African Mi Annual Re 2023-20 sion ort Mll$$llON 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 22-23 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. 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 young people with special needs within its boundaries. Fr Jeya Muthusami has been the Priest-in-Charge of Fatima Mission since 2002. Fr Tendai Dubet came to Fatima in March 2022 and Fr Itai Mangenda arrived in October this year (2024). In the 23-24 financial year African Mission has assisted Fatima Mission in the following ways: - We covered the school fees and living costs for the 23 special needs young people living at Fatima Mission (£13,745) - Covered the cost of Fr Jeya’s internet (£650) - Replaced the four solar geyser tubes required for hot water (£2,646) - Bought a 75’’ TV (£775) - Paid the costs of a new Chicken coop (£4,159) ## **Fr. Jeya writes:** _Firstly I would like to thank African Mission for the great contribution you have made to the growth of the 21 special needs children [_ 10 of whom are deaf and mute, 2 completely blind, 3 suffer from Myopia (short-sightedness), 3 have wry Down Syndrome and 2 are physically handicapped (one of whom has also difficulty in speaking) and 1 is visually impaired] _living at Fatima Mission. During this year’s drought the children came to the mission before school began as there was no food at home. The children always look forward to Saturdays and Sundays, both the visually impaired and those who are mute. This is when they can watch the 75 inch TV bought by African Mission. They enjoy watching soccer. One of the mute children plays in the school’s soccer team. The TV is kept in the Activities Centre. The children enjoy studying in the Activities Centre as it has very good facilities._ _Three of our children are writing their final form four exams. Three of our mute children have completed their primary school education and have now started their secondary school education. These children will be going to Harare to take part in a sign language competition. Before coming to Fatima the thought of going to the Capital to participate in such a competition would have been beyond their wildest dreams. Last year they participated in a national level quiz competitions. Some of the visually impaired children read the Bible in front of the whole church. It was a great surprise to many people to see visually impaired children reading so well in front of such a big crowd. By supporting these children you have lit a candle in their lives which God willing will continue to burn throughout their lives._ _There are many severe power cuts throughout Zimbabwe but because of the installation of a solar powered system we avoid such power cuts. This is also true when it comes to our water supply._ 3 _We have a constant supply of water as it is pumped from the borehole using solar power. Thanks to African Mission paying for the costs of a solar powered system we have a reliable electricity supply and constant water too. During feast days the children enjoy the music_ _system, singing and dancing and playing the drums to make it lively. All these activities take place in the Activities Centre, funded by African Mission._ _We strongly encourage the parents or the guardians of the children who look after them at home to come and stay in the mission and show their love to the children. They don’t come all at once but take turns to come at least for one week and be with their children. It is a very enlightening and encouraging experience for both parents, guardians and children. One time one of the children’s mother came to me and asked “what did you do to my child?” l asked her what she meant. She replied that before coming to Fatima when her son was at home he did not listen nor obey her and he could be violent at times. After a year at Fatima he had changed totally. She was really surprised that her son now listened to her and was no longer violent. He now liked to help others even though he is still a small boy himself. l told the mother the greatest weapon to use_ _at home is love. We never punish the children but show love to them. This mother was not alone in seeing a transformation in her child. At home sometimes the children don’t experience unconditional love._ _Earlier this year, thanks to African Mission, we built a chicken coop. As a result we are able to include chicken as part of the children’s diet on a regular basis. It also means that the older children can learn how to look after the chickens, a very useful skill to have. As well as the Broiler chickens for meat, we also have laying chickens. This means that we no longer have to