Minister of Health visits SFH

The Minister of Health, Ms Sylvia Masebo, announced that government will this month advertise for jobs for all health workers. She says a circular will be released soon and advised health workers who are working on voluntary basis to apply for the jobs.
The minister said this in Katete, Eastern province at St. Francis Hospital during her familiarisation tour of the health facility.
The jobs to be advertised are for the recruitment process of 11, 200 health personal.
Ms Masebo reaffirmed government commitment towards the improvement of health care services to the people.

Oxygen plant up and running! Read about this successful project and donate towards one final step!

The Friends of St Francis Katete donated towards a project for an oxygen generator, powered by solar panels. It took a while, but now the generator is up and running, saving lives and saving the hospital a lot of time and money. Andrew Cairns reports:

“After two and half years of fund raising by the Friends of St Francis Katete, for equipment acquisition and installation, the hospital now has a fully functioning Oxygen Plant that during the day is fully powered by Solar. It was so impressive to visit the hospital in November/December 2021 and to see that all the plans, so careful in their making, have all come together.
The oxygen plant was acquired through Mulilo Gases (Zambia) Ltd and purchased through Inmatec of Germany.
The solar power plant was designed, engineered, supplied and installed by YouGo Ltd based in Lusaka.
Muntanga Munkombwe was the main Independent consultant who during the whole process has been invaluable to the solar project. His work has been exemplary.

At last, the hospital will no longer have to reply upon to a round trip to Kafue of just less than 1,100 kms to fill oxygen cylinders. The hospital is now providing oxygen to other medical institutions from Nyimba to Lundazi. It has already saved many lives.
As the oxygen plant, for its operation during the day, has been using solar power alone, the hospital’s carbon footprint has been reduced by 2.25 tons over the last 3 weeks (to 27th December 2021).

Due to financial constraints in the solar plant’s initial installation, we are now trying to raise more funds to acquire more batteries for extended backup use. It is hoped that the once the additional batteries are connected, there will sufficient capacity to power the oxygen plant, all four theatres, ICU, SCBU, labour wards and the children’s ward for up to 5 hours in emergencies. For the remainder of the night, we will have to rely on power from ZESCO or diesel gensets that are ailing having had them serve for more than 20 years.

One the of the big plusses in the way the solar system has been set up is that as funding allows, we will be able to add more PV panels, inverters, batteries etc. The long-term dream would be for the hospital to be energy self-sufficient.

If you would like to donate towards this project or to other work at the hospital, please click here.

If you would like to know more about the hospital and its work in improving the health and welfare of the Zambian people, please contact andrew.cairns[at]@fosfkct.org.uk.
(The above email address is written in a way to avoid spam. Please replace [at] by the usual @.)

 

 

SFH Annual Report 2020 to be downloaded here

Albeit with some delay, the extensive SFH Annual Report has been published.

Dr Lalick Banda in the introduction: “The year 2020 was yet another difficult year especially with the outbreak of COVID 19 which has not only created fear among our people but has also put a lot strain on scarce resources.
At the peak of the disease, 12 overseas doctors left the institution for their home countries. This had an impact on the service at the Hospital.
The hospital is still receiving a lot of patients, though there has been a reduction in the number of patients the wards due to COVID restrictions this year.
The stock out of essential commodities such as drugs and medical supplies due inadequate supply from Medical Stores Limited continue to affect the delivery of health services at the institution.”

Read the full report here and decide how you may help this eminent institution.

General meeting of staff 2020

The Logie Legacy meeting with Zambian, UK and European partners

Sunday, 28th November 2021 from 2 till 4 pm: due to Covid partners meet again via Zoom.  In this meeting, where Zambian, UK and European partners are present, major issues will be addressed in the field of fundraising opportunities, projects on hand, possible future projects, but above all: how can partners join forces to be more effective. Click here to download the notes of the meeting.

Happier times – when partners could meet in person.

 

Informal discussion at the partners’ meeting in Scotland

And this is how it was during the last Zoom meeting….

Please help to set up the Gym!

At St Francis Hospital a new Physio Department has been built.  The hospital management, seconded by Project Liaison Officer Ms Rachaeal Nakasunda, aims at opening paid Gym facilities to staff and general public in order to promote health, but also to generate funds to alleviate financial shortages that the hospital faces on a yearly basis due to the limited government support for church hospitals. This is one of the income generating projects to make the hospital less dependent on the limited government grant and foreign donors.
Please support the hospital on the way to a sustainable financial independence!

Read here about the Rationale of the project, drawn up by Ms Rachaeal Nakasunda.

The fitness industry in Zambia has experienced growth over the last few years. This is evident in the number of gyms and fitness related events such as Zambia day of fitness and many others. The growth of the fitness as a trend and lifestyle choice has been heavily influenced by the growth of the trend globally. Fitness for most people in Zambia is closely associated with aerobics movement. Aerobics gained popularity through the efforts of various trainers and fitness enthusiast training groups of people in open spaces with large speakers blasting their most energetic beats. This lead to the wider population feeling like fitness is an activity they can incorporate into their lives. The former President also contributed to the fitness movement by doing a 10 kilometer run every weekend throughout towns and cities around the country in a bead to inspire the country to stop dying from non-commutable diseases.

