Recently, we were made aware that four orphan daughters of a couple who had passed away in a road accident in Pakistan were living in a cloth tent with their poverty stricken uncle and his family - read more below.
Every year in Pakistan approximately 476,000 children under the age of five years die of preventable causes - that’s over 1,300 children every day, or 54 children every hour. Often, these deaths are completely preventable, either through simple healthcare measures such as a 20p sachet of rehydration drink for diarrhoea and oral antibiotics for pneumonia, or through more extensive provisions such as permanent shelter or long-term access to clean water.
At our Doctors Worldwide Hospital in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan), we often meet vulnerable families and children in need of more provisions and resources than we regularly supply for the larger community, which include daily hot meals, food packs and access to quality healthcare. In such cases, we do our best as a team to provide for these individuals, using unrestricted funding from donations towards our most in need programme (Life Saving Fund). Previously, this has been used to provide a mother with enough food for her children so they would not go hungry each day, as well as providing hard to reach communities in the Broghil Valley with food packs and blankets to survive the harsh winter months.
Aqsa, the youngest of the four orphans, inaugurating their new house.
Recently, we were made aware that four orphan daughters of a couple who had passed away in a road accident were living in a cloth tent with their poverty-stricken uncle and his family. These young girls were registered with the welfare canteen of our hospital, and regularly received food packs and hot meals from us, but were at extreme risk of contracting serious illnesses due to the increasingly colder climate this winter. With the temperature beginning to drop below freezing at night, we built a house for the young girls and their uncle, so they could live comfortably and safely together in time for the harsh winter months.
Initiatives like these - occurring in addition to the main scheduled and specific project activities - could not happen without your support. When providing holistic healthcare for the most vulnerable people in the poorest parts of the world, there is often a variety of needs that require a funding source without any restrictions or delays, such as a need for emergency transport, medication, food, shelter or birthing packs for mothers. Your support & donation to our Life Saving Fund ensures that no-one is turned away when our staff identify a need, and continues to add value and impact to all of our healthcare projects.
This winter, continue supporting us in changing and saving lives.
At Doctors Worldwide, 100% of your donation goes directly to project costs, and with a focus on low cost, high impact solutions, every penny counts.
Find out more about our Winter Appeal and Life Saving Fund and donate today.
