Medzim Christmas Box Project

During November last year MedZim embarked on a fundraising project – the “Kidzcan Christmas Project” to give each Kidzcan Champion a special Christmas Box this Christmas. From a cake sale, bucket collecting in “Jesters” and a fantastic effort from the committee members in the UK. They managed to raise enough money to give 170 children a Christmas Box. An incredibly kind donation from two sponsors in Zimbabwe was donated, so that the remaining 112 boxes were covered and every child that Kidzcan supports received a Christmas Box for Christmas.  All 282 Kidzcan Champions also received an extra little gift brought over from the UK. A huge thank-you to MPS especially for kindly donating 75 plastic juice bottles to children aged between 11-18 years old.  Those under 11 years old received a Beatrix Potter storybook, a teddy bear or a racing car toy.

On behalf of MedZim we would like to thank all those who supported this project, your support means so much to us and will mean so much to all these children that you’ve helped make their Christmas even more special. All the boxes were packed on 17 December and we gave boxes to those who were in the hospital on 20th, fortunately for the children many had been sent home for Christmas. We continue to give the gifts to the children as they come back in for their follow-up treatments. Thank You to all who contributed to this wonderful project, it certainly made a difference to the children. This Christmas was a very special one.

Summary of Assistance 2011

During 2011 we saw a total of 363 patients, 222 were confirm to have cancer and were treated, a further 105 are still undergoing investigations, 19 were investigated and no cancer was detected, 15 were treated for blood disorders and the final 2 unfortunately passed away before the tests were completed.

Below is a graph of the number of children and types of cancers we saw during 2011.

We did the following procedures each month.

Income and Expenditure

Below is a graph showing the income and expenses for the year January to December 2011. We received a total of $ 208 267.46 – this includes the amount available through Friends of Kidzcan Zimbabwe and all corporate sponsorship, donations, fundraising and projects as well as interest on investment. We spent a total of $ 175 460.17, this includes the administration costs as well as the costs for the children. This leaves us with $ 32 807.29 to add to our development fund.

Interesting Statistics

Of the 363 patients we have seen during 2011, 77% are new, however we have seen some children that initially came to Kidzcan during 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 as well as 15% from 2010. For 2% of the patients we unfortunately have no record of when their initial contact with Kidzcan was.

39% of our patients are resident in Harare province – this is not necessarily where their home is as some of them are staying with relatives in the area due to their commitments at the hospital but it is their contact address. 9% come from Manicaland, a further 34% from Mashonaland Provinces – Central, East and West. 6% come in from Masvingo province, 5% from Matabeleland, 5% from Midlands and 2% unknown.

During 2011, the statistics for the number of instances per category of expenditure are as follows:

35%                Chemotherapy Drugs

13%                Blood and Blood Products

15%                Scans

18%                Transport Assistance

8%                Prescription Drugs

8%               Laboratory Tests

3%               Other items (Food Supplements, shunts, hearing aids, heart diagnostic tests etc.)

This is obviously not the same as the cost of these various categories. Due to the generous gestures of our partners, we have saved $ 52 000 this year on scans alone, we also receive assistance from the suppliers with our blood and blood products and chemotherapy and prescription drugs and during this year we have also been given special rates on our heart tests. Interestingly enough the cost of these categories are made up of the following percentages:

32%                Chemotherapy Drugs

15%                Blood and Blood Products

37%                Scans

3%                  Transport assistance for the patients

1%                  Prescription Drugs

9%                  Laboratory Tests

3%                  Other items (Food Supplements, shunts, hearing aids, heart diagnostic tests etc.)

Expenses 2011

During 2011 we have spent $175 460.17. 80% of this is costs directly related to the children and 20% on administration costs. There has been expenses related to Early Detection Posters and workshops that has changed our percentage over the year. The breakdown is as follows:

ADMINISTRATION COSTS 35 989.76
BLOOD & BLOOD PRODUCTS 20 789.50
CHEMOTHERAPY 44 339.23
FOOD SUPPLEMENTS 409.02
LABORATORY TESTS 11 798.00
MISCELLANEOUS 4 347.00
PRESCRIPTION DRUGS 1 071.66
SCANS 51 965.00
TRANSPORT COSTS 4 751.00

TOTAL EXPENSES FOR 2011
$175 460.17

Sponsor a Christmas Box for a child with cancer

The Medzim team (a group of Southampton Medical Students) have raised £ 112 so far, covering 11 boxes – 30 November 2011, keep an eye on this space, we will up date it as we receive contributions. Make a difference to a child with cancer in Zimbabwe at Christmas this year.

