Delighted and honoured to have been appointed as a Patron of charity CHASE Africa – who’s invaluable work with mobile family planning clinics in East Africa is an integral part of a sustainable population policy.
Part of the press release issued by CHASE is repeated below.
The UK based charity CHASE Africa (Community Health and Sustainable Environment) is proud to announce that British Record-Breaking Adventurer, Author and Sustainability Ambassador, Adrian Hayes, has become their latest patron.
Adrian says “Sustainability is the most overused, yet misunderstood, word in the English language today – and population the single biggest, yet least mentioned, factor in creating it. Giving women a choice is fundamental to the objective of a sustainable population in the world we live in, and I am delighted to support the excellent work of CHASE Africa in any way I can.”
CHASE Africa funds and provides mobile clinics delivering basic health care and family planning to remote areas of Eastern Africa. Often men and women in these areas don’t fully understand the benefits or have access to family planning. CHASE believes that by educating and explaining the benefits women will choose the number and spacing of their children, based on their economic and environmental conditions, the living standards and health of the whole family can be improved. Ultimately this gives families a chance to escape the cycle of poverty.
Robin Witt, CHASE Africa’s founder, said: “We are delighted that Adrian has agreed to support us as patron, his passion for sustainability and the environment closely aligns with our message that population growth is inextricably tied to environmental degradation in the fragile areas of Eastern Africa in which we work. Large families require more food, water and resources leaving little time for education and economic activity. The choices we take for granted are not always available in the wider world, our job is to provide that choice”.
CHASE Africa is a UK Based charity funding basic health care, family planning and environmental projects in Eastern Africa. They operate from the home of one of the founders and have now provide basic healthcare and related education to over 687,000 people with over 150,000 family planning treatments dispensed, equating to 261,798 Couple year protection These numbers exclude over a million condoms given away at the clinics.
By allowing women to choose the number and spacing of their children, based on their economic and environmental conditions, the living standards and health of the whole family can be improved.
With smaller families and longer breaks between births, everyone can be better nourished, access to education and thus employment are improved, and the number of potentially dangerous, unskilled abortions is reduced.
Smaller families require less food, water and firewood, reducing pressure on the environment.
In addition to the basic health care and family planning services CHASE have planted over a quarter of a million trees in the degraded areas in which they operate, providing a very visible link between population pressure and environmental degradation.
