Northern Veterans AC, Penny Lane Striders

I am fundraising for Shyira Trust

Still running, though not so far, and not so fast after heart surgery.

And nowadays doing more and more cycling and walking to try to keep fit.
But still supporting Rwanda - especially maternal health and safe motherhood projects.

Why? Read on to see that we CAN and DO make a difference

Imagine a maternity hospital with cracked walls, broken windows, no water, no electricity and no midwives.
Hard to imagine isn't it ? But that was the state of the hospital in Shyira, Rwanda when we first visited in 2001.
So we did something about it, and raised funds to have it rebuilt.

Even when the new hospital was opened in 2004, it still had no midwives, so we set up a scholarship to train Robinah, a local nurse, to be a midwife. Robinah qualified in 2009 and is back working in Shyira. We have since trained another midwife, Fidele, and between them they make a great team - in the 6 years since Robinah qualified, there has been only one maternal death - in a country where 1 in 10 women will die from problems in pregnancy or childbirth
Because of this success, the maternity hospital is now full to capacity, so needs a new build, at a cost of over £300000.

But don't be put off by the big numbers - a little goes a long way in Rwanda - £20 will pay for a Caesarean section, and £3 will pay for a normal delivery. Small change by our standards, but in Rwanda most of the population have to live on less than $1 a day !

See my website running4rwanda.com for latest news and fundraising updates, and now on Facebook - just search for Running4Rwanda, and 'like' the page. Of course, if you just want to help us support Maternal Health in Rwanda, please follow the link above

Thanks to everyone who has supported us over the years - your generosity is much appreciated

Thank you for reading this far, and thanks again for your support and generosity

To make a donation, please visit: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/dash15