Easter Appeal 2011

March 29, 2011 - 14:56

I wanted to update you on some of the work that EMMS International has been supporting as a result of your help over the past year. Your support is making a real difference to the lives of some of the poorest people in the world.

We are helping people like Moola, who has advanced breast cancer. Like many in her situation, she has psychological distress as well as pain. She worries about her children’s future, their reputation in the community, outstanding debts, finding resources to pay for food and clothes and the strain that her illness puts on her family.

Moola is supported by the work of Emmanuel Hospital Association’s Palliative Care programme. Meeting with the Palliative Care team at Harriet Benson Memorial Hospital in Lalitpur gives Moola the opportunity to discuss her concerns, as well as managing her symptoms. This brings noticeable relief to her suffering. Last year, we were able to provide £17,000 to help establish this essential service.

We also contributed £5,000 to Shalom Delhi AIDS Clinic, £8,500 to community health work in Nepal and £20,000 to Prem Jyoti Community Hospital. We were able to support these important services because we could direct our funds to where the needs are greatest, providing essential health care to people who would otherwise be unable to access it.

These services prevent people dying from treatable diseases. They provide pain relief and psychosocial care for people with terminal illnesses. They help to improve basic community health services that we take for granted. And they enable people living with HIV & AIDS to access the treatment and support that they need.

To do more of this we need to increase our income so that we can work closely with our partners, responding to where the needs are greatest. And we want to keep you and other supporters fully informed of progress through newsletters, the website and other communications.

This year, VAT and National Insurance increases, rising inflation, the weak pound and wider economic challenges are combining to make it harder for us to do the things that we need to do.

I am therefore asking to you to give whatever you can to support our work. You can also help us to better plan for the future by giving a regular gift by standing order.

Your gift will enable EMMS International to effectively support our partners and help people who need hospital and hospice care, those who are suffering from HIV & AIDS and other diseases, and provide good local health services to communities that desperately need them.

Please give whatever you can.

Yours sincerely,

James M Wells

Chief Executive