Janet Dent
Gareth's page for Mothers of Africa
Fundraising for Mothers of Africa
Story
Mothers of Africa is a Medical Educational Charity that trains medical staff in Sub-Saharan Africa to care for mothers during pregnancy and childbirth.
'In February/March 2013 Gareth was working with Mothers of Africa in Liberia, in his documentary photographer role. He was passionate and excited about completing the project and in his own small way, making a difference to the individuals he would meet there.'
In Africa:
Each day, three Boeing 747s of mothers die in childbirth
A woman’s risk of dying from treatable or preventable complications of pregnancy and childbirth over the course of her lifetime is 1 in 6 (in developed regions, the risk is 1 in 7,300)
What we do about it
The main activities of the charity revolve around visits to Sub-Saharan Africa countries to provide training for anaesthetic medical staff at the front-line of maternal care.
Since the charity was set up in 2005, volunteers from Welsh hospitals have helped develop and deliver training in 4 countries; Ethiopia, Benin, Togo and Liberia.
The death toll from conditions that are so readily prevented or treated is shocking and outrageous. But, the fact that the deaths could be so easily avoided, by providing basic training, means that even a comparatively modest effort to change the situation can have significant results.
'Sadly, Gareth did not get to take a single photo in Liberia, as he would always seek to spend several days just being with and sharing life with the people he photographed, and he became unwell during this period.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR DONATIONS THAT WILL ENABLE THOSE THAT GARETH HAD ALREADY MET, AND OTHERS HE HAD YET TO MEET TO BENEFIT IN ANOTHER WAY FROM HIS TIME IN LIBERIA.'