Skip to main content

Home | Child Mortality-Mwanza project | Life Saving Equipment Shipped to Tanzania

A quarter of million pounds worth of life saving equipments were loaded by Rotary volunteers on to a 40-foot container this morning in Huddersfield,destined for Tanzania.

 A quarter of million pounds worth of life saving equipments were loaded by Rotary volunteers on to a 40-foot container this morning in Huddersfield. The container is destined for Tanzanian town of Mwanza, on Lake Victoria from where the equipments will be transported by ferry to the island of Ukerewe.

For immediate past district Governor John Philip this was the first stage in making a dream come true.

In January this year, retired surgeon John and his wife Chris went to Ukerewe and were heart brokenPDG John and his wife Chris who instigated the project (Large).JPG by the poor facilities of the local hospital which served a population of 350,000. The hospital operating theatre and adjacent labour ward were poorly equipped and in a dire state of disrepair, that John was shocked. He learned that there were more than a 10,000 births each year there, but one in 16 children born in the hospital died, mostly due to preventable causes.

Rotary's challenge during the year was to reduce child mortality from the shocking figure of 20,000 each day; the vast majority in sub Saharan Africa including Tanzania.

On return, John set himself the challenge of refurbishing the hospital in Ukerewe, providing them with life saving equipment and going out there with volunteers to install equipment, train staff and instigate a health awareness campaign particularly aimed at reducing the risk from the major killer – malaria.

All the equipment has been donated and Rotarians have raised the necessary funds for shipping and refurbishing costs.

John will lead a team of volunteers to Ukerewe in October.

More information from John Philip  send email

Photos show some scenes during the loading of the container