Welcome to Relief for Africa

What We Do

Donation of medical supplies to under sourced medical facilities through liaisons with existing administrative and academic institutions and health facilities as well as training of health care service providers in areas where access to basic health care is limited.

Provision of basic needs- water, sanitation, and improved farming practices through construction of wells in famine prone areas in the Horn of Africa.

Enhancing computer literacy to young people through donation of computers and computer equipment to underserved schools in the region.

Empowering people through training of local communities in important life skills.

Why We Do What We Do

Health Care

While maternal and infant mortality rates are in Africa have been declining in recent years, the rates are still high. A 2006 UNICEF report notes that 50 percent infant mortality in the world happen is Sub-Saharan Africa alone in spite of it accounting for only 22 percent of new births. Even more disturbing is that most of the deaths are caused by treatable diseases. For instance, a recent UNICEF report notes that simple supplements of vitamin A taken every four to six months can reduce child mortality by as much as 23 per cent, measles deaths by 50 per cent and deaths from diarrhoea by 33 per cent. Yet lack of access to health facilities ensures that poor, rural, and nomadic African communities remain extremely vulnerable. Thus, as one of our objectives, Relief for Africa endeavors to build clinics including mobile clinics and train personnel to provide the much needed relief. This can go a long way in having a multiplier effect on other aspects of life in the communities concerned.

Education and Economic Initiatives

In recognition of the centrality of education in the long term social and economic empowerment for majority of people in this region, Relief for Africa has made as some of its core priorities setting up schools, donating school and other essential school related equipment and supplies, partnering with existing schools in building up their nascent departments, engaging in vocational training for youth and women in critical life skills.

Fresh Water Programs

Waterborne diseases are a major cause of death in Africa. Affording communities access to safe drinking water not only saves people from potential contamination, but it also improves their economic wellbeing especially among pastoral communities whose survival depends on access to water for people and their livestock. In non pastoral communities, water is also critical for farming in the wake of increased incidents of famine occasioned by insufficient rainfall. RFA is committed to support Well digging and construction projects, repairing existing wells, and preserving existing water sources.

Our Partners

In partnership with World Medical Relief Inc, local area hospital systems, manufacturers and residents of the greater Detroit area that donate medical supplies and equipment, Relief for Africa provides shipments of medical aid to qualified hospitals, clinics, and health centers in Sub Saharan Africa. Health providers of recipient facilities are desperate for even the simplest items such as gloves, hypodermic syringes, and bandages. Patients in these hospitals often share beds or sleep on bare floors. Our partnerships therefore ensure accessibility to a wide variety of supplies that can be life changing for the affected communities.

Recent Activities

First Response Kenya: 2014

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In March 2014, Relief for Africa President Rama Kannenje led a group of volunteers from the University of Michigan to Kilifi County, Kenya. Nurses, paramedics, and a respiratory therapist conducted an intensive first responder training that equipped local healthcare providers with life-saving knowledge and skills. This unique and groundbreaking training was the first of its kind to take place in Kenya, and the response from local healthcare officials was overwhelmingly positive.

The two-week program covered presentations on blast injuries, adult and pediatric life support, basic life support, trauma burns, emergency obstetrics, and airway management. Special presentations covered the basics of McGyver Medicine – how to provide quality care with limited resources.

Relief for Africa sends special thanks to all the volunteers who made this mission possible and to our donors for their continued support.

Somalia

In August 2013, the president of Relief for Africa accompanied the president and CEO of World Medical Relief (WMR) Inc on a trip to Somalia to visit an orthopedic hospital in the Puntland region. RFA partnered with WMR to send two forty- foot containers of medical supplies and equipment worth more than USD 800,000 to Bilcil Boys General Hospital in Armo city, Somalia. The hospital is the first of its kind in Somalia. The Hospital is scheduled to open its doors to the public later this year and for the first time Somalis will not have to travel to neighboring countries for orthopedic surgery.

Kenya

The RFA president and WMR met with governors and health department officials from various counties in Kenya to discuss ways in which RFA and WMR can help underserved communities in their respective counties. While in Kenya, they also toured Mbagathi District Hospital in Nairobi and saw firsthand the need for medical assistance. RFA received a donation of 135 computers from the University of Michigan Mott Children’s Hospital in April of 2012. The computers were shipped to Kenya and distributed to five High schools and six children’s homes in Nairobi and Western Kenya.

We are forever seeking to partner with those who share our vision and belief in our mission to uplift the lives of the underprivileged.