AMREF’s Supporter Group is organising an evening of speed dating on Thursday 11th September to raise money for AMREF's life saving work in Africa. We are recruiting young men and women for what will be a fantastic evening.

Up to 20 high-speed dates come at a very reasonable cost of £20 and the benefits could be priceless… For the cynics you’ll get a drink and some canapes too!

SAVE THE DATE

Date: Thursday September 11th

Time: 7.30 for a first date at 8pm

Location: Punch Tavern, Ludgate Circus, London

BOOK YOUR PLACE

If you are interested please call the ticket hotline on 020 7269 6867 to pay by credit card.

Alternatively send a cheque made payable to ‘AMREF Supporter Group’ to AMREF, Cliffords Inn, Fetter Lane, London, EC4A 1BZ. If you’re sending a cheque please also email amrefsupporters@amrefuk.org so your name is on the list before we run out of spaces!

The Katine Community Partnership Project has worked with the community to form water committees, to manage and ensure the sustainability of the water sources. The water sources also have care takers. Mary is the care taker of a borehole in Abia village. Once in a while, she consults with the project officers on a number of issues, and here she tells us about one such day.

I am Mary Amulo and I come from Abia village in Ojama parish in Katine sub-county. I am 31 years old and my husband is Elwangu Julius and is 33 years old. Both of us are peasants and have six children, four girls and two boys.

In the morning I woke up, cleaned my face, started cleaning the compound. After which I went to the garden with a hoe and when I came back home I bathed. After bathing I took some porridge which I had made earlier.

Then I dressed up and came to the sub-county and visited the Katine Project to see Richard, (Richard  is AMREF’s community empowerment officer) and greet everybody at the office.

I had gone to see Richard to discuss some few things, and then talk to Anthony (the Project Assistant responsible for Water and Sanitation).  I went to meet with Anthony to talk about the work plan for the village; to see how we can serve our people better.

When I went I saw a number of photographs that where taken in Katine. I really liked them. I even saw myself in some of the pictures.   

From there I came here for a meeting to see what to do, since our local council leader for Abia village had died. The chairman died on 26 June after a short illness.

I am the care taker of the borehole in Abia and I am also going to hand over the money that members contributed to the treasurer. I have been keeping the money since the death of the chairman. I used to bring the money to him.

The amount I have collected so far is 27,000 Ugandan Shillings (about £9). The policy we made in our village is that each month each family has to contribute 500 Shillings, which is put in a pool, so that when the borehole breaks down we can use this money to make repairs. We have ninety-nine households in Abia village.

Most household pay but some don’t. Some complain that they don’t have money, some say they stay very far from the water source, yet others don’t really stay in Katine. They just have houses, and come here once in a while. Indeed, many people don’t have money. Even how to get food is becoming a problem; crops are drying up and we are experiencing a draught.

At the moment we buy food. Myself, I have some goats from which we can sell one to get money. At times I go to the bush, collect firewood that I sell in the trading centre, from where I get some money to feed my family.

After extensive consultation with community members, activities are now underway that will help to transform the lives of 25,000 people living in Katine village and the wider sub-county.

Joshua Kyallo, AMREF’s country director in Uganda said: "We have a brilliant team in place, with years of experience in community development, and we are excited that, after months of preparation, we are now starting to deliver the activities that the community members have asked for. The people of Katine are excited about what the project has to offer, but equally they know that it will not work without their input and close involvement." He added: "In our preparation, we have also closely involved the local authorities, as we want to make sure that the impact of the project will be felt long after the three years has ended." An activity plan has been drawn up for the next three years but certain activities have been prioritised for the next two months, given the urgent needs that exist.

Maternal and child health – urgent training needed

Maternal and child health were identified as urgent areas of need by both community members and local health authorities. As reported in the Guardian last week, the majority of women in Katine do not give birth with a qualified health worker present and as a result, maternal mortality rates are high. In December and January, AMREF will be training traditional birth attendants on safe delivery methods, pregnancy danger signs and when to refer cases to a health clinic. And we will be training health workers (including midwives) in emergency obstetric care. Tackling childhood illnesses was also identified as a key priority. Malaria, in particular, is the greatest health problem facing the people of Katine.

