April 2010 AfriKids is a Child Rights Organisation working to improve life for Ghana’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged children in a holistic, inclusive and sustainable manner
Sister Jane Operation Smiles
DEAR DIARY Liam Nolan talks us through his Ghana trip In April, Sally Eastcott and Liam Nolan from AfriKids (UK) went to Bolgatanga to visit AfriKids Ghana and to catch up on the latest news. Here Liam talks about his trip.
“I’ve been with AfriKids in the fundraising team since 2008 and this year marked my third annual visit to Ghana and to AfriKids’ projects. Each visit brings new updates and personal insights into what really is going on at the business end of the organisation. For me, life in our West Hampstead office can often seem a world away from the work of our fieldworkers in Zuarungu or the nurses on the wards at the AfriKids Medical Centre so it’s great to get out there.
This year’s trip saw me spend a lot of time at the AfriKids Medical Centre; a place that has grown in so many ways since my first visit in 2009. I was thrilled to watch staff use donated X-ray equipment and then be shown around the building site that is soon to be our new X-ray department. The difference that training through our G.A.S. Partnership (see last month’s Out of AfriKids!) is making to the care of the 3,900+ patients is also very clear when talking to nurses. One of the highlights of the trip was finally getting to visit Sister Jane and see Operation Smiles in Nauuabi, which was a journey of over six hours on bumpy roads. Being so remote, visitors from the UK rarely get to visit. On this occasion Sally and I saw her at her most natural; looking after two-
week old twins that had days earlier been at high risk in Sirigu. The ease with which she went from saving the twins’ lives to showing us around her farm with pride was an inspiration.”
“The sustainability of our partners’ work is one of our major challenges but Operation Smiles is an example of one project where we could stop funding tomorrow and I guarantee Sister Jane would keep doing what she is doing.” Nich Kumah Director, AfriKids Ghana