On the road to Ethiopia

Published: 14 March 2012

Why is Dr Margaret McDougald, obstetrician gynaecologist and mother of seven, off to remote post in Africa for two years?

Dr McDougald is based in Mille, where she is working with the Afar Pastoralists Development Association.

She will be helping the Afar nomadic people whose unique culture revolve around tending their sheep, goats, camels and cattle. There are about 1.4 million Afar people in a country with a population of 74 million so they are very much a minority group whose rights and needs are generally overlooked.

To help with the work, a group from the Newark area are setting up a UK branch of an Australian-based charity, the Barbara May Foundation. They want people to become members of the Barbara May Foundation UK in return for a monthly donation of £5, which will help to pay for the work in Ethiopia.

Where the money goes

Donations would make a real difference and ensure a steady income stream, says Dr McDougald: “Because I will be in the field I can influence how the money is spent and report back to the donors. They, in turn, can decide how they want their donations to be spent.”

The foundation helps the work of the Afar Pastoralists Development Association which was set up by Valerie Browning, a nurse from Australia, and her husband Ismael, an Afar elder. She is so well respected by the Afar people she is known as Maalika, which means “Queen”.

One of the major problems for the Afar people is the health of their women in pregnancy. One in 12 Afar women dies because of pregnancy problems. To help overcome this, the association is setting up a network of trained and equipped birth attendants. They can help with the care of the mothers-to-be and deliver babies of women classed as low risk. Those thought to be at risk are referred to waiting areas when nearing delivery. If there is any difficulty during labour they can be taken to a small maternity hospital.

The aim is to create a network so women who may have problems are no more than two hours from emergency help. Dr McDougald will be at the only maternity hospital in the area with a target population of about 100,000. She will be there to operate on women who need a caesarean section.

Social outcasts

If a woman cannot get help during childbirth there is a risk of her or her child dying. If she does survive she may be left with a fistula, which means she leaks urine continually and will be rejected by her family and society.

Dr McDougald volunteered for the work after attending a conference where Australian-trained gynaecologist Dr Andrew Browning was a speaker. He has worked in Ethiopia since 2001 and asked for volunteers to go out for three months at a time. Dr McDougald felt she needed to spend longer to get established and agreed to go for two years. She will be self-supporting during that time.

The whole project is funded by donations. The Barbara May Foundation UK website is very informative and helps raise understanding of the isolation and weather conditions that affect life for the Agar people. It also accepts donations from people who want to help.