AMREF will be training village health teams on how to best prevent and treat malaria and other diseases, such as diarrhoea and pneumonia. All of this training will mean that those who fall sick will have access to treatment closer to their homes and more people will be educated on how to prevent ill health in the first place. As with all AMREF projects, we will be improving the skills of existing health care staff in the local clinics. Early next year we will provide training to improve the quality of care that they offer and infection control, medical waste disposal and drug management services. The training will also strengthen their planning, budgeting and financial monitoring skills.

Lack of clean water increasing diseases, such as diarrhoea and guinea worm

Many villages in Katine have no access to water whatsoever and even for those who do, the water is often unsafe. This is a major factor in the prevalence of diseases, such as diarrhoea and guinea worm, and is therefore an urgent priority. AMREF has worked closely with the local authorities to identify where boreholes need to be built or rehabilitated and has contracted an engineering company to carry out the work. This has taken a considerable amount of time as organisations have to obtain three sets of quotes, to guard against corruption and nepotism. Trained water and sanitation staff are now mobilising community members to take ownership of the water sources and promote better hygiene and sanitation. In January AMREF will train hand pump mechanics so that community members will be able to do their own repairs and maintenance.

Better school environment and more equipment needed

The biggest challenges people identified in the education sector is lack of teaching materials and the poor state of the school buildings. During a recent visit to a school in Katine, the Guardian reported only 15 text books for 68 pupils in a class. Key activities in December will therefore include procurement of national curriculum teaching materials. Later in February, AMREF will start rehabilitating classrooms. Amorikot primary school, which has a few mud and thatch huts for 364 pupils, will be one of the first to benefit.

How will the project be funded?

The Guardian, Observer and Guardian Unlimited are running a three-year appeal with their readers and Barclays has provided an upfront donation of £500,000 to get the project underway and a further £1m in match-funding for donations over the course of the project.

Madeleine Bunting of the Guardian says: "The Guardian sees this as a unique opportunity to deepen the public understanding and debate around aid - how it works and why its needed - through the pages of the paper and in an unprecedented commitment to a dedicated website which offers both moving insights into the lives of Katine villagers and the challenges of an aid project."

Jo Ensor, AMREF UK’s Chief Executive added: "AMREF is delighted that the Guardian has given such prominence to the Katine project, helping AMREF to make a real difference to people’s lives. It has also given us an unprecedented opportunity to bring an African voice into the development debate, and to communicate our approach - empowering the poorest and most marginalised communities to take control of their own health and development – to a global audience."

Susie Cox, Barclays Global Community Partnership Manager says: "Barclays is pleased to be able to provide funding to support this project, but more importantly we are delighted to be working in partnership with AMREF and FARM Africa in Katine, to help communities generate sustainable incomes, to increase their access to financial products and services and to build the capacity of community groups to manage small businesses."

Dr Susan Wandera, the Head of Programmes at the AMREF Uganda country office, visited Katine recently and spoke to people in the community, including Josephine Achen. Sister Josephine, as she is known, is 60 years old and was featured in the original Guardian Katine supplement. She was born in Ochuloi village in Katine sub-county and became a traditional birth attendant (TBA) after she delivered her own baby at home by herself. She is highly respected in the community and supports and trains many other TBAs in Katine.

“Yoga [Hello]”, she says excitedly, as she extends her hand. “You should have told me you were coming, I would have dressed up!” Josephine is proud of her work and clearly has a newfound confidence in her skills and experience. Skilled and motivated midwives are a vital health resource in Uganda, where the maternal mortality rate is very high and more than 1 in 10 children die before their fifth birthday. So far this month Josephine has delivered two babies and referred three mothers to the health centre for specialist pre-natal care.

Providing skills to the community

AMREF recently ran a week long training course for TBAs in Katine. Out of the 26 known TBAs in Katine, AMREF has now trained 19 of them. Josephine participated in this course and when she talks about it, it is clear that she has enjoyed the experience. “This is the only training I have had in 11 years, I learned so much! We were trained on hygiene practices; pregnancy danger signs and when to refer a mother to a health centre; how to use local resources to deliver babies and then how to keep records. We were treated with respect and were even given breakfast, lunch and free accommodation.”

The AMREF training also provides information on how pregnant women can protect themselves from diseases like malaria and encourage their husbands to support them better, as Josephine explains: “I now always advise mothers to get mosquito nets for themselves during pregnancy and for their babies after delivery, I tell them to ask their husbands to get them. I also insist on proper sanitation. AMREF has also brought water closer to us; this means that the deliveries take place in a clean environment”.

