavora area. This could make any doctor feel like half your working tools are missing. Zavora clinic is remote and deep rural, also only 3,5km from the coast, serving a traditional Chope speaking community.

Every morning the patients of the day meet on the clinic veranda for devotion before the clinic starts. This is a beautiful time of prayer and sharing a bible passage. With the enthusiastic help of Januarie, the interpreter, we made excellent headway seeing patients one by one. It did not take long to appreciate how much the community members truly value the service provided by the clinic, as sick patients often walked for miles to seek help and many others visibly showing their heartfelt gratitude for care and medication. Malaria is still a major killer of children under 5 years old in Mozambique. At Zavora we were able to rapid-test many feverish babies and toddlers, confirming malaria in at least five children a day, which were then provided life saving anti-malarials. Since its recent inception Zavora clinic must have saved scores of lives. Now I did manage to tick off ‘a first’ as well ….I sutured a 3cm laceration on an old ladies head, (Ok  I’ve done that many times before) , but not one caused by a coconut falling out of a palm-tree.

Newborn babies arrive at their own time, while I was there some chose the middle of the night. So by the light of a paraffin lamp we monitored labour pains for hours, till the moment of birth when we switched on the precious battery powered delivery light to clamp the chord, announce the gender and bring the newborn to the mother’s side. Throughout the night just out of reach of the flickering flame’s light are a few of the mothers aunties and grannies squatting in the dark offering encouragement at each contraction, and excited cheers as the new family baby makes its first cry. Moments like these are akin to nuggets of gold.

Two weeks went past all too fast, Everyone in the family had a great time, juggling with the local kids, manoeuvring the sandy roads and doing many other things.  We explored eating warm “pao” (Portuguese) bread rolls, cracking coconuts, and enjoying fresh sea food. It was a pleasure to give what we could of ourselves, yet felt enriched so much more by the worship, fellowship, and exemplary Christian example of those who serve at Zavora.

We salute Doctors for Life and the whole Zavora Clinic team for their incredible dedication in running this much appreciated essential service throughout the year. Special thanks to Mario Rocha who was an exceptional host who facilitated so much for us making this trip possible.

Doctors for Life Medical Outreach to Maqhogo, KwaZulu Natal

20110613 Aid to Africa

From 13-19 June 2011, Aid to Africa, the medical outreach initiative of Doctors for Life, will be offering cataract surgery to Zululand’s blind for the first time. The needy area of Maqogo in the Tugela River Valley will be the first area to be reached. ALCON South Africa has made it possible for Doctors for Life to use one of their state of the art A-Scan devices to help screen the eye patients, and has also donated the full range of lenses needed for the surgeries. Dr Cor van Zyl from Pretoria, South Africa, will be doing the eye surgery. This will be the second time he will join us on a medical outreach. The first time was to Barotse Land, one of the most remote areas in Western Zambia in 2010. Medical Mission International made both of these outreaches possible.

Aid to Africa “Valley of a Thousand Hills” outreach

20110609 Aid To Africa

From the 7-9 June Doctor’s for Life is helping some needy communities in the ‘Valley of a Thousand Hills’ area in KwaZulu Natal. For this purpose DFL took their donated mobile clinic on its maiden voyage. Medically speaking, the focus is on dental care. Dr Tina Oosthuizen accompanied by a dental assistant and support team saw approximately 20 patients on the first day. There would have been more patients but heavy rains and challenging roads made it difficult for them to reach the site of the clinic. (More..)

News update on Zambia Medical Clinic

20110519 Aid To Africa

The ATA medical team in Zambia performed 45 eye operations, 120 dental procedures, and saw about 1250 other patients during the first stage of the outreach at Lulalanya from 9 to 15 May. The team recently arrived safely at Nanguma, the area chosen for the second stage of the outreach. Part of getting there was travelling up a riverbed. The medical clinic truck and other vehicle got stuck and the 60 km section ended up taking over five hours! The team started the second stage on May 17 and so far there have been many Trachoma surgeries and other procedures. Our thoughts are with you.

