World Emergency Relief Readies Vital Supplies Shipment for Malawi

WER has worked together with Scottish charity Glasgow the Caring City (GtCC) to arrange shipment of the goods from the USA as part of an ongoing programme of support for healthcare in Malawi.

The vital supplies will be distributed to hospitals in Lilongwe in Malawi through the Clinton-Hunter Development Initiative.

Last December, WER stepped up its humanitarian aid shipments to Iraqi and Lebanese communities affected by conflict in the Middle East region and in desperate need of basic goods, one container of food and clothing being shipped in conjunction with Feed the Children UK.

This most recent shipment includes quality hospital beds, dental equipment and medical supplies - all of which are in chronic short supply in Malawi.

Since 2005 WER and GtCC have provided joint funding, along with the University of Strathclyde and the City of Glasgow (Lord Provosts Office), to help build the David Livingston Maternity Clinic in Lilongwe, which opened in August 2006.

WER's director of operations Alex Haxton comments, "Since 2005 we and Glasgow the Caring City have been able to donate goods worth more than three million pounds sterling to Malawi. We're now seeing this investment making a real difference to people's lives, and it's all thanks to the generosity of donors. Without their support we couldn't keep shipping goods out there."

GtCC's director, the Rev Neil Galbraith, visited the David Livingston Maternity Clinic earlier this month. He said, "The clinic is already providing quality maternity care and training midwives, but we're keen to see the nursing and college facilities upgraded further to ensure trainees are being taught in the best environment possible.

"Every penny raised for this project is being spent on it, to the benefit of the community as a whole."

He warned that infant mortality continues to be a serious problem in Malawi, with some mainstream hospitals suffering new born mortality rates as high as 25 per cent at times.

"The training of professional midwives is essential if this statistic is to be lowered, which is why it's so important to get the new clinic's training facility functioning as efficiently as possible."

For more information or to make a donation to support WER's work, please call WER on 0870 429 2129 today or go to http://www.wer-uk.org to find out more about WER and to donate online.

For more information about Glasgow the Caring City go to www.glasgowthecaringcity.com