Another phenomenon that’s inspiring working out and exercise is weight loss and maintenance. Many doctors and researchers have pointed out that exercise is one of the main ways to lose and maintain weight and is key improving your health. It can reduce your risk of certain conditions, such as heart disease and type 2diabetes. It can lower the blood pressure and total cholesterol level. It also can relieve symptoms and prevent injuries related to being overweight.

Therefore, the hospital decided to introduce the gym services in the District as a response to the overwhelming demand for such services in the District. This will be the first gym to have been established in Katete.

Apart from providing the health benefits to the community of Katete and beyond, the gym will also provide the financial resources that are required to sustainably contribute to the provisions of health services at the hospital.

The construction of the gym has been completed. The gym was part of the Physiotherapy building which was constructed with the generous financial support from the Medical Support Group of Netherlands.

However, the equipment for the gym was not part of the package for the project and will have to be sourced separately.

A total amount of ZMK 396,140. 00 is required to set up a Gym.

The required amount equals about € 20.000,- or £ 19.000. Please donate: NL28INGB0003022230 citing ‘Gym Project’.
With an eye to transparancy you may read the whole Project Plan here.

‘Minga is our sister hospital’

‘Minga is our sister hospital’ – this is how Dr Banda reacted when asked to assist in a major project for Minga Hospital.
The Dutch charity, Friends of Minga, is going to  be liquidated shortly and has sought the cooperation of the St Francis Hospital Medical Support Group (also in the Netherlands) to realise its final project: the renovation of Male Ward at the urgent request of Sr Asperanza of Minga Hospital.
Now that Dr Banda has agreed to St Francis’ being Project Owner on behalf of Minga, a lot of practical problems are solved. The project will be overseen by the experienced SFH Project Manager, Mr Chungu Mutale, and also project reports and finances are dealt with by SFH management.
Sr Asperanza is extremely happy with this urgently needed renovation and also the people of Minga have shown their gratitude by offering eggs, flour and other foodstuffs to the hospital.

The work is done by the Zambian contractor Top Firm.

Update on quadruplets

From Mr Fred Ntongwe, Senior Hospital Administrator and ward of the St Francis’ born quadruplets, we received an update for all of you who so generously donated to support the family.
As we know two of the babies did not survive, but the other two, Dalitso and Elesiya, are thriving.

The family is visited on a regular basis if an outreach vehicle and driver is available, but since the children have grown they can travel to the hospital.
The babies get their health checked and the family receive their provisions.

 

 

President Lungu praises SFH

President of the Republic of Zambia, Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu praised St. Francis Hospital for its positive contribution to delivery of health services in Zambia. The President said the hospital has been attending to patients not only in Eastern Province but also receives patients from outside the Province and also from the neighbouring country Mozambique.
‘The hospital had been a pride of the nation for the past 73 years with the uniqueness in the provisions of the health care to the most vulnerable members of the community’.

The President said this during the Silver Jubilee celebration of the establishment of the Anglican Diocese of Eastern Zambia and the commissioning of Bishop John Osmers House at St. Paul’s Church in Chipata on the 25th April,2021. The President visited the stands where the healing and social ministries of the Church were displayed before attending the Eucharistic mass. The head of state attended Eucharistic mass at St Paul’s Anglican Church in Chipata where he commissioned the Bishop John Osmers House.

Bishop Osmers, who died 16 june 2021, was able to witness the commissioning of the Diocesan Centre, the ‘Bishop John Osmers House’ by President Edgar Lungu and gave a speech which proved to be his farewell to the Diocese, in front of people from all around Eastern Province, other parts of the country and Malawi.

This news is an item in the St Francis Hospital April/June Bulletin, which you can download here.

SFH Bulletin June 2021

Here you can download the SFH Bulletin, the issue of June 2021. First of all a message of Dr. Lalick Banda, thanking all partners and the Zambian Ministery of Health for their support in these difficult times.
Good news is that the oxygen plant is in operation. Oxygen is piped to the mayor wards, other wards are to follow. The hospital is extremely grateful to the organizations and individuals who made this come true: Friends of St Francis Hospital (UK), Pylos Zambia, Mr Charles Mkokweza, Mr Wilson Sumaili, Build it International, Mr Chibesa Chitangala, Sable Contruction, Mr Chikwanda, Muslim Association (Katete and Chipata Districts).

Sad news is that Bishop John Osmers died in Lusaka on 16 June 2021. He was consecrated as a first Bishop of the Anglican Eastern Diocese in 1995. For over 20 years the bishop was involved in helping refugees and promoting tertiary education in medical and educational fields. In the months before his death Bishop Osmers urged the people to ignore the myths that were being spread about the vaccine against Covid-19 and urged people to go and get the jab.
Download the SFH Bulletin here.

 

 

MSG project Physio Department finished

Beginning of June 2021 Mr Chungu Mutale, project manager of St Francis’ Hospital sent in his final report on the MSG project ‘Renovation/rebuilding of the Physiotherapy Block’.
The Zambia contractor, Top Firm, did an excellent job. The project was finished well within time and budget. The close cooperation between the project manager of St Francis Hospital, Top Firm (Zambia), MSG and Wild Geese (Netherlands) has yielded this wonderful result as shown in the photographs below. The only thing left to be done is cleaning and clearing the building site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

exercise room

 

 

 

 

 

Interior 1

 

 

 

 

 

Interior 2