For years, Bread and Water for Africa® has been providing medicines, and medical supplies, and equipment to our partners in Africa who operate clinics and hospitals offering free and low-cost healthcare to tens of thousands of infants and children, young mothers, and others in need of medical care who otherwise would go without.
That includes the United Methodist Church — Sierra Leone which operates four hospitals and three health centers which serve some 33000 Sierra Leoneans annually.
Working with our partner here in the United States, we ship much-needed medicines, supplies, and equipment to UMC-SL for use it its facilities which are located in urban areas such as Freetown and rural and very remote regions such as the Taiama Moyamba District.
The Centers for Disease Control, which has been working in the country since the 1970s, notes that the life expectancy at birth in the country is just over 50 years for both women and men, among the lowest in the world, and the infant mortality rate at 84 per 1,000 live births, among the world’s highest.
Sadly, the main causes of death in the country — malaria, respiratory infections, neonatal disorders, diarrheal diseases, and heart disease — are for the most part easily preventable and treatable with adequate health care and medicines.
“The overall goal of the program is to improve the lives in a sustainable way for the members of the communities,” says UMC-SL health coordinator Catherine M. Norman, who adds that “special focus will be on the most vulnerable groups” such as orphans and vulnerable children, female and pregnant women, elderly people, people with disabilities and the chronically ill.
At Bread and Water for Africa®, we wholeheartedly support the overall goal of the UMC-SL, and thanks to our supporters, and partners here in the US, we are proud to be able to play a role in preventing and treating illnesses — and literally saving lives.
