10% of all orders of Colours of Africa webshop will go to Wullinkamma Clinic
We collect medicines and baby clothing in the Netherlands and send it to the Gambia.
We also try to support with formula milk and malaria treatment.
Your purchase will help us in achieving this since 10% of all orders will be used for this purpose.
By: Del Dallimore
Shortly after our Primary school at Wullinkamma was opened, one of our small boys died from malaria.
This tragedy led to the opening of our Arribaja Clinic in 2014, as the nearest Government clinic was much too far away to carry a sick child.
We offer totally free medical care for over 1,000 children and teachers at our schools. We also give Free medical care for any under 5s suffering from malaria, burns, pneumonia or diarrhea, as these are the most common causes of deaths in this age group. Government clinics often run out of medication, especially for malaria in the summer.
Every Thursday, we give out ‘Baby Bags’ to new mothers, which usually contain donated baby clothes, hand knitted blankets, hats and jumpers.
Our small, 4 bed clinic also holds ante natal Clinics once a month.
Gambia has a very high maternal mortality rate. When a mother dies, the remaining family members are often split up between different relatives to be taken care of.
The carers of babies whose mothers have died have the added difficulty of purchasing formula milk. The average wage here is about 30 pounds a month, and two tins of formula milk every week would take up the whole of this. Our clinic tries to help out such carers by supplying formula milk, sterilizing tablets, medical care and clothing for the baby for the first year of its life (We would like to continue for a few extra months but its impossible at the moment).
The babies are seen weekly, apart from a few who live too far away to come every week, and they can come every two weeks. After one year the baby still receives free medical help and clothing, and if the child is from the village, we offer free nursery schooling from age 3.
At the moment we have over 50 babies on our books, receiving formula milk. Carers of twins of deceased mothers face even bigger problems, and at any one period we may have 10 different sets of twins on our books.