The impact of the Katine project

As well as receiving training from AMREF, Josephine explains that her village has been visited by village health teams, who have been teaching them on the importance of good hygiene and proper sanitation in and around the home. A borehole has been drilled nearby and Josephine describes how “less people seem to be getting ill with diseases”. When asked what she would like to say to AMREF and all the people who have donated to the project, she responds: “Tell them”, and here she speaks excitedly in English, “Sister Josephine is greeting you all, thank you!”

If you would like to donate and support the project, please follow the link here.

The sky was heavy with rain. Gunmetal grey streaked with white, distant lightening. Armorikot's big day had come. The village primary school and the heavens were going to open at the same time – and both were going to be equally welcome.

The rains in Katine sub-county in rural Uganda have been capricious all year, beyond the control even of such a faithful community as this. But the school is the result of the tough persistence of a small group of villagers determined to see their children live out lives less perilous than their own.

There's been a community school here – one set up by the local people and mostly funded by them – off and on for twenty years. More off than on, as the terrible sequence of what everyone here calls 'the wars' ebbed and flowed around them.

During the Lord's Resistance Army incursion in 2003, the villagers – spread out across several square miles of open country – fled to Soroti's displaced people's camp and for months relied on inadequate food handouts in squalid surroundings.

This afternoon, as the storm edged closer, Moses Olek, chair of the school management committee, reminded fellow parents how families with educated children had been able to find ways of making enough money to escape the camp. His audience, beginning to tug their wraps around them against the gusty wind, had had nothing, and they were given little more.

How the community led the way

That was when Moses Olek, Faustino Ameca and a small group of others decided they would somehow educate their children, at a school even the youngest could reach. By April 2004 they had somehow managed to find 500,000 Ugandan shillings ($300) to buy a block of land where they could rebuild their school. It is not a large amount of money, but at least 70 of those families are still living on less than a dollar a day. There would have been many more, four years ago.

Encouraged by the district education officer, they built a handful of classrooms, huts really, as well as a school office, and began with about 240 children: now there are 400. But getting their children to school was still a knife-edge struggle for most families. Until the government takes over the running of the school, the parents have to pay for most of the teaching staff, who charge 3,000 shillings – about US$2 – a term.

The charges at the community school made a mockery of the Ugandan government's commitment to universal free primary education. And for someone like Raymond Ereda, it meant educating the ten orphans in his charge (the children of two of his sons) was out of the question.

Hope the project is making a difference

Last year, AMREF chose Armorikot for its first major investment. It was chosen against half a dozen other community villages not only because the need was there, but because of the work the village itself had already done.

In just eight months, and with an investment of nearly 173m shillings, seven classrooms and a small suite of school offices have been built. Less glamorously, but just as importantly, so has an Ecosan pit latrine. If the kids learn about hygiene and sanitation at school, as one of the celebratory speakers said, "then they'll go home and tell the old people about it."

The opening of the school was a great occasion. There was coca-cola. A bullock was slaughtered. There were quite a lot of speeches from almost every tier of Uganda's complex local government. But this was a moment to celebrate the achievement of just 500 families, and it built fittingly to a climax.

Moments before the rain came down, the boss of bosses, chair of the Soroti District Council, self-styled governor Stephen Ochola, gave the school the guarantee it most needed: registration before the end of the year. Free school for the people of Armorikot. As AMREF handed over the keys to the district council, the rains came down. Good news for everyone.

This article was written by Anne Perkins, for the Guardian. 

At 5:30pm, an AMREF Cessna Caravan piloted by Captain Daniel Baton was cleared for take-off. On board were Dr Kizito Osundwa and nurse Kilda Begisen. Both had taken part in countless evacuations, but neither had been involved in a case involving conjoined twins.

After 45 minutes, the light aircraft landed at an airstrip in Tabor Hills, 20km from Nyandarua. An ambulance was waiting nearby, as well as a large crowd of adults and children. On touch down, the AMREF team rushed to the ambulance, where they were briefed on the action taken by the medical team at the hospital and the condition of the patients. The babies were then put into an incubator in the airplane where their condition could be monitored electronically. Their mother, Monica Wairimu, still suffering the after-effects of a caesarian operation, was assisted from the ambulance to the plane and immediately put on a drip. Her husband Elijah Maina accompanied his fragile family.

