A team of Health specialists from the Mutima Project based in Christchurch, New Zealand will in September 2010 be in Zambia for three weeks to conduct the first of 100 heart valve replacements on young Zambians.
According to the group’s website, a fund raising walk has been earmarked for the project and set for Sunday, 28th March 2010 in Auckland, New Zealand.
The group led by a Zambian Surgeon , Dr Munanga Mwandila , says concerned individuals and sponsors are welcome to participate in its sponsored walk around North Hagley park under the theme ” Walk to Zambia.”
To reach its 12,523 km target, the group says it needs 2,083 people to walk the six kilometre distance around North Hagley Park.
” We would individuals like you, your family and friends to help raise funds by collecting sponsorship and join us on the walk. We need $500,000 to make the first trip happen,” says the group.
It adds that individuals will be expected to voluntarly walk six kilometres to help save a life of a young Zambian who desperately needs a heart valve replacement.
The Mutima Project based in New Zealand was launched recently after protracted efforts of a dedicated group of individuals who had a heart for young Zambian people, including children, with heart illnesses.
Group members include Speight’s Coast to Coast Founder, Robin Judkins, who has had his brush with heart problems, his surgery and the recovery process.
Progressive Party leader Jim Anderton spoke about the commitment the New Zealand government needs to make towards addressing poverty in countries such as Zambia where nearly 60 percent of the population live on less than a $US 1 a day.
Mr. Anderton called on New Zealand to get behind a new international Natural Resource Charter which sets out ‘best practice’ in countries with natural resources like oil (or copper in Zambia), so proceeds of those
resources go to the poorest people and do not disappear into the pockets of government officials.
Harsh Singh, who is heading the Mutima Project, gave a short rundown on the aims of the project and the mission statement of the Trust. Fundraising is a priority at this stage and he called on individuals and companies to support the project to ensure that it can go ahead.
Another Zambian surgeon, Dr Emmanuel Makasa is reported on the website to have said that while everyone was excited at the possibility of this life saving heart surgery, the medical community and patients had been let down so often before. He said promises were often made but rarely delivered.
Dr Mwandila on his part said as a doctor who worked at the Kitwe Central Hospital, he once sat with a young mother as she died simply because there were no resources to make her well.
An operation such as the ones the project will offer, would have set her back on her feet and seen her return home to look after her 2 year daughter. A determination to make a difference and save lives in her memory is what is behind Munanga’s commitment to this project.
ZANIS
hope this project is sucessful.Is it the govt of new zealand or the zambian surgeons initiative?
We need more Zambians for these kinds of initiatives.
Please help Dr. Munanga help Zambia by donating to Mutima Project. I already did and I am happy that my gift will help save a life in Zambia
There is nothing wrong with people trying to help us in times of need, but there is everything wrong with helping when the leader of this country behaves like a little child! Rupiah Banda just came back from China and now he is in Nambia! Has anyone been keeping stock of how much this galavanting human being has spent on his trips abroad so far? They say they need $500, 000 to make the first trip but I can assure you that they will need to show a very dare situation for them to get that money and that will include indirectly convincing the New Zealanders that Africans are incapable of looking after their own. Shameful!!
These specialists should have come for adults. I dont think it is so much a problem in children as it is in Adults
This is brillaint. Theyn should also try fundrasing online so some of us can also make a contribution in one way or another
#5 Bra P – Visit Mutima Foundation site to make a donation online.
good initiative by Zambian surgeons i applaud you and i hope you get the support needed @ #4 most of these heart problems are congenital(from birth) but usually get fatal in adulthood therefore correcting the problem early on is vital these people are doctors they have worked in zambian hospitals and they know the incidences better than you and I not just general statistics which don’t necessarily apply to zambia
Good initiative, but very shameful! Parading yourself or marching around the streets of New Zealand begging for money to help poor Zambians. Shameful because in this kind of Fundraising one makes sure he appeals strongly through portraying a very bad picture of the situation, such that if not helped all children will die! Sebana pakuti wikute. I just hope there will be people with generous hearts to contribute to this noble project.
thats a good intiative but not sustainable. what happens when surgeons go away, the kids will just continue dying. why not use money to train and retain heart specialists. that would be sustainable.
of course we dont have time or resources for training specialist doctors because there are more pressing issues like trips abroad for RB and digging up dirt on sata.
#9 Have you visited their website mutimaproject.com? It’s meant to run over 5yrs, perform 100 operations during that period of time, equip the Cardiac Unit at UTH and help train Zambians to run the cardiac unit on their own – hence sustainable!! They also have a facebook page if you want the latest data on what they are up to!
sorry I was answering question 1 but put it in the complaint section. can you please put it in the comment section. Thanks