buy eggs as we have a sufficient supply of our own._ _Again, thanks to African Mission, we have been given the funds to build a piggery. About 90% of the work is complete with only the plumbing left to do. We are now in the process of looking for a good breed of_ p _pig. We are hopeful that the project will be up and running in_ ) _about a month’s time. When it is, this too will be an added bonus to the children’s diet and again will increase their practical skills by teaching them how to care for pigs. In the last two years they have also learnt to grow a variety of vegetables; carrots, sugar beans, onions, spinach and tomatoes, amongst others. Thanks to the irrigation system we have in from a seedling to full growth and harvesting place we get a good harvest. It is good for the children to understand the life cycle of the plants._ _I sincerely thank everyone who has supported us via African Mission, you have been of great benefit to the young people living at Fatima Mission. Thank you,_ Fr Jeyaraj ofm cap. 4 ## **Dr Ray Towey** 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 23-24 financial year African Mission has assisted St Mary’s Hospital in the following ways: - By purchasing medical equipment (£11,008 including shipping costs) - By paying the school fees & living costs of a young person living with an ongoing medical condition (£801) - The printing & purchasing of ‘Safe Anaesthesia’ books x 20 (£458) We also purchased a DPA02 anaesthetic machine for Kapoeta Civil Hospital in South Sudan (£3,320) ## **Dr Towey writes:** _Looking back at the Covid pandemic period in Uganda it was a very disturbing time in the country and proved to be a very disturbing time for St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor. The hospital lost 2 members of staff from the pandemic and the Covid Ward reported several hundred patients who had succumbed to the virus. As the pandemic spread across the world the anticipation was that Africa with it very fragile health systems would be severely affected. In comparison with Europe and north America, Africa fared better than anticipated probably because of its youthful population and more rural population spread. At the time there was a rush throughout the world to bolster intensive care capabilities and ventilator machines were dispatched to quickly set up new hospitals in the UK. As part of this help to Africa many ventilator machines were even sent to Africa. These ventilators were often inappropriate donations as they consumed large quantities of high pressure oxygen which was not easily available and Africa did not have the specialist staff to manage them and the critically ill patients. On the positive side what many African countries have now learnt post-Covid is that the care of critically ill patients must be a priority even in rural Africa and for some an appropriate low oxygen consumption ventilator may be required. Our biggest expense over the last year has been to assist a small rural mission hospital develop its critical care ward with a good quality ventilator that does not depend on high pressure oxygen._ _I was able to visit Dr. Ambrosoli Memorial Hospital in 2024 and assess their needs for critical care. This hospital is situated about 100 miles from Gulu and is doing excellent work for the local community and with a ventilator they are now able to expand their critical care ward. The ventilator_ 5 _is of good quality and can be run without high pressure oxygen and can be serviced in Uganda. Even short term ventilation of the lungs can be lifesaving in Africa._ _St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor has been an example of how to manage critically ill patients with good monitoring, dedicated staff and appropriate equipment. We thank our donors for giving us the ability to be effective, professional and compassionate in a country with such limited funds for healthcare. We also thank our donors for enabling St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor Intensive Care Unit to be a working example to the surrounding health institutions._ he 4 A Dr Ambrosoli Memorial Hospital patient benefitting from the African Mission ventilator. 