When everyone had settled in, Captain Baton prepared to take off again. It was 6:45pm. The plane’s rotating propellers pushed the swelling crowd back. Once airborne, an easy calm descended in the cabin. Dr Kizito made sure the twins and their mother were comfortable.

Most rural hospitals are ill-equipped to anticipate or handle emergencies such as this. An obstetric ultra sound scan could easily have detected the nature of the pregnancy, protecting the mother and her children from unnecessary danger. As it is, doctors only got to discover that Monica was having twins after the incision for the Caesarean section was made. They had noticed that the baby’s presentation was peculiar as it was lying across the abdomen rather than head down, prompting them to perform the C-section.

The quick evacuation would ensure that Monica’s babies received the specialised care they needed. As the plane touched down at Wilson Airport, Nairobi at 7:30pm, a waiting Flying Doctors ambulance moved in, ready to whisk them off to the Kenyatta National Hospital.

If you are sharing any of these documents with others please acknowledge AMREF.

Six Month Update

• Six month report
• Six month financial report
• Six month update on activities
• Activity plan for next six months

Start up documents

• Initial community needs assesment
• Conceptual framework
• Baseline survey
• Community baseline survey

To understand more about our commitment to transparency, and about the documents AMREF is sharing, please read our open information policy.

You can also read what Rick Davies, the independent evaluator has to say about the project at his Evaluating Katine blog.

We run, trek, cycle, climb and walk. We do it to save lives in Africa. If you’re looking for a challenge, join us, we’ll be behind you every step of the way.

Test your limits on one of our running, biking or hiking events, enjoy the unique opportunity of visiting an AMREF project before completing one of AMREF’s African Challenges, or even organise your own event.

Whatever you choose to do, have fun, challenge yourself, make new friends, and help AMREF save and transform even more lives in Africa’s poorest communities.

For more information please get in touch with AMREF's events team by emailing events@amrefuk.org or calling 020 7269 5520.

The African health worker crisis is particularly acute in rural and hard to reach areas, in which 80% of Africa’s population live. Consequently, AMREF has chosen to focus on training volunteer community health workers (CHWs). CHWs provide basic health care and education in areas where there is often no access to formal health care.

Whilst CHWs do not have the same abilities as trained doctors or nurses they are trained to recognise and refer more complicated cases. AMREF also ensures CHWs are linked to formal health centres and hospitals. This is essential not only to ensure quality and consistency of care but also to avoid creating a two-tiered health system To ensure their knowledge is relevant and up-to-date, AMREF also provides CHWs with regular refresher courses.

Being trained as a CHW brings an individual a great deal of respect. However, AMREF also provides other incentives such as bicycles, to ensure that the CHWs are rewarded for their efforts and remain satisfied with their roles.
Each year, AMREF trains more than 10,000 CHWs.

Projects and stories

• Afar malaria control and prevention, Ethiopia
• Mukaranga water and sanitation, Tanzania

• Q. What is Gift Aid? 

• A. Gift Aid is tax relief on money donated to UK charities.  

• Q. What does it mean?

• A. You can increase the value of your support to AMREF, at no cost to yourself, by allowing us to claim the tax back on your donations.

• Q. How do I do it?

• A. If you are a UK taxpayer, simply 'Gift Aid' your donations and increase your support of AMREF's life saving work. For every £10 given, AMREF can claim back an extra £2.80. That’s almost 30% on the value of your gifts to us. All you need to do is make sure you tick the box on our donate pages when you make your gift.

• Q. Do I qualify?

• A. To qualify for Gift Aid you must pay an amount of income tax or capital gains tax equal to the tax we reclaim on your donations, currently 28p for every £1 you give. Please let us know if your tax status changes.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact us: 020 7269 5520 supporterservices@amrefuk.org

“The supporter group provides the perfect opportunity to get more involved with AMREF as well as keeping me up to date with what is going on. It is great to be part of an enthusiastic group of people who all have different skills, ideas and expertise.” Harriett Begg.

AMREF is delighted to be working with a dynamic supporter group. The group is made up of enthusiastic professionals living in London who are keen to get more closely involved with AMREF’s work. The main aims of the supporter group are to raise AMREF’s profile in the UK and to fundraise. The group has set themselves an ambitious fundraising target to support AMREF’s life saving work.

Harriett Begg is one of the founding members of the group. “For me AMREF stands for everything I look for in a charity. An African charity working with communities to improve their lives.”

For more information please get in touch with AMREF's events team by emailing events@amrefuk.org or calling 020 7269 5520.

