Tuesday, 8 August 2023
Since 1950, SIM’s Galmi Hospital has been providing compassionate care to patients from all walks of life. The 180-bed hospital and outpatient clinics, located in a farming area in West Africa and on the edge of the Sahara Desert, serve up to 300 men, women and children daily.
Poor rain, infertile soil and the use of manual farming techniques mean locals generally live from hand to mouth. Health care is considered a luxury and the poorest in the community will often ignore their symptoms or resort to dangerous methods of health care before seeking professional attention at a hospital or clinic.
SIMaid’s Galmi Hospital Benevolent Fund financially assists impoverished patients who are unable to pay hospital fees due to poverty or other social factors. Financially assisting the patients at Galmi Hospital enables them to access good health care and provides a tangible expression of God’s compassion. It also improves the quality of life for a vulnerable population. The Benevolent Fund allows patients to receive life-saving medical or surgical care. Patients with chronic treatable diseases, terminal illnesses, diabetics, and those with cancer are among those who benefit from these funds. Moussa* is just one young teenager whose life has been helped by the generosity of the Benevolent Fund.
Moussa’s story
Over many months, Moussa has been embarking on a long walk from home every day to survive. Last year, Galmi staff diagnosed this 11-year-old boy with Type 1 diabetes, meaning he would need daily insulin injections for the rest of his life. In Niger, due to inaccessibility to insulin and medical care, it is a serious diagnosis that can often lead to fatality. SIMaid’s Galmi Benevolent Fund provides free daily (or twice daily if needed) insulin injections for any person with diabetes who needs it.
“I cannot tell you how many times I have sat down to counsel the family of a child with new onset diabetes that their precious little one will be needing life-sustaining injections forever,” shared Dr Matt Megill.
“It’s a hard sell… even though we are not asking for money! While a patient living in Galmi goes through a moderate inconvenience to come to our hospital every day, most of our patients are from rural villages and live on subsistence farming. Daily transport fees are simply not an option. And while some pharmacies will sell the drug, rural towns typically do not have the electricity needed for refrigeration. With many little mouths to feed, rather than prioritise care for the diabetic child, many families will ‘run the risk’ that we medical providers are simply wrong. So many recently diagnosed diabetics tragically pass in this way.”
For these reasons, Matt was both surprised and delighted when he spotted Moussa in Galmi’s outpatient department. Several Galmi physicians had started him on his lifesustaining daily insulin injections the year prior.
Matt shared, “But what most touched me, was that, even though his village was off the paved highway several kilometers away, Moussa’s chart showed that he had been faithfully hiking in – one hour each way! He understood that his life depended on it.”
Matt called one of his colleagues and asked how they could help this boy get to the hospital each day as with a bike the commute would be much easier. The colleague sat down with Moussa and his mother to ask if he knew how to ride a bike and if they could keep one safe. After receiving the green light to the questions, Moussa was presented with a local bike paid for by SIM mission workers. Moussa flashed a huge smile as he took off on his new gift.
After chatting with the hospital evangelist one day, Matt was happy to see Moussa interrupt them. At that moment, he learned that Moussa and another insulin-dependent diabetic boy had visited the evangelists’ office daily to hear a Bible story. Praise God that Moussa is receiving life-saving medication and hearing about the greatest Gift of all.
*Name changed to protect identity
GIVE: Do you want to support Galmi patients in need of life-saving medical treatment? You can give a tax-deductible gift to the Galmi Hospital Benevolent Fund (097245) by visiting
sim.org.au/galmi.
GO: Do you want to serve in a hospital or medical ministry in Africa with your skills? Find out more about the available ministry opportunities at
sim.org.au/health.
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