Dear Friends,
Hello from Zimbabwe. I trust that this message finds you well.
We have another amazing opportunity for a matching grant from our partners at Southwestern Medical Clinic Foundation. The first fundraising effort in 2022, purchasing a heavy-duty service vehicle, was a success due to your caring help. We are now awaiting delivery of a Toyota SUV to assist with our community care activities.
We are thrilled that our partners at Southwestern Medical Clinic Foundation are offering a Matching Gift Program of up to $20,000 to help expand our Rehabilitation Unit from seven beds to twenty. Through the Matching Gift Program your gift will be doubled as we work together to build this expansion. This is an incredible opportunity for us to build this much-needed expansion with your generous help.
Karanda Mission Hospital is a 152-bed district hospital serving a population of 250,000 people in rural northeastern Zimbabwe, and the nation at large. We have at least 100,000 patients visit for medical care and treatment each year. Our Rehabilitation Unit has a capacity of seven beds to serve our inpatient and outpatient service, and acute, chronic and palliative care. Though staff make the best use of this space, more space is needed.
We hope to expand the capacity of the Rehabilitation Unit to twenty beds with a main examination room and four procedure rooms. This will enable us to provide physical therapy and rehabilitation care to all those who need it. The funds raised through this Matching Gift Program will go a great distance in helping us reach our goal.
The Rhodesian army planted an estimated 3 million anti-personnel mines between 1974 and 1979 across what is now Zimbabwe's eastern and northern borders. As a result, we see an average of 18 children each year who have encountered a mine and had it explode. Tragically, amputation is the most common outcome. Eight-year-old Manuel is one of the many children who have been affected by this war. Manuel was happily pushing his twig toy truck through the dirt at the side of the bush path. Then he spotted a shiny toy airplane and reached out his right hand and picked it up. Sadly, it was a land mine and it exploded. Manuel was brought to the hospital in deep shock and had to have his right hand amputated. After therapy, he left Karanda a happy little boy. Manuel was lucky, given the circumstances, as we could give him the medical assistance and rehabilitation he needed.
We want to provide much needed physical therapy and rehabilitation care to all who need it, instead of turning some away because of a lack of basic facilities and equipment. Children like Manuel will visit, in addition to mothers following delivery difficulties, fathers with fractures and tearing from farming injuries, babies with disabilities and injuries to care for, elderly with crippling conditions, and the many others who are brought for care from road accidents.
Dr. Roland Stephens, missionary surgeon with Southwestern Medical Clinic, was one of the founders of Karanda Mission Hospital in 1961. He and his team of missionary coworkers and national health care professionals established and exemplified a level of health care that is much sought after by Zimbabweans to this day. In keeping with the memory of Dr. Stephens the Southwestern Medical Clinic Foundation, www.swmcf.org, is partnering with us in offering a matching gift program to expand the Rehabilitation Unit.
The health and wellbeing of Zimbabweans is vitally important to us. Our ministry at Karanda is to provide holistic care, in body, mind and spirit, to an underprivileged corner of the world. Thank you for coming alongside of our ministry to support us in this time of great need with raising of funds to expand our building and our capacity.
Thank you, everyone, for your consideration of this new opportunity. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Yours faithfully,