UBS is the world's largest wealth manager, a top-tier investment bank, a leading global asset manager, and the market leader in Swiss retail and commercial banking. UBS is present in all major financial centers worldwide. It employs over 80,000 people and operates in more than 50 countries.

AMREF and UBS

UBS has partnered with AMREF for the past five years and is committed to supporting better health in Africa.

One of the initiatives UBS supports is the MEMA Kwa Vijana sexual health education project in the Mwanza region of Tanzania, which targets 500,000 school children aged 12-19. Another is AMREF’s malaria project in the Afar region of Ethiopia which benefited from employee donations from UBS’s Children’s Seasonal Party in 2005.

In addition to financial assistance, AMREF UK’s fundraising team is involved in mentoring relationships with the client services team at UBS Wealth Management.

"UBS’ Community Affairs programme focuses on educational initiatives that train the trainers and widen access to education. The firm supports AMREF on projects that provide African communities with the knowledge and means to protect their health. Teaching local people to help their communities and educate others not only saves lives but it also creates employment prospects for the trainers.

"Employees at UBS are so supportive of AMREF’s work that some have chosen to run marathons on AMREF’s behalf. In particular, staff members are impressed by AMREF’s capacity to communicate with community leaders and patients themselves, so that projects are implemented from within the community. This adds credibility to the new hygiene practices and facilitates the sustainability of AMREF’s excellent, life saving educational work."

Patsy Francis, Director, Corporate Responsibility and Community Affairs

Employee involvement

UBS employees Adam Williams and Bamidele Aly climbed Kilimanjaro in 2005 to raise money for AMREF. They then visited an AMREF health project in the Maasai village of Kajiado in Kenya. Here they were able to meet some of the people who had benefited from AMREF’s life saving work and see the impact of their own fundraising efforts.

“The AMREF Kilimanjaro Challenge was one of the most physically and mentally demanding projects we have ever undertaken,” said Adam, “but visiting the community which will benefit from the money we raised made it all worthwhile,” Adam Williams

Click here if you would like to take part in an AMREF African Challenge and visit an AMREF project

Michael Buerk, well-known former BBC newsreader and foreign correspondent, will present a BBC Radio 4 Appeal for AMREF on Thursday July 19th. The appeal focuses on AMREF’s work in Ethiopia, the country which first linked Michael Buerk to AMREF.

Michael Buerk’s award-winning reports on the famine in 1984/5 led to a massive international relief effort, saving thousands of lives. He returned there in 1991 and following an explosion in an ammunitions dump, was evacuated to safety by AMREF. He has been a loyal supporter of AMREF ever since.

For the appeal, Michael Buerk tells the story of Hasena Humed, who, like him, also brought up twins. He tells Hasena’s story in her own words:

“My twin daughters died when they were only two years old. I didn’t know what was wrong with them, they were both very ill and I was weak with a fever. So I carried them for two days to the nearest health centre, walking as fast as I could…. When I arrived, the nurse told me it was too late to treat their malaria.” He adds: ”I also have twins and can just imagine her pain.”

Michael Buerk then describes how AMREF is helping to stop these needless deaths by bringing health care closer to those who need it most: “Just because people live in remote rural areas of Africa doesn’t mean they should struggle to find basic health care."

He explains how AMREF has been saving and transforming people’s lives in Africa for the last 50 years and asks people to help AMREF to save thousands more.

AMREF is delighted to be awarded a BBC Radio 4 Appeal, to raise more funds for its vital life saving work in Africa. Craig Pollard, AMREF’s fundraising manager said: “This gives us an amazing opportunity to promote our work to a large and diverse audience.”

AMREF was awarded a BBC Radio 4 Appeal in 2003, also read by Michael Buerk, which raised more than £33,000. Craig adds: “We hope that this appeal will equal or even surpass the previous one, allowing us to save and transform thousands more lives in Africa.”

The appeal will be broadcast on:
Thursday 19th July at 3.27pm
BBC Radio 4: 92-94 FM, 198 Long Wave , or listen again online.

“AMREF’s work has a lasting impact – a life saving one. I certainly owe them my life. They rescued me after I was caught in a violent explosion, alongside my film crew in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

“But that is not why I lend them my support. I have seen AMREF in action. Their practical, inclusive approach to health care makes an amazing difference to millions of people in Africa.

