A Weymouth midwife has accepted a generous donation on behalf of an overseas charity providing medical care in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases.
Humanitarian worker and midwife at Dorset County Hospital, Anna Kent has previously worked as a volunteer nurse and midwife for the charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
Médecins Sans Frontières translates to Doctors without Borders and offers medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare.
The teams are made up of tens of thousands of health professionals, as well as logistic and administrative staff.
The charity recently received a generous donation of £500 from the Weymouth branch of the Inner Wheel which is an international women's organisation founded to create friendship, service and understanding.
Ms Kent said: “The Inner Wheel have been really supportive. I have now given two talks to them.
“This donation is so important, and it will help with things like child birth. I worked with MSF in Sudan and Haiti providing nursing care. We believe that everybody should have access to good medical care.”
Whilst in South Sudan, she lived in a one-man tent and recalled a particularly intense shift where she helped a young local woman give birth to triplets which all survived against all odds.
She said: “The hardest thing was then discharging them back home, where the woman, Grace, had to walk across ground filled with landmines, civil war and food insecurity.
Ms Kent is now the mum to a seven-year-old and specialises in working with teenage pregnancy, public health and migrant health.
She has also written and published several books about her experiences including Frontline Midwife: My Story of Survival and Keeping Others Safe and Frontline Midwife: Finding Hope in Life Death and Birth.
The cheque was presented at a joint AGM and garden party and saw President, Sue Wormwald and International Service Organiser Sheila Chilvers present Ms Kent the £500.
The money was raised from various fundraisers that the organisation has hosted over the year.
A spokesperson for the Weymouth Inner Wheel said: “We raise money every year for an overseas charity. Anna has given many talks in the past for the Weymouth branch of the Inner Wheel.”
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