Margaret Green - personal statement

Little did I realise that the decision we made for my husband to delay retirement in order to help set up a link with Berega Hospital, would achieve so much in such little time.
I was part of the group who first visited Berega in 2012. Having made that visit it was impossible to come back and settle into our newly acquired retirement without being involved. For me, Tunguli clinic stood out as being in most need of our support. The wards had no lighting and the clinic had no means of collecting and saving water from the gutters. The conditions inside the clinic were bleak, particularly for mothers coming in with complications during childbirth. Tunguli clinic serves a remote rural area and is a much valued and needed resource for those living in isolated communities for miles around.
In the months following our visit we began to raise money for the clinic. We concentrated on basic necessities, water and light. In a comparatively short time we were able to raise enough for solar lighting for the wards and two water tanks to collect rainwater.
Last August I took part, with twelve others in a climb of Mount Kilimanjaro, raising money to help improve the lot of mothers and babies during childbirth. Since our visit to Berega, a young British doctor has been working in the hospital in Berega and a senior obstetrician has visited and is currently devising a long term plan, working in co-operation with other charities to improve the health, education and life chances of the people living in this remote region of Morogoro.
From small acorns, oak trees certainly do grow!