St. Francis Hospital ifakara
bread funds at the hospital:
It is not the responsibility of the hospital to feed its patients. They have to rely on their families to provide food. If the patient lives locally it probably will happen but all too often the patient's family may be 2 to 3 days walking or even cycling distance away and then the foodline will only be very intermittent. So we adopted:
In 2001:
Two Wards for Malnourished Children
In 2002:
Two TB Wards
In 2003:
Two long STAY WARDS
In 2004:
The Neonates Ward FOR mothers WITH SICK NEWBORNS
The average daily consumption is around 60 loaves of bread. When we visited the hospital in October 2006 we were told by medical staff that the malnourished children enjoy their free bread and develop an appetite for food. The patients in the TB wards are very weak on arrival but according to the nurses they are gaining in strength as they enjoy their free bread. We received a moving 'Thank You' from the long-term patients who in several cases would have hardly any food as families are too far away to provide it. The nursing mothers are nourished with the nutritious bread they receive and are better able to breast feed .
For many patients at the St. Francis Hospital the supply of daily bread is a lifeline. Please, help us to maintain it.