African Mission Annual Report 2021-2022 AFRU¢AN MllS$OON IUXIAPIDSRIIE sroFbl The Aim of African Mission is ‘to fight disease and poverty in Africa by supporting educational and medical projects’. **Background:** African Mission began in 2003 to support the work of Dr Ray Towey MB ChB FRCA. Dr Towey left his post as a Consultant Anaesthetist in Guys Hospital, London to work in Africa and since 1993 has dedicated his life to the improvement of health care for the poor in Africa. He has worked as an Anaesthetist in rural hospitals in Nigeria and Tanzania and since 2002 in St Mary’s Hospital, Gulu, Uganda. In Uganda Dr Towey has been involved in the training of anaesthetic officers, nurses, and medical students over that time. He is now a part time volunteer and is focusing in the development of the intensive care ward, measuring the outcomes of specific diseases amenable to intensive care in rural Africa, sustaining the equipment for respiratory support, working to improve intensive care nursing and researching the data to indicate the effectiveness and sustainability of appropriate inexpensive intensive care in rural sub-Saharan Africa. In July 2009 following a visit to Zimbabwe by Nannette & Dr Towey, African Mission decided to expand its work to include supporting projects based in Zimbabwe. The main Zimbabwean project supported is Fatima Mission based in rural Zimbabwe, approximately 130 miles north of Bulawayo and a similar distance south of Victoria Falls. Practically everyone living within Fatima Mission’s boundaries are poor subsistence farmers. It has 16 primary schools, 5 secondary schools, a clinic and a project for disabled children within its boundaries. ## **CONTENTS** Aims, Background, Contents & Trustees ………………………………….. Page 2 Fatima Mission…………………………………………………………………Pages 3-4 Dr Ray Towey…………………………………………….……………...…….Pages 5-6 African Mission 21-22 Accounts……………………………………………... Page 7 ## **African Mission Trustees** : Tony Charlton, Nannette Ffrench, Pat Flood, Bernadette Hunt & Ray Towey **African Mission 12 Melior Street London SE1 3QP Tele: 020 7357 9363 Email: office@africanmission.org.uk www.africanmission.org.uk www.facebook.com/AfricanMissionUK Registered Charity 1099264** 2 ## **Fatima Mission** Fatima Mission is a large mission based in rural Zimbabwe. The majority of those living within its boundaries are poor subsistence farmers reliant on Maize, Chomolia (a green vegetable) and a few cows, goats or chickens as their only source of food. **----- Start of picture text -----**
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The mission is run by a Roman Catholic order of Franciscan priests known as The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin or Capuchins for short. It has a church, a pastoral centre, a number of primary and secondary schools, a clinic and a project for disabled young people within its boundaries. Fr Jeya Muthusami has been the Priest-in-Charge of Fatima Mission since 2005 and Fr Tendai Dubet has been his Associate Priest, working alongside him since March 2022. Fr Tendai writes of his experience of Fatima below. The most isolated group living within Fatima Mission were those young people who had a disability. By and large they were regarded as a burden, with a very bleak future ahead of them. Fr Jeya felt that an education, even a basic one, would improve their life chances. In 2011, with the help of African Mission, he set up a residential project where this could be achieved. The project which began with 6 disabled young people in 2011 has now grown to accommodate 19 young people and 3 blind adults this year. Of these 19 young people; 8 are deaf & mute, 5 are visually impaired, 4 are blind, 1 has Down Syndrome and 1 is physically handicapped. Many of the young people were being looked after by a single parent or a relative, many of whom are in poor health and living in poverty. They live at the project during term time and attend a nearby school. As elsewhere in the world, Covid has impacted Zimbabwe also. In 2020 all schools were closed from April to the end of September. In 2021 they were closed throughout January & February and again from mid-June to mid-July. The third term began as scheduled in September. In 2022 the new school year was delayed by a month and began in February rather than January. Throughout