A2B for MSF !

Andy Dennis, a British nurse, is on the move ! In 2011, he will be walking 2,000 km from Amsterdam to Barcelona to raise at least £ 16,800 for Médecins sans frontières. This is the cost to put two volunteers in the field for one year.

Andy has worked with MSF twice in recent years, in northern Uganda and in Sudan, where malaria, lower respiratory infections and diarrhœa are the biggest threats.

He explains : « In Uganda, I was involved in running three MSF clinics in three huge IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps. I set up clinics and ran them until we could recruit capable staff and train people in triage, dressings and sterilizing of instruments. This was difficult as many of the staff had no idea about basic hygiene and bacteria theory. So education was fundamental. Hand hygiene was a priority, but difficult due to the water supply, which was brought from MSF-drilled bore holes to the clinics. »

Coming to terms with the limitations of this kind of nursing is very demanding. Not having an on call doctor or hospital backup leaves one feeling isolated. Andy recalls a lady with a large facial tumour.

« We had no maxillo-facial surgeons to refer onto and it was impossible to even carry out histology on the mass. »

Other challenges included sterilizing with a household pressure cooker and adapting splints from cardboard boxes.

Andy is currently learning French and would welcome your support !

http://www.justgiving.com/Andy-Dennis

http://www.princehouse.co.uk/walka2b (walk from Amsterdam to Barcelona)