In
1998, Chris Lawrence heard about the terrible plight of the
hundreds
of thousands of children suffering the hideous affliction of
Noma. He wanted to do something, anything to help, and immediately
contacted
Allan Thom, an Orthodontist whom he had known for several years
to ask if he had ever come across the ailment. Together, Chris
and
 Chris at BBC radio Wiltshire speaking live about Facing Africa
 Chris Lawrence with noma victim in Ethiopia, Oct 2007
Facing Africa now works closely with it's
European partners AWD Stiftung Kinderhilfe (Germany)
(www.noma-project.de), The Dutch Noma Foundation and Interplast (France).
So far (Feb 2007) we have raised over £ 500,000 (about Euros 730,000)
which has been spent on sending the four teams each year from Europe to
Nigeria (air fares, hotel accommodation, ground transportation medical
equipment and supplies), equipment for the hospital in Sokoto, training
schemes,physiotherapists from Europe working in Nigeria and many other
essential expenses . Facing Africa also supplied a 4 x 4 vehicle for the
hospital in Sokoto which has enabled hospital staff to drive out to
remote areas of Northern Nigeria spreading the word about Noma, taking
victims in to be treated and inviting local health workers to be trained
in all aspects of Noma, it's signs and treatment.
Ethiopia
In November 2004, the Dutch Noma Foundation sent its first surgical team to the
Yakatat 2 Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to do facial reconstructive surgery
on noma patients as well as cleft palate and lip, burns and facial tumors. This
has now become an annual team visit and is heavily supported financially by
Facing Africa. However, in spite of the fact that large numbers of noma
victims exist in Ethiopia, it is difficult to locate these tragic victims
in remote areas of Ethiopia as their parents are still reluctant to bring
their afflicted children forward when search teams scour the countryside.
Nevertheless, in 2007 we are helping to make our annual visit more widely
known by radio broadcasts and sending health visitors into some of the
remoter villages to persuade parents to allow their children to be
transported to Addis Ababa in advance of the surgical team visits.
This important move into Ethiopia is helped by the dedicated work of Project Harar
(www.projectharar.co.uk).
In addition to our support of the upkeep of the hospital and extending it's
facilities, we are also committed to finding surgeons, anesthetists and scrub
nurses willing to give up their time to take their skills to Nigeria and Ethiopia.
British surgical team in Ethiopia - Oct 2007. From left to right:-
Prof. Mark McGurk (surgeon), Chris Lawrence (Facing Africa), Larry Fourie (surgeon), Jamie Coombes (surgeon), Mick and Anthea Etches (theatre nurses)
Ethiopia Oct 2007
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