GUELPH – Dr. Anne-Marie Zajdlik is not in Lesotho, Africa during this COVID-19 pandemic.
But the mobile clinic the Guelph doctor and Rockwood resident launched in March has added the novel coronavirus to the list of diseases its staff will be treating as it travels through rural Lesotho.
The mobile health clinic is the latest initiative of Bracelet of Hope, the organization Zajdlik founded in 2005.
Its first goal was to raise $1 million to help support the Ontario Hospital Association’s Tsepong Clinic in Lesotho, the first AIDS clinic in the country.
In 2010, operations were turned over to the government of Lesotho and Bracelet of Hope changed its focus to supporting community-based groups in the fight against AIDS: foster homes for children orphaned by AIDS; income-generating programs; and now mobile health clinics.
The clinic will maintain its focus on combatting HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malnutrition among children, and improving health care in rural areas. However, it will now take extra precautions looking for symptoms of COVID-19 and refer people to hospital when necessary.
The mobile clinic is thanks to Guelph-Wellington area donors and major gifts from people like Danny Lui, pharmacist and owner of Prime Care Pharmacy Arboretum, local businessman Gord Riddle and Tracey Curtis, a financial advisor with Richardson GMP.
“We’ve all seen the work of this organization in Africa and decided to contribute to helping in the remote areas of Lesotho,” said Curtis, board chair and local Rotarian, in a press release.
In a phone interview, spokesperson Phil Maher said Zajdlik wasn’t able to go for the unveiling ceremony about two weeks ago, but Riddle and Curtis did.
“They are home and in quarantine now,” Maher said. “But we’ll be watching the coronavirus [and how it spreads through Lesotho]. They will be hard hit. They don’t have capacity at the best of times.”
The mobile clinic will be managed by a Swiss-based medical organization, SolidarMed which already works in the small African nation of Lesotho. Maher said Bracelet of Hope purchased the vehicle – about $80,000 – and will cover the annual operating cost of $20,000.
“We really appreciate the support from Guelph and Wellington County and just want our donors to know we’re continuing the fight,” Maher said.
For more information, visit braceletofhope.ca.
