Why Support Us?

We believe Health Volunteers International is worthy of your support because we are different from other charities.

Here are three reasons why.

We address the problem, not fix the smile

Our aim is to raise the quality of health care so patients in Africa have access to the same level of care that we enjoy in Australia. While taking a surgical team to perform operations provides a good result for individual patients, often the hospital situation is no better when the visiting team go home again and the underlying problems are not addressed. We believe in working with the local doctors and nurses to improve their knowledge and skills, leading to better care of their patients within the resources that is their everyday reality. We aim to improve the resources they have available too, but through advocacy at the government level, not through donating equipment that has not been asked for and will likely sit broken and unused in a storeroom somewhere. 

We make no assumptions

The problems are large and complex, and there is no easy fix.  

Health Volunteers International is committed to a robust programme of monitoring and evaluation of our activities, and to demonstrating that we are achieving our aim of reducing maternal deaths. We believe in working with local staff to improve the local infrastructure and build capacity. While this takes time and resources, we feel it is essential not to make assumptions. We are partnering with the University of Namibia, and organisations here in Australia and abroad, to assess our outcomes and prove we are slowly changing things for the better. We owe it to the patients in Africa, the doctors and nurses we work with there, and to our donors and supporters to do this. 

We put our money where the problem is

We rely on fundraising efforts to cover the administrative costs of the charity (like running this website), but direct financial donations are quarantined so that every dollar donated leads directly to making a difference to patients in Africa. We employ no staff and run only on the goodwill of volunteers. We are committed to making a difference to mothers and patients in Africa. We can't do it alone and we need financial support, but it is only fair that all support received finds its way to Africa where it is needed most.

If you are currently donating to a charity, how much of your donations are lost in "admin costs" and never make it to the people you are trying to help?