“They see helping disadvantaged communities improve their own health as a real chance for them to excape poverty once and for all. I can think of no better legacy to pass on to Africa’s children than that.

“Africa’s people want a better future for themselves. With one simple action you too can help them to achieve their dream. Please put AMREF in your Will.”

When making or updating your will, you don’t have to choose between giving to charity or to your family because you can remember both. As a charity, AMREF is exempt from paying Inheritance Tax, making this a very tax-effective way of giving.

“For me, the important thing to do after taking care of my own family and friends is to try to make the lives of those still living, more hopeful. That’s why I’m leaving a legacy to AMREF in my Will.” Anne Allport, Legacy Pledger.

It isn’t complicated to arrange to leave a legacy to AMREF, one of our team will be happy to help you through every step. Call us on 020 7269 5520 or email supportercare@amrefuk.org.

AMREF is a member of ‘Remember A Charity’ which provides advice and a free Will writing service. You may have seen the television and press advertising featuring Michael Buerk about leaving a gift to charity in your will. Click the link above to find out more.

We are no longer taking orders for christmas cards.

AMREF would like to apologise to those of you who have been disappointed by the Christmas card ordering process this year. Please be reassured that this was due to implementing a new process with an external supplier for the first time. We have taken steps to ensure that this does not happen again. If you have experienced problems with your order AMREF will be happy to refund your donation. We hope that this will not damage your perception of AMREF and that you will continue to support our life saving work, which we could not do without you. 

Thanks again for your continued support.

UK communities also play a vital role in fundraising to support these projects.

AMREF is keen to work with a variety of community groups from all over the UK.

Why not get involved and help some of Africa’s poorest communities gain access to better health care.

AMREF has been building healthier communities for 50 years in some of the poorest and most remote areas of Africa.  Through our supporter groups we hope to spread the word about the life saving work we do.  Contact us to find out about a supporter group in your area and help us to raise our profile and vital funds.

It costs as little as £5 to provide a family with a treated mosquito net, providing protection for 5 years from a disease that kills 3,000 children every day. It only takes a small effort to make a big difference.

For more information please get in touch with AMREF by emailing events@amrefuk.org or calling 020 7269 5520.

Your support will enable AMREF to continue saving and transforming lives in some of Africa’s poorest and most marginalised communities.

You can donate to AMREF by giving either a single gift or a regular gift. Setting up a regular gift with direct debit is the most efficient and cost effective way to support AMREF and enable us to plan for the future with greater confidence.

On average, for every £1 you donate in the UK:

83p goes directly to fund our health programmes in Africa

13p is invested to generate future income and to provide technical support to AMREF in Africa

5p is spent on governance, administration and office running costs

For more information please get in touch with AMREF by emailing supportercare@amrefuk.org or calling 020 7269 5520.

Mount Kilimanjaro stands 5,896 metres above sea level and is Africa’s highest peak, the world’s tallest freestanding mountain and an inactive volcano. Could you think of a more fitting challenge to complete in aid of AMREF’s work in Africa?

West Ham and England goalkeeper Robert Green tackled Mount Kilimanjaro, to raise funds for AMREF’s life saving work, here's what he had to say about the experience:.

“Climbing Kilimanjaro for AMREF was by far the most demanding but rewarding thing I have ever done”, Robert Green

Why not challenge yourself to follow in Robert’s footsteps and take on this once in a life time experience?

Available Challenge Dates:

3rd – 14th December 2008
14th - 25th January 2009
10th – 21st June 2009
16th - 27th September 2009

Challenge Summary

Day 1 Depart UK to Nairobi, Kenya
Day 2 Arrive Nairobi. Travel to West Kilimanjaro. Camp
Day 3 Rainforest Trek (2,804m). Camp
Day 4 Trek to Shira (3,720m). Camp
Day 5 Trek along the Shira Plateau (3,720m). Camp
Day 6 Southern Flank (4,400m). Camp
Day 7 Trek along the Barranco Wall & Karanga valley (4,270m). Camp
Day 8 Barafu Ridge trek (4,876m). Camp
Day 9 Summit day (5,895m). Camp
Day 10 Descend to Mweka Gate (1,525m). Lodge
Day 11 Depart Nairobi to UK
Day 12 Arrive UK

The Kilimanjaro climb is a trek of environmental extremes. Beginning in the rainforests of Lemosho Glades, the route heads upwards as you acclimatise on the Shira Plateau. From here you will catch the first sight of your goal; Kibo, Kilimanjaro’s beautiful main ice-capped peak. You then continue along the Southern Flank, ascending the rocky Barranco Wall which has attractive vistas of Kibo. Finally you trek the Barafu Ridge and camp before your summit ascent very early the next morning.

