At the inaugural AGM of the Overseas Aid Alliance held on Sunday November 26th 2023 potential financial support of up to £35,000 was approved for five different projects run by trusted partners in five least developed countries. Three of the projects were linked to the ‘Double Impact’ appeal currently being promoted by The impact Foundation and as a result our contribution will be match funded which means it will go twice as far! See below for further details about all of the projects.
The Lake Clinic, Tonle Sap, Cambodia
The Lake Clinic provides a vital primary healthcare service to the neglected and impoverished communities living in the isolated floating villages around the Tonle Sap lake. Dr Nick and Claudine have volunteered at the clinic on several occasions, the last time being in February this year. Our donation will go directly towards their community outreach programme which provides villagers with bio-sand water filters and floating vegetable gardens to improve their health and nutritional status.
Billy’s Clinic in Chembe Village, Malawi
Chembe is a densely populated fishing village on the shores of Lake Malawi. Dr Nick and Claudine worked there in the local health centre, which is known as Billy’s Clinic, for 4 months in 2018 and earlier this year when there was an outbreak of cholera in the village they were involved in providing several community latrine blocks aimed at improving both sanitation and hygiene. The clinic is now in the process of building a new maternity unit so that women in the village can be delivered in safe supervised conditions. OAA have agreed to provide some much needed medical equipment for the unit when it opens.
Women’s development project in Maraland
Since the military coup in Myanmar on February 1st 2021 it has not been possible to assist in-country but through our friends and trusted partners we have still been able to help the wider Mara community which extends into NE India and now includes a significant number of refugees. In conjunction with the Waymaker Trust the opportunity has arisen for us to support a women’s development project which will improve facilities and provide better healthcare outcomes for pregnant Mara women by supplying them with clean childbirth kits. The project should make a huge difference in this remote and neglected corner of the world where services have all but disappeared and poverty levels are higher than ever.
The Jibon Tari Floating Hospital, Bangladesh
Run in conjunction with the Impact Foundation, the Jibon Tari Floating Hospital provides vital medical care including surgical operations to the poor and remote riverside communities throughout the waterways of Bangladesh. Our contribution will focus specifically on the provision of healthcare for children and will go towards the cost of both screening and treatment services including corrective procedures for disabling conditions such as cleft palate, club foot and cataract which can be absolutely life changing for the patients and families involved.
Zanzibar Outreach Programme, Zanzibar, Tanzania
Dr Nick has recently returned from a visit to the Zanzibar Outreach Programme in Zanzibar, Tanzania and he was very impressed by the quality and variety of work they are doing on both the main island of Unguja and the much less populated island of Pemba. Led by Dr Naufal (an ENT Surgeon) they have a dedicated team of volunteers who, amongst other things, run a school academy for profoundly deaf children, a community water supply project and regular mobile health clinics which provide vital medical services in the outlying towns and villages.
overseasaidalliance.org 