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Ambulance trip will be a real life-saver
Imagine you or a member of your family needing medical treatment and having to be carried on a two-day walk to reach the nearest hospital.
That used to be the harsh reality of life for people in the remote villages of Yamba and Milingano high in the West Usambara Mountains in Tanzania.
In an area where common emergencies include malaria, pneumonia and complications in childbirth, sick people and pregnant women were taken on a stretcher carried by six men down the mountain and on a long walk to seek medical help.
That was until Caroline Johnston from Waterlooville set up the Village Africa charity four years ago with Tanzanian priest Father Stanislaus Baruti.
Now a vehicle provided by the charity is used to transport seriously ill patients to hospital and the journey takes three hours instead of two days.
Expert medical assistance in the villages means the death rate has been greatly reduced, while patients have received hospital treatment who might otherwise have died.
But the terrain in this mountainous area is difficult, so Caroline now wants to buy a fully kitted-out 4x4 ambulance to make the journey to hospital easier.
For the past two weeks she and driver Liz Collyer plus Caroline's sister Andrea Ward, both also from Waterlooville, have been on a 1,400-mile charity trip up and down the UK in an ambulance as Caroline attempts to raise 40,000 to buy a new Toyota Landcruiser that can cope with steep, rutted tracks.
The trip, which coincided with the start of the World Cup, involved visiting Helen O'Grady Drama Academy branches across the country to help raise money for the Village Africa Ambulance Appeal. At each branch children took part in Africa-themed shows including singing and drumming.
Andrea explains: 'Because we wanted to raise money to buy an ambulance in Tanzania, I came up with this crazy idea of driving an ambulance up and down the UK. But what we didn't realise was how difficult it was going to be to find one.'
Eventually they secured the use of a Leyland DAF ambulance, donated by the Southern Ambulance Preservation Society. The challenge began at Queen's Inclosure Primary School in Waterlooville and the team made their way up to Scotland before coming back south for the finish at Mill Rythe Junior School in Hayling Island last Friday.
But the trip was thrown into doubt when they broke down en route to Edinburgh and had to be towed off the motorway. They then spent 15 hours at a garage while the UK was scoured for a distributor – without success. That meant a back-up ambulance had to be found if they were to finish their challenge.
The Southern Ambulance Preservation Society came to their rescue and And-rea and her partner Steve Humphrey drove it from Portsmouth to meet up with Caroline and Liz. Andrea, Liz and Caroline then continued through the night to reach Edinburgh in the Vauxhall estate and complete the challenge by getting back to the south coast.
Andrea, who is principal of the Helen O'Grady Academy in Portsmouth and Village Africa's UK administrator, says: 'At the garage they were on the internet searching for this part we needed and people were phoning their friends. But we just couldn't get one.
'Fortunately, we were able to borrow a second ambulance and carry on to the end of the journey. It was brilliant to get to the end, but it was hard going. We were on deadlines to get to places and people were waiting for us.'
So far the trio reckon they've raised more than 10,000 but more money is yet to come in. Andrea, 41, adds: 'It's been quite an experience. People have been so kind, putting us up and feeding us and donating to the appeal.
'We're pleased with what has been raised so far, but there is more to collect. We'll keep on going with our fundraising until we have enough to buy the ambulance.'
Andrea adds: 'On the trip people were passionate when they heard what it was all about. If we're ill and need to go to hospital, we just dial 999 and an ambulance comes in about 10 minutes. But in Tanzania it's very different.'
For more information on Village Africa and to donate, go to villageafrica.org.uk
VILLAGE APPEAL
The Village Africa charity's aim is to alleviate poverty in a remote part of Tanzania and much of its work is in health and education.
It sponsors the salaries of a clinical officer and a nurse/laboratory technician at a village health post, plus provides medicine, medical equipment and cleaning materials.
Village Africa is assisting two government primary schools and a secondary school. It is running a volunteer teaching programme to assist with the teaching of English and is providing teaching resources.
The project's building programme includes classrooms and school toilets. Village Africa is running a sponsorship scheme for primary schoolchildren.
It has Tanzanian staff and employs a lot of village casual labour for building projects.
The charity was initially financed by a gift from the late Rhoda Lawley, a family friend of founder Caroline Johnston. It is now funded by donations from both individuals and companies. Teaching, building, nursing and other volunteers from overseas are self-funded.
Caroline, 46, says: 'Most villagers have no cash income – just the crops they grow. Despite the cold climate several months of the year, many adults and children have holes in their clothes, no shoes, no sweaters, no blankets, no beds and no toilets.
'They experience frequent crop failures caused by drought. There is no electricity or piped water and the nearest bus is five hours' walk away.'
But she adds: 'The villagers of Yamba and Milingano have a thirst for development and have proved this in practical terms. They donated land, buildings, building materials, food and hours of casual labour to get the project started.
'They spent five months turning the bush into a 3km road so that medicine, supplies, volunteers and visitors can get to the project and people can be taken to hospital in emergencies.'
Caroline, who lives in Yamba, says: 'The villagers are friendly, hospitable and generous. They look after one another. They wear vibrant colours, sing, dance, drum and play the guitar to enjoy life. They are incredibly strong and can carry a 20kg bag of cement up the mountain.
'The project has the support of the community, the village committees and government officials. All are assisting in ways that they can. Locally, Village Africa is known by the Kisambaa name Vyaadahikana which means ''it is possible''.'
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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