Most groups of trekkers reach the summit, but don’t underestimate the challenge ahead. This trek is not for the faint-hearted as the final day, including 1,000m of ascent and over 2,000m of descent, should prove to be a stiff test of your endurance.

Mount Kilimanjaro is a mountain where you can hike for more than 90 kilometres, gain 4000 metres in altitude, traverse rain forest, moorland, alpine desert, snow fields and ice cliffs, all virtually on the equator! It is a truly unforgettable and fascinating adventure.

AMREF Project visit

For larger groups AMREF can arrange a project visit to coincide with your trip. Just get in touch and we’ll see what we can do! Following such an exhilarating climb with a visit to an AMREF project is to complete a quite magical journey; from pushing your body to its limits on Africa’s highest peak, to seeing for yourself what your sponsorship money is helping to achieve. (Please note that the AMREF project visit will add up to two days onto the end of the itinerary above).

For more information or to book your place please get in touch by emailing events@amrefuk.org or calling 020 7269 5520.

Ever wanted to do something out of the ordinary?  Participate in an African challenge, and get the opportunity to visit an AMREF project...

In 2008, AMREF is giving you the unique opportunity to combine an adventure challenge in Africa and visit an AMREF health development project, where you will see the difference your sponsorship money is making in Africa.

The 2008 overseas challenge events will give you a once in a lifetime opportunity to see another side of life in Africa. What are you waiting for? Go for it!

Click here for other AMREF challenges in Asia and South America.  Click here for a full list of challenges you can take part in.

When Dr Willis Akwahle was appointed a District Medical Officer in 1993, he was elated but very apprehensive. “I went straight from being a medical officer in a surgical ward to managing medical services in an entire district. It was a totally different world. I was not prepared for it, and I learnt how to do the job mostly by accident.”

Like Dr Akwahle, who is now the director of Kenya’s Malaria Programme, many appointments to management positions of health institutions in Africa are made on the basis of professional qualifications in medicine rather than managerial competence.

Dr Peter Ngatia, Director of Capacity Building at AMREF, notes that although health care in Africa has become a multi-million dollar endeavour, those charged with leading health institutions have little or no formal preparation in management. Yet quality management and leadership are vital for the delivery of basic health care and attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.

 “Health managers are crucial to pooling together the meagre resources available to African health systems to be able to deliver effective health care. They must be given the know-how and competencies to enable them to do this. As it is, with 25 per cent of the global burden of disease, 15 per cent of resources and three per cent of health workers, African health systems are characterised by less resources, more illness, and managers who are ill-prepared for the role they are supposed to undertake. Is it any wonder that our health institutions are not functional?” said Dr Ngatia.

How to meet the need

A study done by AMREF in Liberia, he said, had found that management and leadership skills are needed by health managers at all levels – from national right down to community level. “We must make leadership and management training part of the basic curriculum for health professionals to give them skills and competencies in planning and implementation of health services, management of resource, external relations, policy formulation and implementation and resource mobilisation."

To address the situation, AMREF has partnered with the University of California in Los Angeles’s (UCLA’s) Anderson School of Management, Johnson&Johnson (J&J) and the Global Business School Network (GBSN) to create a management development programme for managers and leaders of African HIV/AIDS organisations.

The Management Development Institute (MDI) will provide a one-week intensive programme designed to enhance the management skills of the managers of organisations devoted to the care, treatment and support of people and families living with HIV. Dr Victor Tabbush, Director of the institute and a professor at the Anderson School of Management, said formation of MDI arose from a need caused by the massive scale-up of ARVs, which provides many challenges in provision and management, particularly with the need to diversify health services at district level in Africa.

To find out more about AMREF's achievements in 2007, and some of the programmes we are running across Africa, you can download a copy of AMREF UK's 2007 Annual Review. Please click on the image below, or if you would like a paper copy please contact the UK office on 0207 269 5520 or email info@amrefuk.org

 

Robert Green, the West Ham and England goalkeeper, teamed up with AMREF to organise a series of unique events to raise money for AMREF this summer.  His events attracted a wide range of sporting enthusiasts from keen golfers to West Ham supporters.  AMREF would like to thank everyone involved for helping to make Robert's 2008 events such a resounding sucess.

