[NPMUG] Zimbabwe shipping container with 50 Apple computers ... on it's way !

[Dave Sevick]

Brother's Brother collects medical supplies for Zimbabwe

By Tony LaRussa
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, November 25, 2009

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_654799.html

For one local church, finding a way to help needy people in Africa has become a personal mission.

Three years ago, the 2,500-member Christ United Methodist Church in Bethel Park founded The Nyadire Connection to improve the lives of people in the region of Nyadire, Zimbabwe. Since then, it has grown to include dozens of churches and organizations in the region.

On Tuesday, workers at the Brother's Brother Foundation warehouse in the North Side filled a 40-foot trailer with an estimated $300,000 worth of pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and other supplies destined for Nyadire.

"We found that sometimes people's eyes glazed over when you start to talk about helping Africa," said Drew Harvey, chairman of The Nyadire Connection and a retired Alcoa executive from Mt. Lebanon. "The need there is so great that people here can become disconnected to the relief effort."

Team members who make subsequent trips during the year return with photographs to verify that supplies have been delivered, Harvey said. The Nyadire Connection organizes two shipments a year.

The Bethel Park church first got involved in relief work for Zimbabwe in 2001 when the global United Methodist Church issued an appeal for help for the African nation.

While the focus of relief has been Nyadire's 150-bed hospital, the The Nyadire Connection's members also are sponsoring orphaned children and assisting with the operation of nursing and teaching colleges.

Along with medical supplies, the latest shipment will include 5,000 books donated by Half Price Books to stock a community library, as well as items for a nursery school donated by Westminster Presbyterian Church in Upper St. Clair.

The shipment, due to arrive in Africa in May, also includes an operating table and a dental X-ray machine.

"We'll be replacing an operating table that they've had since 1932," Harvey said. "It's frozen at an angle, which means whenever they operate they have to use a car seatbelt to strap the patient in."

In addition to shipping the supplies for Nyadire, Brother's Brother will send medical and other supplies to Jamaica, Honduras, Kenya, Nicaragua and Senegal for other relief efforts.

"There's great satisfaction knowing that a mother will sleep better tonight because her baby got the medicine he needs," said Karen Dempsey, vice president of development for Brother's Brother.


http://www.brothersbrother.org

http://www.nyadire.org/


L-R:
Sue Bowers - RN -  Nurse Team Member for The Nyadire Connection
Luke Hingson - President of Brother's Brother Foundation
Drew Harvey - Team Leader of The Nyadire Connection


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