VCCP (including Bernadette and Girl & Bear) has been supporting and partnering with a charity organisation HIPZ (Health Improvement Project Zanzibar) for many years. Their mission is for 1.5 million people living across Zanzibar to have easy access to safe healthcare. From 2006 when a founder of the organisation, Dr. Ru MacDonagh, came to the island for the first time, they made incredible progress. In collaboration with the local Ministry of Health - they built and run hospitals in towns Makunduchi and Kivunge. The hospitals have transformed from understaffed and unequipped buildings to thriving hubs with 37 trained doctors. They offer a range of services in well-managed wards, spanning maternity, paediatric, mental health, surgery and dentistry.

In the past there were a couple of challenges connected with fundraising activities. This year (2023) it's done in a different way. I have the honour of being chosen among several ambassadors of collaboration between VCCP/Bernadette/G&B and HIPZ. My goal is to raise at least £ 3000.  

Why

I am a father of 9 months old beloved son Miki (he was born in July 2022), we are based in the Czech Republic. We are lucky as professional healthcare is on high level, is widespread and mostly for free (well, paid from our taxes). I perceive that not all children everywhere in the world have this access to medical care. Therefore I decided to support it and put my hand to work. 

How

Due to an injury I could not run for a few months. Now I can run again, but most of my sport activities are currently with my Miki. Almost everyday we go out carrying him on my chest in a toddler carrier afterwork. We want to achieve 5.895 m (Kilimanjaro altitude) elevation by walking together or running just myself until the end of May 2023.

Fundraising

Big plus is that the account of the JustGiving page is connected with HIPZ. And that ALL money will be used for healthcare. Here are examples what can be covered from specific amount of donations:

• £10 - Materials to set a cast on a broken bone, or a basic kit for one meal for an admitted patient with severe acute malnutrition.

• £50 - A kit for a woman to come and give birth in the hospital naturally without complications (most births), or an emergency medicine supply for a week in the ER, or fuel for the ambulance boat for 5 transfers to the Main Island.

• £100 - Training for a clinical staff to be updated on LifeSaving Skills for the Emergency Department, or Supplies for the dental department to avoid simply extracting a tooth and enabling reconstructive services for five patients, or a wheelchair.  

Me and other 5 ambassadors should go to Zanzibar in June and bike 320 km alongside the Main Island in one week. We should visit both hospitals.

Health Improvement Project Zanzibar - HIPZ - is a small charity that partners with the government in Zanzibar to strengthen the healthcare system. We have been running since 2007, and in that time we've taken the hospitals from run-down buildings with no doctors, to refurbished facilities with 20 doctors across the two hospitals. Our work includes maternity care, paediatrics, mental health and running the general patient services. We are small, efficient, sustainable and embedded in the local community, and with your help, we can do more.