this period African Mission has paid the school fees and living costs for the 19 young people and 3 blind adults living at the project. It costs £510 per year to cover the costs of one young person’s school fees and living costs. In addition to this we also covered the costs for musical instruments and computer equipment for the recently built activities centre. In 21-22 African Mission helped Fatima Mission by: - Covering the costs of Fr Jeya’s internet - Covering the school fees & living costs for those living at Fatima - Providing musical instruments - Providing computer equipment (see above photo) 3 - Covering the costs of a new trickle irrigation system - Paid for 200 new chairs for the activities centre - Covered the costs of reapinting the pastoral centre and replacing broken doors ## **Fr. Tendai (Associate Priest at Fatima Mission) writes:** In this world where indifference, acts of terror and war, neglect, and a number of societal ills have become the norm of the day, African Mission continues to take strides towards solidarity, love and empowerment, ensuring that someone out there does not only have the right to basic needs such as food, shelter and education but that they may have skills for life through the support rendered to children with special needs. The Covid pandemic showed us how we are related and all vulnerable as a people. Letting one suffer or remain on the margins of our society simply means risking the entire human family. I was ordained February this year and was privileged to work within Fatima Mission, as an Associate priest with Fr Jeya. In my little experience over the past few months, I have nothing but words of gratitude for the works the African Mission is doing for the special children at the Pastoral Centre. African Mission has helped the Pastoral Centre to become a hub of activities for our special children. The completion of a number of projects which includes the library, computer and music room, solar energy system, painting of the dormitories, tables and chairs have brought a new lease of life. They now have space and time to acquaint themselves with musical instruments, computers and the books in the library. A new fence in the field has been put in to prevent animals gaining access in our field. The drip irrigation materials have been bought, awaiting delivery and installation of the drip system which will save water and enhance more production. This will go a long way because we are in region that generally receives low rainfall. We will be able henceforth to make use of the system before, during and after the rain season. Most of the young people are eager to learn and acquire skills, thereby making good use of the instruments. Of recent I have come to realize some of their musical affections and talents such that some call themselves musicians. Oscar (blind) wowed the crowds last term when he sung at school during a ceremony which was attend by the Education Minister. He has henceforth referred to himself as “ _Wamangoma_ ” which means that he is a musician. _Mangoma_ is a unique Zimbabwean genre, so common and loved by the young these days. We also have Praise who is a fast learner when it comes to playing instruments. Besides teaching them physical and moral education, we have also introduced some kids to computers. Some are able to type and save on their own. However, we are yet to install other programs to enable the blind to be able to operate them as well. This year Fatima Mission marks 75 years of its existence since its inception. As we celebrate this jubilee we acknowledge and thank Fr Jeya and all those who preceded him in this work of serving the people of God. Fr Jeya has worked here for nearly two decades. This make him the longest serving member in this mission after Zimbabwean independence. His love for the mission and especially the children is immense. We also would like to recognize and express our gratitude to African Mission for supporting us in helping our children with special needs. Our journey together stretched a number of years back. With your help we have managed to extend our dimension of ministry. This, moreover, is in line with our charism which calls us to reach-out to the less privileged. Thank you and stay blessed. 