At Bread and Water for Africa® among our missions is to provide medicines, and medical supplies and equipment to hospitals and clinics in sub-Saharan African countries where access to healthcare is practically nonexistent for those who have little or no ability to pay for the medical services they desperately need to prevent and treat illnesses – or even save their lives.
And that tragic fact is no more true than today in impoverished countries such as Cameroon where the COVID-19 pandemic continues to worsen virtually unabated and access for vaccines for the vast majority of the general population remain unavailable.
We recently heard the sad news from our partner there, Esther Ndichafah, program director of Hope Services which operates a clinic in Yaoundé for the indigent, that the number coronavirus of cases is “rising at an alarming rate” and is becoming increasingly concerned for the safety of her staff with the fear of running out of vital personal protective equipment.
Upon hearing this devastating news, we turned to our partner here in the U.S., MAP International, to seek to acquire isolation gowns, face masks, disposable gloves, disinfectant spray and other PPE at deeply discounted rates– enough to fill a 40-foot shipping container that we are working on shipping there as soon as possible.
For years, Esther and Hope Services has relied on the supporters of Bread and Water for Africa® for shipments of medical supplies and equipment to treat those children, mothers, and the elderly who come to the clinic for services, but this time it’s different – the need is to protect the health and safety of those who continue to risk their lives daily to treat those with the highly contagious, and often deadly, virus.
As we learned from the Ebola virus outbreak in Sierra Leone in 2014, the importance of PPE for health care workers is cannot be underestimated – without face masks, gloves, and gowns these brave frontline workers face becoming patients themselves, something we are determined to do all we can to prevent.
Esther told us that in the last three months the number of confirmed cases in Cameroon has increased from 30,000 to 80,000, staggering numbers which are increasing significantly by the day which is why we are doing all we can to grant her urgent request immediately.
