Autumn Bazaar for Bewal International Hospital

People from churches in Stourbridge got together at an Autumn Bazaar on Saturday, 27th October to raise money for a hospital in Pakistan. During the morning, Dr. Atiq- ur-Rehman, who is a consultant surgeon at Russells Hall Hospital spoke to them about the project.

Bewal International Hospital aims to provide basic health services for Pakistani people covering a population of approximately 300,000. When asked about what the hospital service was like in Pakistan, Dr Rehman said most of the hospitals are in the urban areas, there is almost no hospital service in rural areas. However, around 80 per cent of the Pakistani population live in rural areas. With so much medical service lacking, people are dying from simple diseases every year. For example, one in twenty young women die during child birth annually.

Most people cannot afford hospital bills because of poverty. Those who can pay have to travel long distances. The new hospital will only charge a basic fee for those who can pay and poor people will have a free service.

The project needs 1 million pounds. So far £280,000 have been raised and £200,000 have been spent on construction. Hopefully, the hospital will be put into operation in the summer of 2008.

BBC Midlands reported on this project in December, 2006. Earlier this year in July, over £17,000 were raised in a charity dinner in Birmingham.

The total amount raised by the bazaar is over £750 with extra raffle money still to come in.

For more information, please visit www.bewal.com or contact hospital@bewal.com.

For donations:
Account Name: ARM Trust
Account No. 22153904
Sort code: 40-43-17
Bank Name: HSBC