African Mission Annual Report 2024-2025 MO$$OON 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 24-25 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 ix 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 *Gwanda\Mwenezi \LundiR.Chiredzi Franciscan priests known as The Order of Friars Minor a% West Nichol Rut \ ae ° =n \ ogee \ Save R_ Capuchin or Capuchins for short. It has a church, Umzingwani A » 74 Mozambique a pastoral centre, a number of primary and secondary . Beitbridge . Timnana B Ct 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 Itayi Mangenda arrived in October 2024. In the 24-25 financial year African Mission has assisted Fatima Mission in the following ways: - We covered the school fees and living costs for the 21 special needs young people living at Fatima Mission (£12,577) - Covered the cost of Fr Jeya’s internet (£511) - Paid for the building of a piggery (£6,885) - Paid to renovate a room into a dining room & tables and chairs for the new dining room (£4,891) ## **: Fr Itayi writes** _We want to thank African Mission and their supporters for your continued support and all the contribution you make towards the children with special needs in Fatima Mission. We have a total_ 3 _number of 21 children with special needs. We had hoped to increase the number to 22 children but the last child we offered a place to failed to turn up. It is becoming easier and easier to help these children because of the many projects funded by African Mission. We have received a great deal of support for various projects such as a multipurpose hall, solar powered water pump, solar geyser tubes [for hot water], a chicken co-op for both laying and broiler chickens, a piggery, a biogas (a renewable fuel) system for cooking and the expansion of the dining hall._ _We no longer struggle or cry with power cuts because our solar power covers it and our children are never in the dark. In the hall children watch the news and other activities are carried out there too, such as instrument practice and playing. We also have no water shortages for our boreholes supply enough water. Our children use hot water for bathing from the solar geysers and it has saved time and resources. The children now have a much better diet. We have chickens which give us eggs and broiler chickens_ er tee _to eat. We also we have pork for the children, thanks to our piggery._ _Some of our children who are deaf and mute went to Harare last term for a quiz competition and they did extremely well. Also two of our boys flew to Namibia for Southern Africa athletics and they came back with bronze medals (see photo on left)._ _All of the above is possible thanks to the support and sponsorship of African Mission. In the last report it was mentioned that the piggery was 90% complete. It is now completed and we have a total of 33 pigs._ _The Biogas system paid for by African Mission is a way of reducing deforestation, as we no longer need wood for cooking. It allows us to make use of the pig waste by turning it into gas for_ _cooking This project is complete and is already in use. It has become easier for those cooking for the children (see photo on right). We again thank African Mission for accepting this idea and funding it._ _As well as benefitting the children on a day to day basis, these various projects are also helping the children to learn practical skills e.g. how to take care of the chickens and the pigs. At weekends, when not at school they help with the various projects. We are very hopeful that the skills they learn will benefit them in later life after they have completed their studies._ _As mentioned above the extension to the dining hall has yet to be completed. Almost everything that is needed has been bought so hopefully by the end of this term (mid-December) the children will be able to use the new dining room._ _We sincerely thank African Mission and its supporters for they support you have given to help these children with special needs. Your support is benefiting the children and indeed all of us living here at Fatima Mission._ _With thanks Fr Itayi OFM Cap_ 4 **----- Start of picture text -----**
Dr Ray Towey
yaaa Kenya (part time since 2008).