4 ## **Dr Ray Towey** (part time since 2008). & Dr Towey has volunteered at St Mary’s Hospital Lacor, Gulu, Uganda since 2002 (part time since 2008). He had previously been in Tanzania for 8 years. St Mary’s is a not for profit, church supported, general hospital of 476 beds in northern Uganda which is a very deprived post conflict zone. For many years it had a small four-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) near the operating theatre, which was upgraded to an eight-bed unit. Since 2002 Dr Towey has been involved in the training of anaesthetic officers, nurses, and medical students. He is now a part time volunteer and is focusing in the development of the intensive care ward. In the 21-22 financial year African Mission has assisted St Mary’s Hospital in the following ways: - By purchasing medical equipment which included pulse oximeters, laryngoscopes, intubation stylets, oxygen masks, tracheostomy & inner tubes, and catheters (£9,736 including shipping costs) - By paying the course fees and living costs for a nurse (£936) - By paying the school fees & living costs of a child living with an ongoing medical condition (£348) - The printing & purchasing of ‘Safe Anaesthesia' books (£170 - By paying for tools for the hospital’s maintenance engineer (£135) ## **Dr Towey writes:** Over the last 2 years the issue which has been dominating our assistance to Uganda has been of course the Covid-19 pandemic and how it would impact on a rural sub-Saharan Africa country already in severe poverty with poor health structures. As I write this now in September 2022 the worst fears of the Covid-19 pandemic did not materialise as severely as we thought it might in Uganda. It is always very difficult in Africa to get good reliable data but it would seem from different sources that although Uganda has suffered many thousands of deaths from Covid-19 it has not impacted as severely as it did in Europe and North America. There were several hundred excess deaths recorded in the hospital but now the Covid ward is closed and the worst of the pandemic seems to have passed. A possible cause of this is that in Africa much of the population are of a young age group and therefore more resilient to this viral infection even when infected. It was clear from the beginning that oxygen was the most valuable treatment for Covid-19 and the hospital had already a strong capacity of oxygen stores. Even still at the height of the pandemic these stores were put under severe strain. We have to thank the skilled engineers for maintaining this supply. Even at the best of times the logistics of supplying medical equipment to Africa is daunting and African Mission was very much focused in the first instance of getting a 5 good supply of high concentration oxygen masks for the ICU and Covid Ward. These were gratefully received and made a substantial impact on how the clinicians could treat the low oxygen levels which Covid-19 causes. At the same time the usual need to supply oxygen to small babies in the neonatal unit was still a priority and the small nasal oxygen catheters required for these babies are difficult to obtain in Uganda. We were able to maintain these supplies also and able to support the clinicians treating these critically ill neonates. In many ways the setback of Covid-19 has delayed for some years the progress that might have been made during these pandemic years and it now a time to build back the capacity to manage critically ill patients. I thank all the donors that give us the ability to support the health workers who have struggled during these difficult years. God bless you, Ray Towey **----- Start of picture text -----**
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6 ## **AFRICAN MISSION 21-22 ACCOUNTS** **Year ended 31st March 2022** **Year ended 31st March 2021** |**Receipts**|||| |---|---|---|---| |Donations|47173||60719| |Interest received|0||0| ||-----------||------------| |**Total Receipts**||47173|60719| |**Expenditure**|||| |Medical/educational|||| |Uganda|10532||5806| |Zimbabwe|27075||38624| ||-----------||------------| ||37607||38784| |Administration|||| |Office costs|380||1210| |Fundraising|0||171| |Salaries|7132||7950| |Travel|0||0| ||-----------||------------| ||7512||9331| |**Total expenditure**||45119|53761| |**Receipts less**|||| |**expenditure**||2054|6958| ||**Year ended**||**Year ended**| ||**31st March 2022**||**31st