With your support these buildings will be transformed into four quality homes for senior medical staff | |
BHA Winter Appeal 2024
Little did I know that a family holiday to The Gambia in 1992 would be a turning point in my life.  A chance visit to a hospital on the coast was one that shocked me to the core. I looked at my three healthy children and looked into the eyes of the mothers who seemed resigned to their children’s fate.Â
Later that year I returned to embark on the 250-mile journey to see Bansang Hospital. Surely this couldn’t be it! Cows, goats, cats and dogs roamed around the grounds, vultures had taken up residency along with the rats and cockroaches that filled every crevice. The smells were indescribable in the candle lit wards, with up to four children sharing a bed. I wanted to run away, but I couldn’t as it would have haunted me forever.
The constant loss of staff in those early days had one positive effect it helped this charity to recognise the importance of strategies that promote staff retention and motivation.Â
The story of this award winning hospital today is one of resilience, community support and innovative leadership. As the hospital continues to grow and develop, ongoing support from donors and volunteers will be very more crucial in continuing to transform lives and ensuring that quality healthcare is accessible to all.
Senior medical staff deserve accommodation that their expertise merits, without that we cannot expect them to endure +50ºC temperatures for months of the year and geographic isolation away from their families. Today, 90% of senior medical personnel come from the coastal region, a remarkable achievement made possible by this small charity's initiative to extend and renovate 82 homes for doctors and senior medical staff.
Please help Anita to raise £26,500Â
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* To repurpose two dilapidated buildings, featured above, transforming them into four fully equipped quality homes for urgently needed senior medical staff and doctorsÂ
* To supply five sets of delivery instruments for Caesarean sections.
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* The ongoing purchase of antibiotics and pain relief.
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Your continued support will ensure that the hospital’s staff can live and work in safety and that all patients will continue to receive excellent medical care.Â
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Thank you for being part of this incredible journey as every donation received continues to make a tidal wave of change within this very special hospital.
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Anita Smith MBE MRG
Founder of the Bansang Hospital Appeal
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www.facebook.com/bansanghospitalappeal
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