Doctors Without Borders (MSF) tour to visit Middelburg Mall
A team of Doctors Without Borders (MSF)’s fundraisers embark on a three week-long tour in Mpumalanga – including a visit to Middelburg Mall – to raise funds and awareness about the organization’s medical relief work responding to emergencies in flooded Malawi, the ongoing conflict in South Sudan, Central African Republic, Ukraine and West Africa’s Ebola outbreak.
We want to speak to South Africans at all levels – showcasing the work we do around the world and how their support saves lives. Because of the donations of ordinary South Africans MSF is able to respond so quickly to these emergencies by bringing medical care, says Kelly Barlow, MSF South Africa’s face-to-face (F2F) travel teams coordinator.
Face-to-face fundraisers work in shopping malls in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town to interact with shoppers asking them to make regular donations and raise awareness about MSF SA’s medical work throughout the world. In addition, about three tours are organized per year for the teams to visit different provinces where MSF does not have fundraisers.
The tour (which runs from 2 to 21 March) will see the fundraisers visit three shopping centers throughout Mpumalanga where they speak to shoppers about MSF’s work.
Shoppers will also have the opportunity to learn more about MSF’s projects in over 65 countries worldwide and get to see the tools our fieldworkers use to save lives working on the frontlines.
After the Mpumalanga tour, the face-to-face fundraisers will head to Limpopo for two weeks for a similar tour.
MSF midwife Carli Britz, recently back from working in a refugee camp in South Sudan where she helped mothers give birth safely, will visit the Riverside Mall in Nelspruit on selected days to meet shoppers and share her experience (full details below).
To give the curious a further look behind the scenes at MSF’s humanitarian work the fundraisers will also host free documentary screenings of the multi-award winning film, ‘Living in Emergency’ in Nelspruit and Polokwane.
We hope that these activities will allow people to directly experience MSF’s work, and to understand how they help our fieldworkers be the difference between life and death for people caught in crisis during natural disasters, conflicts, war, epidemics and when they face healthcare exclusion, adds Barlow.
Tour schedule and further information:
F2F team schedule in Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces (2 March – 4 April 2015)
2 – 7 March | Middelburg Mall, Middelburg |
10 – 14 March | I’Langa Mall, Nelspruit |
16 – 21 March | Riverside Mall, Nelspruit |
Visits by Carli Britz, MSF midwife
Tuesday, 17 March 15:00 – 17:00 | Visit to Riverside Mall, Nelspruit |
Tuesday, 17 March 19:00 – 21:00 | Screening of ‘Living in Emergency’ at StayEasy Emnotweni, Nelspruit |
Wednesday, 18 March 09:00 – 12:00 | Visit to Riverside Mall, Nelspruit |
About the documentary ‘Living in Emergency’
Focusing on Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the documentary interweaves the stories of four MSF doctors as they struggle to provide emergency medical care under extreme conditions.
Each doctor must find their own way to face the challenges of the work, the tough decisions and choices they have to make. The documentary was shortlisted by the US-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as one of 15 films in the Documentary Feature category for the 82nd Academy Awards.
Click here for more information about Living in Emergency.
Article Source: Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF)