New Series: African Unsung Heroines and Heros.
One of the great privileges of going to Africa is the opportunity of meeting some extraordinary local people who work very hard to make a difference and improve the lives of many. They refuse to accept the status quo and try to effect change. They often work tirelessly in the background, make things happen and they have very little time to promote themselves or their work to a greater audience.
Tanuja Walli from Mombasa is one of them. I met her during my last visit to Mombasa last February. I quickly realized that this very attractive unassuming woman was the local backbone of MEAK‘s pediatric heart mission in Mombasa. Tanuja Walli left behind a career in fashion and with some concerned friends formed the Paediatric Support Group in 1998 at the Aga Khan hospital in Mombasa. Their mission was to help poor children suffering from congenital heart disease find proper and effective medical care. It became clear after talking to her that despite the very substantial contribution MEAK is making, there is still a huge need for more funding and local support. I thought then that I might be able to help by getting the word out to a greater audience. We sat down one sunny afternoon and she told me how she came to be so involved in helping children with heart disease and she described her work.
I was impressed and moved by Walli’s willingness to listen to the families she served, and her willingness as well, to make changes based on what the people themselves said they needed. As well-intentioned as they are, so many charities come in with pre-conceived notions of what a community should have.
Many thanks for your comment and kind words ,Jane.
As we have limited access to both medical professionals and expertise and also facilities we rely so much on charitable organisations such as Meak and Chain of Hope to assist carry out heart surgeries in both Mombasa and Nairobi which otherwise would be so difficult to do because of the funding involved. There is such an overwhelming number of children suffering from congenital heart conditions that local hospitals are unable to cope and the lack of proper medical facilities makes it difficult to carry out complex cases. These organisations bring their medical team and all the medical consumables for the surgeries, therefore cost of surgeries are far less than what we would otherwise have been charged. Since most of the parents of these children are very poor and unable to contribute towards the surgeries we as PSG group approach donors to assist. One of our most generous donor is Mr Yusuf Mammujee of Mamujee Brothers Foundation who have been supporting our worthy cause for the last 12 years.
Everyone contribution plays a significant role in helping save a child’s life.