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.

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.

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.

Both projects Oxygen plant and Solar power have made serious progress. Mr Andrew Cairns, Hon Treasurer/Trustee of the Friends of St Francis’ Hospital (FOSFKCT – Charity Regd no: 284717 ) reports:

‘The Oxygen Plant arrived at St Francis Hospital earlier this year and we have now paid for the gas’s distribution to the Intensive Care Unit, the Labour Wards, the Caesar Theatre, Special Care Baby Unit and the Children’s Ward. We expect this to be installed shortly. Oxygen is already being piped to the main Theatre Block.
We are in the process of acquiring oxygen cylinders and individual trolleys to supply the General and Surgical wards and have now appointed contractors to install a solar array and associated equipment primarily to power the Oxygen Plant.
It is hoped that this equipment will not only provide sufficient power to run the Oxygen Plant, but also to charge batteries for night-time power and to light the entire hospital during the day.  It is also hoped that the batteries will also be able to provide light to the critical areas at night.’

Mr Cairns thanks those who have already donated towards this project. Once the entire system is operational, many lives will be saved.
But: More is needed to complete this project. If you would like to make a donation towards this project, please follow the link by clicking here and go to the donation page.  For those of you who are UK resident and taxpayers, you can gift aid your contribution by clicking the appropriate box, increasing the value of your gift by 25%. If an appropriate declarations needed, donors will receive an email attaching a declaration for signature and return.
For more information about these projects you can contact FOSH: andrew[at]andrewcairnsifa.co.uk *

*To avoid spam Andrew Cairns’ email address has no direct link. Copy the address and replace [at] by the usual @ and send a mail to Mr Cairns.