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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 24-25 financial year African Mission has assisted St Mary’s Hospital in the following ways: - By purchasing medical equipment (£6,319 including shipping costs) - By paying the school fees & living costs of a young person living with an ongoing medical condition (£634) - The printing & purchasing of ‘Safe Anaesthesia’ books x 20 (£540) - By paying the course fees and living costs for a nurse (£1,148) We also purchased a 10ltr Oxygen Concentrator & Pulse Oximeter (£1,379) for St Joseph's Hospital Kitgum, a community hospital serving the town of Kitgum and surrounding areas in South Sudan. ## **Dr Towey writes:** _Intensive care in rural Africa has many difficulties but in St.Mary’s Hospital Lacor Gulu the staff have risen to the challenge in many ways which has made the reputation of the hospital one of the highest in Uganda. One of the special skills of the ICU nurses is their experience in managing patients with tracheostomies. A tracheostomy is opening in the neck which allows a patient to breathe even when there is an obstruction in the throat from a tumour or some other tissue. The_ }PP ‘ _performance of a tracheostomy by the surgeon can be an urgent lifesaving procedure in the operating theatre or it may be a planned_ 5 _procedure in the ICU when the patient has been on a ventilator for some days and it is decided that as the ventilator support is required for more days it is better to move from a tube in the mouth_ Tracheostomy \\ = \\\ _to a tube in the throat permitting better care for the lungs and better_ Tracheostomy tube \ ) _feeding and better comfort._ =i» _In Africa it is not easy to obtain good quality tracheostomy tubes and African Mission has been able over many years to offer support of good quality tracheostomy tubes. This has been one of the most_ _important contributions it has made to the hospital. Nursing a patient with a tracheostomy is a very skilled procedure especially in the early stages and the nurses in the ICU have many years of experience in this important skill. It requires careful suctioning to maintain the patency of the_ 5 _tube. Blockage of the tubes with secretions can be a life-threatening event and the nurses have to recognise this danger and deal with it rapidly when required. With good quality tubes the nurses’ skill is complemented and supported and the patient mortality reduced. A good quality tubed will possess an inner tube so that this can be removed easily when there is risk of blockage. It can then be washed and reinserted. The number of tracheostomies performed in our ICU and theatre is about 3 per month. We thank the generosity of our donors that enable us to provide this crucial support._ This patient in the photo below on the left collapsed after a Caesarean section under spinal and became critically ill. She was transferred to St. Mary's Lacor. After several days of medication and oxygen therapy in the ICU she is out of = danger. The maternal mortality in — Uganda is 15 times that of UK. The patient (on the right) was bitten by a snake and developed paralysis. When she came to the hospital she could hardly breath. She was put on a ventilator and after 2 days began improving. About 15,000 people die of snakebite poisoning each year in sub-Saharan Africa but it is likely this number is an underestimate as collecting data in Africa is very difficult and very inaccurate. The anti-venom medicine in Africa is not very effective because it comes from India and the anti-venom needs to be locally produced to be effective. 6 ## **AFRICAN MISSION 24-25 ACCOUNTS** **Year ended Year ended 31st March 2025 31st March 2024** |**Receipts**|||| |---|---|---|---| |Donations|39624||60545| |Interest received|0||0| ||-----------||------------| |**Total Receipts**||39624|60545| |**Expenditure**|||| |Medical/educational|||| |Uganda|11208||23044| |Zimbabwe|24865||21919| ||-----------||------------| ||36073||44963| |Administration|||| |Office costs|542||554| |Fundraising|0||0| |Salaries|6621||6621| |Travel|0||0| ||-----------||------------| ||7163||7175| |**Total expenditure**||43236|52138| |**Receipts less**|||| |**expenditure**||-3612|8407| ||**Year ended**||**Year ended**| ||**31st March 2025**||**31st March 2024**| |Cash at bank|16412||20024| |Debtors|0||0| ||-----------||------------| ||16412||20024| |Liabilities|0||0| ||-----------||------------| ||16412||20024| |Reserves|20024||11617| |Surplus/ deficit|||| |for year|-3612||8407| ||-----------||------------| ||16412||20024| 7 BRAUN AFRICAN MISSIC*I R•gl•t•r•d Charlty Nts. 1099264 Accountlng Statement IRec•lpts and payments ba¥l¥} IAII Incom• rèc•1￿[5 wo• unve•trl¢t•d) For th yearended 31st March 2025 Ye•r ended 31st March 202S Year•nd•d 31•t Mareh 2024 Recelpts Donati¢Jns Interest recefved 39824 60545 Tol•l RKglpts 80545 Exp•ndltur• MedI￿vedul￿)nal Uganda Zmbgb 11208 24865 21919 38073 AdmInI￿￿OI FurKlr81skng Saknries Travel 7163 7175 Totsl •xp8nditur• $2138 R•¢elpts l••s •xp•ndltUYB 4812 8407 A.Chathon- Treasur8r IrKl*p?nd&nt &xaminer Ck. I,, CFcc&l IS ?