If you would like to be involved with Robert's 2009 events contact us by emailing events@amrefuk.org and we'll keep you updated on upcoming events.

Robert Green's Kilimanjaro Climb (20th June -1st July 2008)

Robert took on the challenge of climbing Africa's highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and raised over £8,000 for AMREF. 

Why not challenge yourself to follow in Robert’s footsteps and take on a once in a life time experience? Click here to find out more about the wide range of fantastic challenges we offer.

The 'GK Open' Golf Day (7th May 2008)

Robert Green hosted a round of golf on the International Course of the London Club, home of the 2008 European Open. Read here to find out more about the day.

The Boleyn Cup (12th May 2008)

10 teams realised their dream of playing football on a Premiership football pitch.

The inaugural five-a-side football tournament, was held at West Ham's Boleyn Ground, better known as Upton Park. Robert Green was in attendance to support the teams as they fought for the trophy.

The Katine Project, AMREF’s groundbreaking joint venture with the Guardian and Observer newspapers and Barclays, is less than a year old, but the infrastructure that will enable its success is now in place: AMREF has built up strong relationships with members of the community and local government; skilled development staff have been recruited and an office set up in Katine; an initial needs assessment and a baseline survey, which have identified the community’s development needs, have been carried out.

This approach involves the people who live in Katine in the decisions that affect their lives and ensures that their views help to decide the priorities of the project. As a result, significant progress has already been made in the key areas of health, education, water and sanitation, livelihoods and community empowerment. Here are some of the highlights:

Health

• During April, hundreds of children in 13 Katine primary schools have been immunised against TB, polio, measles, hepatitis B, diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus; stopping children dying from these deadly but easily preventable diseases
• Nearly 1,000 insecticide-treated nets have been distributed to households with children under 5 years of age, preventing children dying needlessly from malaria
• Village Health Teams (VHT) from 41 villages in the Katine region have been trained and 130 bicycles have been supplied to VHTs, so they can reach remote and vulnerable families
  

Education

• Work has begun on building 7 new classrooms, hygienic latrines and a school office at Amorikot community primary school; the first steps towards better primary education in Katine
• 41 teachers from 4 schools have received training in the promotion of personal hygiene and sanitation, to prevent children falling ill through waterborne diseases
• AMREF have held workshops to encourage female teachers to become role models for girls in primary schools, which will help increase the number of girls finishing their primary school education
  

Water & Sanitation

• 5 boreholes have been rehabilitated and 8 boreholes have been successfully drilled, providing clean water to hundreds of Katine households
• 3 water pump mechanics have been trained and equipped to maintain Katine’s boreholes
• The five schools at most risk of water shortage have been fitted with large 10,000 litre rainwater harvesting tanks for clean drinking water and hand washing
  

Livelihoods

• Farming technology needs and priorities have been identified. Cassava and groundnuts (peanuts) have been identified as key crops which could produce a higher yield and sell for a better price in the markets, ensuring farmers can make a living and that their families have enough food to eat
• 18 livelihoods groups have been formed by local farmers, with democratically elected leadership, ensuring community participation
  

Community Empowerment

• AMREF has held discussions with partners to develop key messages from the Village Health Teams to be broadcast in radio programmes, improving referral rates to clinics

• AMREF has collated and prepared materials to share with local government on communication and education needs in Katine, this will encourage long-term government support and engagement with the project

You can read more about the progress of the project to date in our six month update, which was sent to the project's donors.

He writes that 'the international community can help to make a real difference in Africa.' Too often our perceptions of Africa are framed by the press coverage of the political situation in Zimbabwe for example, rather than reflecting the real progress towards peace, democracy and economic growth.

Douglas Alexander writes compellingly that 'It is morally right to help our global neighbours free themselves from the shackles of extreme poverty. But in today's world, with climate change, migration, international crime and terror – it is also in our self-interest. As the credit crunch, the food crisis and the rise of the price of oil remind us, in today's world no country can isolate itself from global pressures. By supporting poor countries to become stable and effective states, we contribute to the emergence of global solutions.'

 AMREF, through its partnership with the Guardian and Observer newspapers and Barclays, is working to make a difference in Africa through the project in the Ugandan sub-county of Katine. You can read more about the issues the project is tackling here, with recent updates on the project's work tackling child health.