Students at Southampton Medical School Raise Funds for Kidzcan

In the week, beginning 21st November, Medzim (a group of Southampton Medical Students) started their “Kidzcan Christmas Project” aiming to raise enough money to surprise just over 280 children that Kidzcan have been helping to support this year with a special Christmas box this Christmas. The first fundraiser included a cake sale at Southampton General Hospital which raised £112, a great start. With less than a month to go till Christmas, if you would also like to be a part of this special project and sponsor a box for a child this Christmas please contact us through the website.

Friends Golf Day

The Friends of Kidzcan Fundraising Golf Day was held on Friday 29 July at Wingate Golf Club in Harare. 26 teams entered for the day, and a number of the teams chose to wear orange this year which was wonderful. There were three ‘Gin Tents’ scattered around the course. There was a raffle and an auction held at the prize giving in the evening. $ 9 913.00 was raised for the children and we would like to thank all involved for their support of and commitment to the Children.

Jenny Calderwood Run / Walk Report

The Jenny Calderwood Memorial Run for KidzCan 2011 was held on Africa Day and was a very special tribute to a dearly loved friend of the Peterhouse community and to the children of Zimbabwe suffering from cancer.  The day was a perfect “Africa Day” with clear blue skies and a warm sun.  The marimbas and the Peterhouse Authentic Voices of Africa choir played and sang until the trumpets sounded for the run to get underway.  
After the Peterhouse Headboy’s words,  the Springvale House children released 200 orange helium balloons and then the Rector sounded the gun for the first runners to set off.  
It would have made Jenny happy to be associated with the continuation of this special event for this special cause – helping children to fight cancer.

The final figure raised is $15 894 – $12 000 from the Peterhouse Group of schools comprising of Peterhouse, Peterhouse Girls and Springvale House. On the day $3 082 was taken ‘at the gate’ and Members from Uylesses, Survivors and Skull and Skud Bike Clubs came out to join us at the end as they had last year and presented us with $ 300 collected from the members of the clubs. A further $ 512.00 came in at the beginning of July to bring our total to $ 15 894.00. Thank you all so much for this amazing effort. A further $ 1 576.11 came in in July from the tuck shop and various well wishes, bringing the total up to $ 17 885.11 – an AMAZING contribution.

Plumpy’nut Makes a Difference

Kidzcan has been very generously donated Plumpy Nut, a Nutriset product. It is a high-protein, high-energy, peanut-based paste in a foil wrapper and is categorized by the WHO as a Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF).

Plumpy’nut is a paste containing peanuts, vegetable oil, powdered milk and sugar, vitamins and minerals, it is frequently used as a treatment for emergency malnutrition cases. It helps with rapid weight gain and is easy for children to eat since they can feed themselves the soft paste. The fortified peanut butter-like paste contains a balance of fats, carbohydrates and proteins, vitamins and minerals. Peanuts contain mono-unsaturated fats, which are easy to digest. They are also very high in calories, which means that a child will get a lot of energy from just small amounts, important because malnutrition shrinks the stomach. They are rich in zinc and protein — both good for the immune system and to aid long bone growth in reversing stunted height, while protein is also needed for muscle development. Peanuts are also a good source of vitamin E, an antioxidant that helps to convert food into energy. Plumpy’nut requires no water, preparation, or refrigeration which is wonderful for our children taking it home to a rural setting.

Since giving plumpy’nut to our children we have seen a noticable improvement. Often when they came into the hospital for their chemotherapy we would have to ‘build them up’ to it as they were not strong enough to receive the harsh treatment, however they are now able to receive their treatment immediately in most cases which helps with their response to the treatment and a more positive outcome.

We would like to thank those who donated this invaluable product and hope we can continue to use it for our children.