(no subject)

I originally saw this in much_ado's journal, but it's originally from horsetraveller, who's given permission to copy freely.

To give you some background about why I'd really like this spread far and wide as I can possibly make it, Dr. Anne Marie Zajdlik was my family doctor through much of the time I was undergoing thyroid cancer treatment. After my original family doctor, Dr. Rathwell, quit the practice to go be chief coroner in Niagra, Dr. Zajdlik jumped in, mostly as a favour to my mother. (The practice itself was going to set me up with "whoever was available when you need an appointment", *not* something you want to hear when dealing with a major illness.)

She's truely good people, and she made a big difference in my life. Please seriously consider helping her make a big difference in the lives of people in Lesotho.

Thanks

Adrienne

From horsetraveller:

$10 Challenge

Dr. Anne Marie Zajdlik is a family doctor in Guelph (who also happens to be my amazing family doctor) found herself the only doctor in the Guelph area treating HIV infected patients. One thing led to another, and it became clear that there was a need for an HIV clinic in the region. In less than two years, she made an idea into a reality, and the Masai Centre in Guelph is now running. It provides HIV testing, treatment, and research to residents of Guelph, Wellington-Dufferin, Waterloo Region, and Grey-Bruce.
http://www.masaicentre.ca/

I went to hear her speak on Tuesday evening. It was a great presentation and I was only disappointed that it was not better advertised. It was organized by the department of Social Work at Laurier University, and mentioned in the Echo. It took me 6 phone calls to find out the date and location but I already had an idea that it was going to be worth attending, as she has mentioned this clinic to me over the last couple of years, when I went to see her for checkups.
Now I feel compelled to tell as many people as I can.

The clinic in Guelph has been well supported by the community, and has steady funding from our provincial health care.

Dr. Zajdlik felt that her clinic would not be complete without global outreach as well. She thought she would take some time to establish the clinic in Guelph, and then look outwards. Then she heard Stephen Lewis speak last fall. She read his book, “Race Against Time” and listened to his Massey Lecture on CBC. She realized that there isn’t time to wait. And so the global outreach part of her project begins now.

This is where we come in.

Lesotho, the small country in Southern Africa where I did my elective midwifery placement in 2002, is a very poor country with a very high rate of HIV infection, about 30%. There is 50% unemployment. Many of the men who are employed work in South Africa for several months at a time. Marital fidelity is nearly impossible, and HIV comes home with the men.
The Ontario Hospital Association set up a clinic in Leribe on Dec 1, 2004. There is a film, called “Tsepong Clinic: the Clinic Called Hope” which aired on CBC’s The Nature of Things. It was shown at the presentation on Tuesday and it is available in Guelph to borrow for private viewings.

http://www.oha.com/client/oha/oha_lp4w_lnd_webstation.nsf/page/OHAfrica+for+Hope+Healing+and+Health

Dr. Zajdlik is going to work in this clinic for four weeks in July. She wants to bring a million dollars with her. Guelph has a population of 100, 000. $10 from each person in Guelph would be a million dollars to extend the work of this clinic for three years.

What I have a hard time expressing is the optimism and hope I received from the people interviewed in the film, and Dr. Zajdlik herself. It’s too bad the world didn’t act earlier, and so many people, particularly in Africa, died of AIDS before the drugs became affordable. But now the drugs are affordable, and available, and they work! Importantly, HIV is not a death sentence. People on the ARV (antiretroviral) drugs can work, enjoy life, raise their children, and the viral load in their blood becomes too low to infect others. Doctors and nurses are lining up to work in this clinic. Rotary International is planning to match any donations raised by Dr. Zajdlik EIGHT TIMES.

Ten dollars each, that’s all she’s asking.

http://www.masaicentre.ca/help.html