Aid to Africa arrives in Zambia for medical clinic

20110510 Aid To Africa

Of the many trips into Southern Africa by ATA, this will be the fourth time we are visiting Zambia. The team arrived on Monday 9 May after a long overland trip. We usually try to do medical outreaches in the remotest areas and this trip is no exception. We only have contact via satellite phone and the last 360 km took about 26 hrs to complete due to rough terrain. This is a two in one outreach. There is a support team that will stay at base for the duration of the outreach. And they will be joined by different eye specialists at two separate intervals. The doctor at base is Dr. Nato van Eeden. The main focus of this outreach is cataract operations and general medical procedures. However, there are inevitably other emergencies the team ends up attending to as well! The team will be returning to South Africa after 3 weeks, near the end of May. Our thoughts are with you!

Testimonies of volunteers who went on outreaches…

 

One person who’s life we believe we could save, was a young girl of about 25 with meningitis. She had heard of our planned visit to the area and came to the place, sleeping under a tree on a grass mat for two days while waiting for us to arrive. The need is great.

Unfortunately, some lives we lost.

They brought a boy to us with an intra-abdominal abscess that was continuously draining pus through two holes. He was just skin and bones and when his mother carried him into the church (where we were seeing the patients), they came in with a cloud of flies and the whole church was filled with the foul smell of rotting meat. His pants were covered in puss, his shirt was drenched in puss and he had an old dirty swab that was soaked in puss covering the holes. As she sat down one saw all the people moving away from her because of the smell. Whenever he cried the puss would ooze out of the holes. In her hand she had an old plastic bag with a clean shirt and pair of trousers. Unfortunately we could not do anything for him but to give him clean bandages and pray with him. I heard today that he passed away. To drain the abscess one would have had to do a laparotomy under general anesthesia. (Pity we did not have the mobile theatre yet, but then on the other hand, I doubt whether he would have survived surgery ‚ the disease had just progressed too far already)”

One day, I noticed a woman clinging to the back of a young man as they were waiting in the queue to receive the medical attention (which she desperately needed). Although they were both exhausted, their smiles showed their gratitude as they started making their journey back home. Unfortunately we received the news that she had since passed away, presumable because of AIDS.

Dr. Albu told me after one such a clinic, that some of the diseases they witnessed, they have only seen progress so far in their text books, but never in real life. This is due to the fact that they are easily treated in a first world country, where you have medical facilities at hand. In total approximately 900 patients were treated.

 

 

Kuito, the Latest

The Carte Blanche cameras captured the open and vulnerable face of 20-year- old Inacio Domingo, who walked 150km with his 74-year-old grandmother to flee Unita soldiers that had attacked their village. They walked solidly for five days in terror and arrived exhausted at the refugee camp in Kuito. As we started to film him, Inacio stood up painfully on his swollen feet and took off his shirt in a silent plea for help.

Inacio’s system was so damaged by the malnutrition that it could not absorb the food he was given, and a week after we aired our programme he died.

Inacio’s death will probably be forgotten, given that since we broadcast our programme on the 18th of March this year, over 300 refugees have died.

This week we received new visuals from Angola. The situation has deteriorated, and the degree of human suffering is unimaginable. The faces mirror their sense of bewilderment and despair.

It’s not surprising that Gabriel, a blind refugee, is tired of the fighting. Since the war for independence in 1963, the Angolans have seen little peace – internal conflict has ravaged the country for nearly 40 years. After the MPLA, lead by Eduardo dos Santos, won the election in 1992, the worst of the fighting broke out – and one of the key targets that Savimbi’s Unita wanted to capture was Kuito.

The bombing of Kuito began in 1992 and lasted 22 months, reducing the once- thriving city to what is now known as the Beirut of Africa.

A gutted building stands as a testimony to the impact of the bombardment the city faced. It is also the building that now houses the office where Faria Horacio works as a journalist for Angolan Television. He covered the siege of Kuito extensively, risking his life to expose the atrocities of war to the world. He says the war was very difficult, but that he “was determined to bring news from the horrific scenes”.

Faria knows how easily he could have been a casualty of the war -100 people died in the streets daily. For fear of being shot themselves, the residents were too scared to move the bodies of the victims and they were left to rot on the streets. “We couldn’t do anything Ö the dogs would come and eat the corpses,” says Faria.

