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Healthcare

Donate Now to our relief efforts for the Regents mudslide

We're making an urgent appeal to our friends and donors to support the relief efforts in Regent/Freetown, Sierra Leone. The death toll from the massive mudslide is reaching 500, with perhaps another 600 still missing. 6 weeks of heavy rains have flooded the entire region, displacing 20,000 people including 5,000 children. There is a great risk of another massive mudslide that could affect an additional 70 acres of mountainside communities. Our goal is to raise $8,000 to $10,000 to assemble a large shipment of goods to support the community. We're collecting more clothing, medical and other supplies for the relief effort, but what we need most are cash donations to cover the cost of shipping and port fees. Bobby Smith's plan is to receive the container(s) in Sierra Leone and distribute these goods personally to the families affected by this tragedy.

Bobby Smith visited the Regent area of Freetown on one of his recent visits, talking with students and teachers at a few different schools in the area. Some of the kids in these photos were killed or are missing and certainly all of them will be affected by this ongoing tragedy. Access to clean water will be particularly difficult in the wake of the landslide. The cost of food has spiked considerably and families can't afford even basics like rice and oil. The challenges in Regent will continue for many months to come. Please DONATE TODAY to help us pay to ship the goods we've collected. It takes 4-5 weeks from the ship date for the container to arrive, so please DONATE NOW!

New Water Station at St. Anthony's School is Complete

New Water Station at St. Anthony's School is Complete

The new water station and well at St. Anthony's School was completed just in time for the new school year. We're so grateful to Bishop Fitzgerald School, Action4Schools and Water4Foundation for donating the funds and coordinating construction of the new well.

In addition to the new water station, Action4Schools replaced several of the dilapidated roofs that resulted in water damage to the classrooms during the rainy season. The roof that feeds rainwater into the cistern was also replaced so the school now has two sources of water to serve the 3,000 boys and girls who attend the school. Here's a link to the Action4schools website with additional galleries http://www.action4schools.gi/st-anthonys-school-brookfields-freetown/

Demonstration of Hematology and Immunoassay Machines

Demonstration of Hematology and Immunoassay Machines

In July 2015, Suburban Hospital Johns Hopkins made a huge step toward improving health care in Sierra Leone with the donation of seven Beckman Coulter Hematology and Immuno-assay machines, which finally arrived in Sierra Leone in April 2016.

This one effort will be the biggest thing we have accomplished to date. Currently, there are no machines of this kind in the entire country. Any comprehensive blood and urine testing must be sent out of the country for analysis at considerable expense, which very few can afford. View the video demo/introduction of these machines by Oliver Swann and Shauntaya Durant, two lab technologists at Suburban Hospital. The recent shipment also contained a number of donated cardiology machines (ECG/Stress) .

We have identified a destination facility and Beckman Coulter has been very helpful in their commitment in set up and working out logistics for the sustainability for these vital machines.

A One-Bedroom Clinic

A One-Bedroom Clinic

We visited a small one-bedroom clinic in Wilberforce, Freetown. Hope for Lives has been providing medical supplies to this clinic called, Hope Life Savers Clinic. During our visit to the clinic, more than a hundred women and children waited to visit with us. I was in tears the entire time. Looking at many of them, you can see hope from their eyes.

A #HugeStep for Healthcare in Sierra Leone

A #HugeStep for Healthcare in Sierra Leone

Hope for Lives is raising funds to send critical medical equipment to Sierra Leone. This equipment will be delivered to hospitals with patients in dire need of proper medical imaging. Your support will go DIRECTLY to saving lives. Click View Post to learn more and how you can help us take a #HugeStep in improving Healthcare in Sierra Leone.

Suburban Hospital Donating Medical Equipment to Hope for Lives

Suburban Hospital Donating Medical Equipment to Hope for Lives

Suburban Hospital, a member of Johns Hopkins Medicine, in Bethesda, Maryland, has pledged a very generous donation of seven hematology and immunoassay machines used in processing panels for plasma, serum and urine that are vital in analyzing patient health conditions. 

CDC Ebola Training

CDC Ebola Training

Bobby traveled to Atlanta, Georgia this week to take part in Ebola training provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Click "View Post" to read about his experience.