IDEALS is very fortunate to have the voluntary services of Dr Andy Ferguson who combines his busy General Practioner work in Sheffield with world wide humanitarian assistance. Andy is qualified in Public Health and Family Medicine as well as holding the Diploma in Tropical Medicine.
During September and October 2009 Andy Ferguson was resident in the North West Frontier of Pakistan and remained there despite a severe deterioration in the security situation. His courage was rewarded in many ways because he was able to complete a substantial, and probably unique, report entitled "Health in the Federally Administered Tribal Area, Pakistan". (The area on the Afghanistan Pakistan border has always been the site of war and impoverishment.) This study not only demonstrated the health service deficiencies) which are made much worse by the continuing war -- but also suggested long term pragmatic ways to alleviate the problems. IDEALS will rely heavily on this work when planning projects in the area. In addition Andy was able to supervise the continuing local work of IDEALS -- especially the Midwifery Course which began in April 2009.
Andy also assisted our partner organisation CAMP as expressed by their chairman. "Andy spent very useful two months here in our office. His stay at CAMP was extremely fruitful and helped enhance our capacity in health sector. He produced number of proposals/applications on health and compiled an excellent health resource pack. He was also very helpful on the monitoring side" identifying gaps and suggesting very effective solutions. He also had worked very closely with the staff, who learned a great deal on managing health projects more effectively from him. I do not have words to express my gratitude for his help during his two months stay in CAMP.
At a time when Peshawar and Islamabad were being indiscriminately bombed Dr Ferguson remained in post giving hope to our Pakistani colleagues and raising their morale by his presence. We are truly grateful to him for his dedication and commitment .
Sun 10 Jan 2010