Even though 50,000 people died during the siege, Unita was unable to conquer the city, and 22 months later they retreated.

That was eight years ago, and while there is no longer fighting in the city, there are reports of clashes between pockets of Unita soldiers and government forces not far from here. In the meantime, Faria continues to work as a journalist and document the war.

On the outskirts of the city are camps housing 130 000 refugees ‚ or internally displaced people, so called because they are forced to flee their homes in search of safety in their own country.

With nearly a third of its population displaced by the continuing war, Angola is on the brink of a humanitarian disaster.

Paul Erskine is a South African trader who has been selling basic commodities to Angola for four years now. Little did he realise the impact a visit to the Kuito refugee camp would have on his life.

“It was shocking. I really couldn’t believe how their bodies were so malnourished, the skin diseases they had, the stomachs that were bloated,” says Paul.

Paul was so moved by what he saw that he started an organisation called the Angolan Refugee Crisis ‚ or Arc. This maize plant was one of the first projects that he funded and is beginning to bring a sense of purpose to the people.

“I wanted to put people back on their feet ‚ people who actually needed mind stimulation, needed to forget the war, who needed to forget the plight that they were living in ‚ that’s when you see the sparkle in their eyes. They want to learn, they want to work, they want to be able to try and get out of this hovel and make something of their lives,” explains Paul.

After the programme was aired there was a huge response to Paul’s Angolan Refugee Crisis charity. Arc was inundated with calls from people offering anything from medication to second-hand clothes to frozen fish. To date, over R2-million worth of goods have been donated.

Paul says individuals reacted incredibly, but that the response from companies, government and churches was disappointing: “South Africa does over US$1,5-billion-a-year trade with Angola, but they didn’t phone. Those are the people who profit out of Angola, but they don’t put much back in.”

One of Carte Blanche’s viewers, Joy Grey, was shocked when she saw the desperate plight of the refugees: “I couldn’t believe that these people are dying and they’re right on our borders Ö I was devastated.”

Joy says that she couldn’t sleep that night and she felt that she had to do something to help them: “On Monday when I came to work, I rushed in and without putting my bag down said to my financial manager, Did you watch Carte Blanche on Sunday night?’ He put his pen down and said, My god, I didn’t even know there was a war going on there. What do you want to do?’ And I said, We’ve got to send these people some food. How much can we send them?’ And he said to me, How much do you want?’ and I said, As much as we can afford’.”

Joy’s company, Greys Marine, donated 15 tons of frozen pilchards, and the other generous donations – including eight tons of Maize, four tons of rice, 20 tons of spaghetti, soya milk, clothes and medicines – were rushed to Angola.

The donated frozen food was canned for its long and difficult journey to Angola. The trucks left Cape Town, but because of torrential rain and renewed attacks by Unita, many of the bridges have been destroyed, and the progress of this desperately needed food has been stalled. In the meantime, the situation continues to deteriorate.

So frustratingly close, the trucks of food are stranded at a broken bridge in Huambo, a mere 185km from Kuito. To compound matters, fighting has intensified between the military forces in the province and more people are fleeing for their lives. A week ago aid organisations in Kuito were alerted to new refugee camps close by, with conditions that were thought to be the worst in the country.

The little Kuito has is also distributed to the nearby refugee camps. Faria, who you met on our first programme on Angola, continues to be closely involved with the distribution of food aid to these starving people.

Faria, with other aid organisations, visited a camp last week and was horrified when he saw the dire condition of these refugees. He immediately started a local media campaign to get provisions here as soon as possible.

Around a tiny grave, a loved one has placed flowers in the newly turned earth. Faria feels that many more people will die if they are not given urgent medical attention. And he says that they have been told that there is another camp 14 kilometres away, with about a thousand people who were too weak to walk here because they were so undernourished.

In the meantime, he is continuing his campaign on television and radio to urge his fellow countrymen not to let their brethren die.

 

 

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: While every attempt has been made to ensure this transcript or summary is accurate, Carte Blanche or its agents cannot be held liable for any claims arising out of inaccuracies caused by human error or electronic fault. This transcript was typed from a transcription recording unit and not from an original script, so due to the possibility of mishearing and the difficulty, in some cases, of identifying individual speakers, errors cannot be ruled out.