Our project to finance the Manfred Ulmer Children’s Hospital in Joal-Fadiouth, Senegal

The Pédiatrie Sociale Manfred Ulmer at Joal-Fadiouth is a children’s hospital and clinic that was founded by Mr. Manfred Ulmer, a German industrialist, patron and consul. The Pédiatrie has Senegalese staff, a number of them trained in Germany. This institution has had a great success, fulfilling an important social function, treating 6’000 children each year.

Unfortunately the Pédiatrie is starved of funds, there is no more support from Germany and hardly any local governmental support. Most parents are too poor to pay for treatment for their children. In consequence, nurses’ salaries have been cut by 60-70% and are often not paid at all, equipment is neither repaired nor replaced, and a project for a unit to care for malnourished children cannot be set up.

The “Association Pédiatrie au Sénégal (APAS)” has been founded on 26 Sept. 2014 in Geneva as an association under Swiss law to support the work of the Pédiatrie.

The aim of APAS is to raise funds so as to support the Pédiatrie in three ways:

1. Nurses’ salaries
A sum of CHF 1’000 each month would be sufficient for paying the salaries. The staff is well trained and devoted. While being aware of the problems of making people dependent on western aid, if there is no money for salaries, then the work will eventually stop, leaving 6’000 sick children per year without medical assistance. A number of nurses, who need the income from their salaries, have already been obliged to leave and to seek work elsewhere.

The Pédiatrie is threatened with closure.

It will be an aim of APAS to find other sources of finance for salaries, either locally or internationally.

2. Medical equipment
The building that houses the Pédiatrie is still in relatively good condition, but some of the equipment is no longer working.

A list of equipment that is needed can be found on our website under https://apas.ch/documents. It has been prepared by the staff of the Pédiatrie.

APAS is raising money to replace what is needed.

3. Create a Centre for undernourished children
The cost of this project has not yet been worked out, but the Pédiatrie has a room which could be used for this purpose, if material and supplies were available – and money for salaries.

The work is extremely urgent – the Pédiatrie is threatened with closure through lack of funds, which would leave 6’000 children per year without medical care.

This would be a very serious matter at any time, but in the context of the spread of Ebola in neighbouring countries it is an immediate concern.

William A. McComish, chairman of APAS

www.apas.ch

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