Hi Jennifer

I like the idea of linking the hospital up with a school.

On the subject of health education, have you had any contact with Raul about the work he is doing with a group called VIP? I don't know much detail, but they are developing health (mostly HIV I think) education materials with the hope that these will be relevant to many Nabuur communities. Maybe there is some way the two can work together.

Mary

Its good to see Kayole being mentioned on AVIF's blog - http://avifvolunteers.blogspot.com/ and to see that you may be getting some medical supplies!

Mary

Bramuel has also created a group on Facebook for the project located here:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=33819491864

There are additional pictures inside the new hospital located there.

Jennifer

Hi Mary
We really appreciate the work that Alison is doing on the project she has informed me that she have medical Equipments already in the store but shipping transport is a big problem since they no money for the transportation
warmest regard
Bramuel

Happy Birthday Bramuel! I hope you have a great day.

Hi Bramuel

Happy birthday from me too!

Mary

Hi Jen/Mary

Thanks I was out of town taking care of
Bram

Hello everyone-

I am happy to report that the new hospital beds have been delivered to the hospital and the beds have been made with the new bedding that Bramuel was able to purchase using the funds provided by our successful proposal to Friends of Kenya. I have posted new pictures in the gallery of the beds being made by a local welder and the freshly made beds in the hospital rooms once they were delivered. Please make sure you stop by the gallery to take a look.

Bramuel and I have spoken quite a bit over the last few days about the things that need to be done at the hospital. Arrow-Web Hospital is still very much in need of resources/support for obtaining low-cost medications. Bramuel is also still very interested in establishing a formal partnership with a larger hospital or organization that can support additional training for the medical staff and/or send medical volunteers on site.

Bramuel has submitted a list of equipment to me that the hospital still needs. He has agreed to talk with the medical staff and write up some notes that show the benefits of each piece of equipment to a person in need of a particular type of care and contrast that to what the person would have to do now since the hospital currently lacks the equipment. We hope to work these explanations into the African Diaspora proposal that Marge started and get that sent off as soon as possible.

The hospital management staff are still very interested in building their own building. They have plans drawn up already, and having their own building would save money in the long run versus paying rent each month and having to come up with enough donations/member contributions. This is, of course, a long-term goal, but we may need your help to explore the feasibility of helping the local community get started on the path that will eventually result in their own building.

Regarding the website-Bramuel has contacted someone he knows who did another site for his family to see if he would assist in the revisions needed. As I am sure you can tell, things have been stalled with this task for quite some time. We've had many offers to help and we certainly do appreciate that, but Bramuel and I have both found it very difficult to truly know who has the best level of experience and expertise to see this task through to completion. Everyone has different things to offer and we're hoping that finally this man that Bramuel has spoken with will be able to help get it done.

I think for now that's it. I hope that you are all finding your way through the new website okay. Things continue to move forward with the project even though things have been quiet here.

Warm Regards-

Jennifer

Hi Jennifer

Great to see such progress!

You mention partnerships with other hospitals. A while ago I posted details of THET, a British organisation who help to create links between hospitals - http://www.nabuur.com/en/village/kayole-soweto/project/task/help-write-a... - but am not sure whether Bramuel decided to follow this up or not, as he was not completely clear on what they had to offer and whether it fitted in with Arrow's needs.

Mary

Thanks Mary for bringing this back up. Bramuel had sent me the information and I think we must have gotten busy with something else. I took a look at this tonight and it looks exactly like what we're looking for. I downloaded their application and will email it to Bramuel so that we can get this submitted.

Mary-

Just wanted to update you and let you know that Bramuel received a response from THET. They had apparently emailed him in response to his original submission, but there was a problem and he never got it. They spoke on the phone and are now back in communication. Bramuel is working on answers to several questions they posed so they can try to figure out a way to best link the hospital or if it's possible (which I think will be).

Jennifer

Thanks Jennifer. Definitely sounds promising - I hope it works out!

Mary

hallo Bramuel.we the community in kayole soweto appreciate,efforts you are making in provision of medical care to the needy , in the community ,I have learnt from your postings, that somebody has medical equipments and lacks transport to avail the equipments to where they are needed most .May be i may contribute to this discussion suppose it is know how is needed to transport the equipments to the hospital community and we the friends are involved on how to raise the money.what would be your reaction over this?
rev.wasike

I had the opportunity to talk with Calvin today about the progress in design of the Mobile Health Unit. As you can imagine, this is a very expensive endeavor and funding is needed. He has had meetings with two prospective investors so far and has an appointment with a third. He hopes to build a test model so that he knows more about potential weaknesses so that he can make sure improvements are put into place. He is looking for a 1972 Landrover as part of this process. He still hopes to be able to assemble the entire mobile unit in Kenya, but again he still needs a financial investor to help because it is very expensive. Calvin remains very excited about this and continues to work diligently to one day be able to make the mobile health unit a reality for Arrow-Web Hospital and the local community.

Jennifer

Hi Jennifer

Check this out.... http://www.bushhospitalfoundation.org/index.php?page=20
One of their main activities is supplying land rovers to health projects in Africa including Kenya. I know its a real long shot, but wonder if they would be interested in the mobile clinic? If not, they may at least be able to provide some advice on getting hold of vehicles.

They also supply drugs and equipment, although that is via partnership with Direct Relief, who I think you have already tried for support to Arrow, although I can't remember exactly what happened.

Mary