March 2021**| |Cash at bank|8073||10442| |Debtors|4229||| ||-----------||------------| ||12302||10442| |Liabilities|409||603| ||-----------||------------| ||11893||9839| |Reserves|9839||2881| |Surplus/ deficit|||| |for year|2054||6958| ||-----------||------------| ||11893||9839| 7 AFRICAN MISSION R•yl¥twvd Charfty Ilo. 1099284 ACCOUn￿n9 Stst•m•nt IRoeelpts and poymenls bg*hl {All incom• r•c•lv•d wa* unr••Irlc￿l For the year •nd•d 31•t M•rch 2022 Y￿r •nthd 31st March 2022 Yg•r gnded 31#t Alarch 2021 ROc￿p1* Oonations Interest r8e•l￿d 47173 &J719 Total RKdpts 47173 719 Exp•ndlturn MedKaVeduc•thNwl Uganda "mbalhve 27075 38624 37807 AdMIn￿tratiC Offts cost$ Fundraising Salaries Travel 1210 171 7950 7132 7512 9331 Total •XP￿d{tUrn 45119 53781 R•c•lpts Its• •xpndlttn Charlton. Treasfftr Independenl examw , CHQIsTI AFRICAN MISSION R•g18t•Y•d Charlty No. 11)99264 end•d 31•t •Aar¢h 21)22 Y￿r wd•d 31•t March 2021 Stat¢m6rt of assets #nd l￿b*S Cash ai bank D•btorB 8073 10442 10442 Lk8bilit 11893 9839 Reserves Surp1￿ de for 9839 Report to the trustees ofAfrtsn on y8ar eTrknJ 31st Marc* 2022. As thè chan￿& trustees arè re5wjnsl￿ ts the preparal¥on of the accwnts". you con5hler Ihat the audit r8quit￿ent of sectbn 43121 ol the Charrt*s Act 1993 (the Adl doe5 not 8rth. 11 is my responSib￿ty to stsle. on the basts ol woc*dvres the General DireL1K)ns gr¥en by the Charity Commissthers uwth ae¢tM)n 4I7)Ibl of Iht matt*s have to my attenthjn. 8a6is of indep￿id￿nI repxi Kty e￿mIna￿On was carrwl oul in acCo￿ance wilh the Gelwal [i￿a￿S gN•n ty the Chaity Commi85K•ners. An examin3t￿ ￿￿￿deS 8 revw of the a￿ount￿l9 recThds kepl by ihe thariy and a comparison of Ihe x¢))unts w•sèntsd ￿1th those recL¥d$. It akn ccffisid¥ation of •ny unusual rtems or d￿knuTe in the accoun15, and seekry expknal¥)n Irom yw as tnjstees cone8mmg ary suc* matters. I￿OcedUreS undertaken do noi provvJe all thts ev￿le￿ that wouhl bè required in an audrt. and eonsequentty I do Tr)t expr￿ an audrt Or￿1￿>Tr on Ihe vi gnien ty the accounts. Independent oxamine¢5 StaterTrenl 111 ￿1th gNes rne reasonablè cau¥e to believe Ihat ￿ any matwial respeds tho requwerner . to keap records in acc(Kdanc* wilh 8e(Xion 41 of AL?." and r¢qu*rements olth• kl. have not t)e8n met. ol the accounts to be rea(*ed. IndepeThJent examffi .( Wil STI= . Acc AFRICAN MISSION R•yl¥twvd Charfty Ilo. 1099284 ACCOUn￿n9 Stst•m•nt IRoeelpts and poymenls bg*hl {All incom• r•c•lv•d wa* unr••Irlc￿l For the year •nd•d 31•t M•rch 2022 Y￿r •nthd 31st March 2022 Yg•r gnded 31#t Alarch 2021 ROc￿p1* Oonations Interest r8e•l￿d 47173 &J719 Total RKdpts 47173 719 Exp•ndlturn MedKaVeduc•thNwl Uganda "mbalhve 27075 38624 37807 AdMIn￿tratiC Offts cost$ Fundraising Salaries Travel 1210 171 7950 7132 7512 9331 Total •XP￿d{tUrn 45119 53781 R•c•lpts Its• •xpndlttn Charlton. Treasfftr Independenl examw , CHQIsTI AFRICAN MISSION R•g18t•Y•d Charlty No. 11)99264 end•d 31•t •Aar¢h 21)22 Y￿r wd•d 31•t March 2021 Stat¢m6rt of assets #nd l￿b*S Cash ai bank D•btorB 8073 10442 10442 Lk8bilit 11893 9839 Reserves Surp1￿ de for 9839 Report to the trustees ofAfrtsn on y8ar eTrknJ 31st Marc* 2022. As thè chan￿& trustees arè re5wjnsl￿ ts the preparal¥on of the accwnts". you con5hler Ihat the audit r8quit￿ent of sectbn 43121 ol the Charrt*s Act 1993 (the Adl doe5 not 8rth. 11 is my responSib￿ty to stsle. on the basts ol woc*dvres the General DireL1K)ns gr¥en by the Charity Commissthers uwth ae¢tM)n 4I7)Ibl of Iht matt*s have to my attenthjn. 8a6is of indep￿id￿nI repxi Kty e￿mIna￿On was carrwl oul in acCo￿ance wilh the Gelwal [i￿a￿S gN•n ty the Chaity Commi85K•ners. An examin3t￿ ￿￿￿deS 8 revw of the a￿ount￿l9 recThds kepl by ihe thariy and a comparison of Ihe x¢))unts w•sèntsd ￿1th those recL¥d$. It akn ccffisid¥ation of •ny unusual rtems or d￿knuTe in the accoun15, and seekry expknal¥)n Irom yw as tnjstees cone8mmg ary suc* matters. I￿OcedUreS undertaken do noi provvJe all thts ev￿le￿ that wouhl bè required in an audrt. and eonsequentty I do Tr)t expr￿ an audrt Or￿1￿>Tr on Ihe vi gnien ty the accounts. Independent oxamine¢5 StaterTrenl 111 ￿1th gNes rne reasonablè cau¥e to believe Ihat ￿ any matwial respeds tho requwerner . to keap records in acc(Kdanc* wilh 8e(Xion 41 of AL?." and r¢qu*rements olth• kl. have not t)e8n met. ol the accounts to be rea(*ed. IndepeThJent examffi .( Wil STI= . Acc