6 **AFRICAN MISSION 23-24 ACCOUNTS** ||**Year ended**||**Year ended**| |---|---|---|---| ||**31st March 2024**||**31st March 2023**| |**Receipts**|||| |Donations|60545||35670| |Interest received|0||0| ||-----------||------------| |**Total Receipts**||60545|35670| |**Expenditure**|||| |Medical/educational|||| |Uganda|23044||6819| |Zimbabwe|21919||21335| ||-----------||------------| ||44963||28174| |Administration|||| |Office costs|554||640| |Fundraising|0||0| |Salaries|6621||7132| |Travel|0||0| ||-----------||------------| ||7175||7772| |**Total expenditure**||52138|35946| |**Receipts less**|||| |**expenditure**||8407|-276| ||**Year ended**||**Year ended**| ||**31st March 2024**||**31st March 2023**| |Cash at bank|20024||11617| |Debtors|0||0| ||-----------||------------| ||20024||11617| |Liabilities|0||0| ||-----------||------------| ||20024||11617| |Reserves|11617||11893| |Surplus/ deficit|||| |for year|8407||-276| ||-----------||------------| ||20024||11617| 7 ## ey , Congratulations to Tshuma, a Fatima Mission resident, on being awarded ‘Sportsperson of the Year’ by Fatima High School. AFRICAN MISSION R•g18tered Charlty No. 1099264 A¢¢ounting 8t4ternent (Receipts and payments basis) IAII Income recelved was unrestrict￿) For yearended 31tyt Morch 2024 Year ended 31st March 2024 Yèar •nd•d 31•t March 2023 Roc•lpts Don81ion8 Interest receNed 70 Tot*1 R￿•1P1* 35670 Exwndllure M•dkaV•du¢alwl Ugand Z¥nbab 23044 21919 8819 21355 28174 Adminiltratir oiru u)815 Fundra151ng Sakiries Trav81 7132 7175 7772 Totsl •xpendlturn 52138 35946 R•¢•lpts le•• •¥p•ndltur• -276 A.Chartton- Tr•asur•r Indepen¢J8nt èxamin (￿C￿l I£197￿ AFRICAN MISSION Regl8t•rnd Charrty No. 1099264 Yearended 31st Ma￿h X124 Year èndod 31st March 2023 staternent of assels and kabilths Cash al bank Debtors 11617 11617 Lkbillt 2￿24 11617 11817 11893 Surplusl d•ffi¢il for year -276 2(￿4 11817 Report to the trust8os ofAfri¢an Mis¥k)n on x¢>)unts for 8nd￿j 3161 Marth 2024. Ros￿¢¢1¥• r*sponsibIrt￿¥ ol the trustees and examin As th• charitvs Iru$tee$ you are re¥M)nsitsle for the weparat￿n of the accounts,. you consthr that tho 8udit requirement of secdon 43121 ol the Chathes Act 19931th8 Adl dots not 8ppty. It is my re6ponsbillty to stste. on the basts of 8peryf*d General Llirecaions given ty the Charty Commissi¢fjern UWKler sectKffi 43(7llb) ofthe act. ¥Akn pthik¥ m•ttefs hgve ￿rne lo my attenlk)n. Ba￿$ olts)dep8nd•nl •x•min¢¢$ repyl My ¢xaminalion w83 carried out in acCOrdar￿ wth the Ger*rnl tliredions gNen by the Charity Cornmisswjners. An examination w￿ude$ a revièw tsfthe accwnlry records kepl by ihe charty and a comparison of the accounts presented wrth Ihose record3. It also indudes ccthgderatKJn ol any unusu81 items or disr*)sure in tt* acujunts. and seekirrfj explanatth from as tN$iees concerning any suth matters. The procedurns uThJortak￿ do not #ll the evhJen¢e that would be required in an audlt, and o)nwL*ntty I do r￿1 expr•s8 an opin#￿ on Ihe view gNen by the accounts. Independont examinèrs $tslement In connÈ¢tion with rny e¥aminalKJn. no mattef has com to my att8ntK%Tr". 111 which gNes me reasonable cause to bel￿ th81 in any materi* resF*cts the wu*ements - lo keep records in accordance wilh Sect￿ 41 of the Acl.. ond . to p￿par6 accourts which accord w*ith the records aTh1 ctsnpty vAth thtr a(wuntiTrJ requirèmtrnis olthe Acl. have rToI been met. 121 to which. in rny opinion, attentwjn shoubj b& dr8*m Ni tyder to enable a pr(w understanding ol the account5 to be wched. Irrflependent ex8mThr .LFlftISi i- CAc
    )unts for 8nd￿j 3161 Marth 2024. Ros￿¢¢1¥• r*sponsibIrt￿¥ ol the trustees and examin As th• charitvs Iru$tee$ you are re¥M)nsitsle for the weparat￿n of the accounts,. you consthr that tho 8udit requirement of secdon 43121 ol the Chathes Act 19931th8 Adl dots not 8ppty. It is my re6ponsbillty to stste. on the basts of 8peryf*d General Llirecaions given ty the Charty Commissi¢fjern UWKler sectKffi 43(7llb) ofthe act. ¥Akn pthik¥ m•ttefs hgve ￿rne lo my attenlk)n. Ba￿$ olts)dep8nd•nl •x•min¢¢$ repyl My ¢xaminalion w83 carried out in acCOrdar￿ wth the Ger*rnl tliredions gNen by the Charity Cornmisswjners. An examination w￿ude$ a revièw tsfthe accwnlry records kepl by ihe charty and a comparison of the accounts presented wrth Ihose record3. It also indudes ccthgderatKJn ol any unusu81 items or disr*)sure in tt* acujunts. and seekirrfj explanatth from as tN$iees concerning any suth matters. The procedurns uThJortak￿ do not #ll the evhJen¢e that would be required in an audlt, and o)nwL*ntty I do r￿1 expr•s8 an opin#￿ on Ihe view gNen by the accounts. Independont examinèrs $tslement In connÈ¢tion with rny e¥aminalKJn. no mattef has com to my att8ntK%Tr". 111 which gNes me reasonable cause to bel￿ th81 in any materi* resF*cts the wu*ements - lo keep records in accordance wilh Sect￿ 41 of the Acl.. ond . to p￿par6 accourts which accord w*ith the records aTh1 ctsnpty vAth thtr a(wuntiTrJ requirèmtrnis olthe Acl. have rToI been met. 121 to which. in rny opinion, attentwjn shoubj b& dr8*m Ni tyder to enable a pr(w understanding ol the account5 to be wched. Irrflependent ex8mThr .LFlftISi i- CAc