CHOKO’s principal charity remains Go Make A Difference in Tanzania (GoMAD).
We are delighted to support the work this charity is doing to support rural communities in Tanzania.
Here’s an extract from recent communication from GoMAD representative Graham McClure.
“In recent years, the money raised by Choko has paid for the repair and improvement of a run-down health clinic in a remote Tanzanian village called Butuguri.
We discovered that up to 1 women in 10 were dying in childbirth if they gave birth in their huts attended by the traditional midwives who used unsterilised knives during delivery.
Often the babies died as well. One morning when Claire was at the clinic 3 children died before lunch time.
Our questionnaires with local women have shown that 50% of the women have lost one child at least from Malaria , dysentery or during the birthing process. The existing daytime nurse in Butuguri was not a trained midwife and struggled to help with baby deliveries during the day. There was no clean water supply to the dispensary or the village .
In response to this terrible situation Choko has funded the following:
- Renovation of the building.
- Installation of the first water tank in the area.
- Creating a recovery room for post-delivery women and children.
- Building a halfway house beside the birthing unit for women to rest in during the last 2 weeks of their pregnancy.
- Employing a trained midwife called Miriam who works at night and who delivers 250to 300 children a year. She also runs clinics a couple of mornings each week checking the health of mothers and children and teaching the mothers skills that they need for their newborn children.
The situation has improved hugely and many lives have been saved but more needs to be done to improve maternal care and to make the clinic sustainable.
This year we would like to use the money raised by Choko to fund the recruitment of a second midwife for the clinic and for a new laboratory room to be built to enable better testing for Malaria, Rhesus Negative and Sickle Cell Anaemia, all of which are important to diagnose early on in pregnancy.”
We would like to thank everyone attending events such as the beer festival for helping CHOKO support this incredible charity.