£Iq7E AFRICAN MISSION Rggl•tsr•d Ch8rlty No. 1099264 Y•ar ended 31•t Much 2025 31•t Mavch 2024 st81ement of assets and118bllbè8 Cash 8t bwtk Debtors 16412 2￿24 16412 20024 Liati1￿e8 18412 20024 Reswv8s Surplus1 defril for year 2(1)24 11617 4612 16412 20024 Rep￿1 to trustees ofAfrkan Ml58k)n on accwnts for year ended 31Bt Mwch 2025. Re8ppi*fve respon6ibilTtle8 crf the tsustees and examlner As the charitfs trustee8 you are responslble forthe preparalion of the accounts: you ¢on8idor that the audit requ1￿Ment of 3ectKJn 43121 of the CharrtE8 Act 1993 (the Act) ¢kns not apply. It is my responsibility to 61ate, on the basis ol procedures specffied In the Genernl D¥ectbns g￿en by Ihe Chanty Commlssh)ners under sedon 43(7llb} of the 81*, p8rN¢uLqr mattern h8v¢ como to my atteftlbn. It is noted that thtr Seeks to keep in reseTve enough fijnds to cover one yearfs Sd)￿1 fèes & living costs for the 8peckql needs young people attending school at F8tlmg N*.SS￿n. ZlmbAtywe. 8asls of kndep8nd8nt èx8min•fs report My examination was carrled out In accordancèwith th8 Gènaral Dlrectlons wèn by Ihè Ch81ty CommL%slonèrs. An •x8minatx)n includes a revw oflhe accountin9 records kept by the th81ity and a compari80n of the accounts presented with those records. It also indudes consldoration of any unusual item8 or dlsclosure kn the accounts. and 5eaknrvJ •xpfanation from you a5 tru5te•5 concemlng any ￿ch m8tt8r5. Th8 procedures undertaken do nol prO￿th all the evidence Ihat WOU￿ bg requir￿ ￿ an audit. and consequenty I not express an audlt oplnlon cffj th8 vlew gfven by the ac(ayJnts. Indgpendent frxamlngfs st**m•nt In ¢ty)no¢tton wlth my examlnallon, no Matter has ¢c￿e to my attenfjon: 111 whlc* gives m& reasonable cause to beltovo thal In any materfal res￿ t1￿ roquiroments - to keep racords in 8ccord8neèwith $8CtK>n 41 of Ihe A(*" and - lo prépare aC￿Unts whlth aCc￿rd *ith the aC￿Unts.rVJ records and vAth accounlng requlrements ofthe Act. have not been mèt. 121 to whlch, in my opknim, attentlon ShO￿d be drawn In order to enable a proper understanding of Ihe accounts lo be reacheil. INJepèndent ex￿niner . cKnsl,' (FCOA) 2si AFRICAN MISSIC*I R•gl•t•r•d Charlty Nts. 1099264 Accountlng Statement IRec•lpts and payments ba¥l¥} IAII Incom• rèc•1￿[5 wo• unve•trl¢t•d) For th yearended 31st March 2025 Ye•r ended 31st March 202S Year•nd•d 31•t Mareh 2024 Recelpts Donati¢Jns Interest recefved 39824 60545 Tol•l RKglpts 80545 Exp•ndltur• MedI￿vedul￿)nal Uganda Zmbgb 11208 24865 21919 38073 AdmInI￿￿OI FurKlr81skng Saknries Travel 7163 7175 Totsl •xp8nditur• $2138 R•¢elpts l••s •xp•ndltUYB 4812 8407 A.Chathon- Treasur8r IrKl*p?nd&nt &xaminer Ck. I,, CFcc&l IS ?£Iq7E AFRICAN MISSION Rggl•tsr•d Ch8rlty No. 1099264 Y•ar ended 31•t Much 2025 31•t Mavch 2024 st81ement of assets and118bllbè8 Cash 8t bwtk Debtors 16412 2￿24 16412 20024 Liati1￿e8 18412 20024 Reswv8s Surplus1 defril for year 2(1)24 11617 4612 16412 20024 Rep￿1 to trustees ofAfrkan Ml58k)n on accwnts for year ended 31Bt Mwch 2025. Re8ppi*fve respon6ibilTtle8 crf the tsustees and examlner As the charitfs trustee8 you are responslble forthe preparalion of the accounts: you ¢on8idor that the audit requ1￿Ment of 3ectKJn 43121 of the CharrtE8 Act 1993 (the Act) ¢kns not apply. It is my responsibility to 61ate, on the basis ol procedures specffied In the Genernl D¥ectbns g￿en by Ihe Chanty Commlssh)ners under sedon 43(7llb} of the 81*, p8rN¢uLqr mattern h8v¢ como to my atteftlbn. It is noted that thtr Seeks to keep in reseTve enough fijnds to cover one yearfs Sd)￿1 fèes & living costs for the 8peckql needs young people attending school at F8tlmg N*.SS￿n. ZlmbAtywe. 8asls of kndep8nd8nt èx8min•fs report My examination was carrled out In accordancèwith th8 Gènaral Dlrectlons wèn by Ihè Ch81ty CommL%slonèrs. An •x8minatx)n includes a revw oflhe accountin9 records kept by the th81ity and a compari80n of the accounts presented with those records. It also indudes consldoration of any unusual item8 or dlsclosure kn the accounts. and 5eaknrvJ •xpfanation from you a5 tru5te•5 concemlng any ￿ch m8tt8r5. Th8 procedures undertaken do nol prO￿th all the evidence Ihat WOU￿ bg requir￿ ￿ an audit. and consequenty I not express an audlt oplnlon cffj th8 vlew gfven by the ac(ayJnts. Indgpendent frxamlngfs st**m•nt In ¢ty)no¢tton wlth my examlnallon, no Matter has ¢c￿e to my attenfjon: 111 whlc* gives m& reasonable cause to beltovo thal In any materfal res￿ t1￿ roquiroments - to keep racords in 8ccord8neèwith $8CtK>n 41 of Ihe A(*" and - lo prépare aC￿Unts whlth aCc￿rd *ith the aC￿Unts.rVJ records and vAth accounlng requlrements ofthe Act. have not been mèt. 121 to whlch, in my opknim, attentlon ShO￿d be drawn In order to enable a proper understanding of Ihe accounts lo be reacheil. INJepèndent ex￿niner . cKnsl,' (FCOA) 2si