About Us
Who are we?
Medical Aid Mission for Communities In need (MAMCI) is a student
group that was
established by two biomedical engineering graduates from
Queensland University of Technology (QUT), under the auspices of
Engineers Without Borders (EWB).
Our Mission
MAMCI seeks to set
up and maintain a healthcare centre for rural communities of
Papua New Guinea (PNG), to provide health support for area's that
often lack the basic facilities, equipment and knowledge. In
order to achieve this MAMCI has engaged students and its
partners and supporters to acquire
donations of medical equipment and supplies, Professionals to
train and educate to provide better health care for the
remote communities of PNG.
Our Objectives:
To set up a centre in the remote
community of Hayfield in
the East Sepik Province of PNG. The centre is planned to have
four main functions:
-
Perform as a
clinic for health services in a very neglected and
disadvantaged area that would directly benefit around 9000 village people.
-
Cater for
training facilities for transfer of knowledge to the local
clinical staff.
-
A
headquarters for repair, maintenance and distribution of
donated medical equipment from Australia to the remote aid
posts and health centres in the surrounding area
-
Facilities for the management team and for
visits of future students who will be an integral part of the
program.
The physical presence of the
MAMCI team on
the ground together with the centre to be established will
facilitate students and will increase their practical experience
and capabilities. This project will be used as leverage to
inspire and motivate young students to make a positive change in
the community.
Why PNG?
Papua New Guinea
which is just 2.5 hours flight from Australia is an extremely
poor country with 43% of its 5.3 million people living on less
than 1 USD a day. NGOs operating in the region are in constant
need of medical equipment to respond to the massive resulting
health problems.
Why this Project is
critical?
Every year tens of thousands of dollars of
useable medical equipment is discarded by hospitals across
Australia simply because the equipment has been superseded. Most
of this equipment ends up at the tip, even though much of it is
in perfect working order.
An investigative trip to PNG took place in
June 2007 to ascertain the needs of the hospitals and rural
health clinics in the remote areas of PNG. A strong partnership
was established with two local NGOs that provided the
opportunity to share their facilities and networks to set up a
health centre in a geographical centre that
will provide better healthcare for approximately 9,000
village people
“Many remote clinics are closed or cannot provide basic services
for a decade or more. For thousands village people walking
distance could take one to two days to come to the nearest
Health centre, establishing a health centre and upgrading
neglected aid posts will have a huge impact on the local village
people ” says Monica Otto the director of FOWAID - our main
local partner in PNG.
