Medic Assist International (MAI)

Joanna, together with Richard are raising funds for Medic Assist International (MAI), a small, but impactful UK registered charity with 20 years’ experience of supporting local Christian health partners overseas to improve access to quality and affordable healthcare for those living in extreme poverty (regardless of race, age, class or creed) in under resourced and marginalised communities, predominately in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

MAI's overseas health partners:

MAI currently supports 4 health partners in Chad, South Sudan, India and South Africa and here are some of the projects your sponsorship will fund and some of the lives that you will help save and transform, by clicking on 'continue reading' below:

Chinchpada Christian Hospital (CCH) in India:

CCH is a 50 bed Secondary Care hospital located in Nandurbar District, a rural region, bordering Gujarat & Madhya Pradesh States, where 72% of families live below the poverty line of <£1.50/ day, mostly in tented or basic wooden shelters. MAI are currently raising funds to expand CCH’s established Palliative Care Programme of 8 years into other deprived communities in rural India, by CCH setting up as a Centre of Learning, to train other health providers and a network of 20 other Christian hospitals serving in deprived communities in rural India. As only 4% of the 7 million people in India that need palliative care annually, actually receive it! MAI also needs more funds to complete the final phase 2 of building CCH’s modern new 12 bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU), so it is fit for purpose to meet the increasing critical care need and a new adjoining Medical Ward, which will replace CCH’s current cramped 4 bed post war ICU! See CCH's 2-3 min ICU video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywRUakPeHLo

Martha Clinic in South Sudan:

MAI also support a vital Primary Health Centre in South Sudan - blighted by >20yrs of conflict and war, which serves over 50,000 patients annually in Yei.

Guinebor 2 Hospital (G2H) in Chad:

G2H focuses on Mother and Child Health as shockingly 1 in 10 Chadian children die before their 5th birthday and 1 in 15 Chadian women die in child birth. Your donations in 2023 enabled a new female ward to be built at G2H in Chad so more women identified at risk can give birth safely at G2H (see photos at end). View G2H's 1min video on the difference your donations will make to G2H’s Mother and Child Malnutrition Programme: https://youtu.be/_gklhgOtQwg?si=KU71tqJH6t96BLlQ

Embo Clinic in South Africa:

MAI supports patients with HIV and chronic conditions in Embo - a poor community in South Africa, where 27% of population between 15-49yrs are HIV+. View Embo's 2min video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YhFUYw7xMc

MAI's website:

View MAI’s website: www.medicassistinternational.org

To read about Ranjana’s story; who was heavily pregnant with a dangerously high blood pressure and desperately needed an emergency caesarean, but was turned away from her local hospital as she was unable to afford their fee. Thankfully, Chinchpada Christian Hospital (CCH) were willing to undertake her emergency surgery at a price she could afford and saved Ranjana and her baby’s life! Also, read how Rinabai with end stage cancer died peacefully, pain free (controlled with morphine) and with dignity with her family at home, supported by CCH’s community Palliative Care Team. See how your MAI sponsorship gift today can save and improve the quality of many more lives in some of the world’s poorest communities.

Please donate generously:

Last July in 2023 Joanna launched MAI ‘Challenge 20’ to celebrate the start of MAI’s 20 Year Anniversary, by trekking 100km solo in 6-7 days across the Lake District (West to East), enduring atrocious weather conditions, battling through hailstorms, 50mph winds at 800m and navigating in poor visibility, but thankfully survived and successfully raised £1500 for MAI, thanks to the generosity of friends, family, some MAI Supporters and fellow walkers Joanna met on route. Joanna also met her walking partner Richard coming over Grasmere pass into Patterdale – the only sunny day! We are praying we get better weather this year to undertake an even greater MAI ‘Challenge 20’ sponsored event in mid-May 2024. An opportunity to reflect and celebrate the thousands of lives MAI’s partners have saved and improved over the last 20 years in some of the poorest communities in the world. We will be walking 100 miles across Scotland from Glasgow to Fort William along the West Highland Way, enduring 20-30km days, distances beyond which Joanna has walked before and she has the added challenge of currently nursing a degloved right heel, incurred a few weeks prior to departure, so has had minimal training walks! So, Joanna would love your prayers for rapid heel healing, lots of grit and endurance, to keep injury free and plenty of sunshine! As with last year Joanna will be taking this as Annual Leave and personally sacrificing her annual holiday to financially do this, so all sponsorship money will go to MAI and Richard is kindly sponsoring the accommodation costs.

Thank you & update posts:

Thank you so much for your support and generosity and for helping to ‘Bring Health & Hope’ to those at their time of greatest need, in their darkest hours. If Joanna can master the technology and get sufficient mobile reception, she will try to post a brief daily blog with a photo on this JustGiving page, whilst on the WHW, otherwise she will post some photos after she returns from Scotland for you to share and experience the journey virtually. We hope it will inspire you to organise your own ‘Challenge 20’ sponsored or fundraising event to raise vital funds for MAI in 2024: https://www.medicassistinternational.org/get-involved/fundraise/

Gift Aid:

Please remember to Gift Aid your sponsorship gift, if you are a UK Tax payer and would like to add an extra 25% or more to your gift at no cost to you.

Organise your own 'Challenge 20' Event for MAI:

To celebrate MAI’s 20 Year Anniversary of saving and improving the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people in communities around the world, MAI are aiming to raise £100k through everyone's 'Challenge 20' Sponsored and Fundraising Events. So, if you wish to challenge yourself or have some fun with others by organising your own 'Challenge 20' Sponsored or Fundraising Event in 2024 – for more information, ideas and to register and receive your ‘Challenge 20’ Fundraising Pack, visit MAI's 'Challenge 20' web page on: https://www.medicassistinternational.org/get-involved/fundraise/

THANK YOU!

Gal 2:10:

'All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor'.