Our mission is simple. We provide direct medical care to needy patients in Mali in the form of hospital bill and pharmacy reimbursement. Your funds pay directly for medical care for those in need.
All our staff are volunteers.
- Where do we work? We work in Mali, a landlocked country in West Africa. Home of the famed Timbuktu, today Mali is one of the world’s most desperately poor regions.
- Who do we work with? We treat any and all patients identified at hospitals and villages throughout the country who have urgent medical needs and cannot otherwise afford treatment.
- Who are we? We are a small group of Malian doctors and American medical students and volunteers dedicated to improving the health of some of Mali’s poorest citizens.
- What does your donation buy? Your donation pays directly for medicines and medical care. Just $7-10 can treat an infant’s meningitis; $25 can pay for an adolescent’s pneumonia; $35 can provide for an echocardiogram; $150 pays for life saving emergency surgery.
- How can I help? We have a number of ways to help. You can make tax-deductible donations to Mali Medical Relief through the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center (501c3) online or via regular mail to Jeannette Rankin Peace Center, 519 South Higgins Avenue, Missoula, MT. 59801. If you are planning travel to Mali, you can help by making a site visit with our Malian doctors on the ground. Volunteer opportunities are also available.
- How we got our start. Our project began with a simple e-mail home. In August of 2007, Breanna Barger set out to begin a year-long research training program in malaria. Towards the end of her stay in April of 2008, she began working at Gabriel Touré National Hospital in Bamako, Mali. In the pediatric emergency room, Breanna recognized the incredible need of the patients and families.
Relief fund begins
When two of her patients died because of delayed antibiotic treatment she knew she had to do more to help. She wrote home of these stories and asked her friends and family to send what they could. Just $5-10 could help treat a child’s pneumonia or meningitis. The outpouring of support was more than expected; in just one week donations totaled more than $4000.
The project’s design was simple. After morning patient visits (rounds) the doctors and students would identify those patients with needs. They compiled a list of prescriptions and orders for tests, which were then filled by Breanna and other medical students with money from donations. The best part of the morning was delivering the medicines to the families, and seeing what genuine relief and gratitude they had for this life saving support.
The project was such a success that by the end of May a number of Malian medical students became involved and the program’s mission was expanded to the Point G National Hospital to treat urgent surgical cases. A month later, at the end of Breanna’s stay, the project had helped 33 patients with problems as diverse as meningitis, malaria, tuberculosis, amputations, and abdominal surgery.