‘Ms Delivery’ cycles for Birth Centre

GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - A local mother of three has been preparing in earnest for her attempt in August to complete a 200 km cycle ride to raise awareness of her vision for establishing a birth centre in Elandskraal.

The centre will be a facility for the rural residents in that area who lack basic medical care in their vicinity.
Mandi Busson, a tender-hearted, but also practical woman, is zealous about bettering the lives of the people in her area. She is a doula (birth companion) and has been training for the past four years to become a certified professional midwife (CPM).
The cycle ride will also be aimed at raising funds to enable Mandi to travel to the USA in September in order to write her final exams to obtain the CPM qualification.

Harsh life
Mandi and her husband Alan have been living on a small holding in Elandskraal for the past three years. "Life is harsh for many here," she says.

"Women wait by the side of the road, sometimes having to hitch a lift while in labour, as the ambulance takes too long to arrive or does not arrive at all. Parents carry their sick children up to 40 km to the nearest clinic and back, and old people stuck without transport desperately need care."

With the centre of her dreams, the Outeniqua Birth and Family Wellness Centre, she wants to change this. She hopes to obtain approval from the provincial government to use the local school building which stands empty. "It is presently only used for Sunday services for the local church, which could continue once the clinic is established."

Mandi envisions that the centre will offer basic healthcare, a facility where low risk mothers can give birth, small community businesses to fund the maintenance of the centre, a crèche, as well as training for community members as healthcare professionals. Productive food gardens and training for locals in organic home based food production are part of the plans.
Also being a qualified reflexologist / massage therapist and a passionate organic homestead farmer, Mandi is well suited to bring such a venture to fruition. And she has the enthusiastic support of Alan, resourceful and extremely knowledgeable on the subject of organic farming and community tourism development.

Future tourist route
The cycle tour, aptly dubbed ‘Ms Delivery Cycle Tour’, will start on Women’s Day, 9 August and will take Mandi and her young friend, Oscar Butler, who will be accompanying her, from Karatara along the Seven Passes road through Wilderness and then through the back roads to Goukamma and Buffels Bay to Knysna, and back. They want to complete the route in five days.

Tourist cycle route
Alan’s aim is to adapt this scenic route to become a permanent tourist cycle route. "Alan has been involved in a non-governmental organisation, Be@Root, for the last few years and has done much community development work specifically related to community tourism," explains Mandi.

Support and donations
Funds that Mandi hopes to collect will be used to cover the costs of her exam fees and final courses for the CPM qualification, as well as accommodation and travel to the USA where she will have to stay for six weeks. R60 000 is needed of which R12 000 has already been raised.
Everyone is welcome to be at the starting point on 9 August in support of her efforts and if people wish to make donations, no matter how small, they may phone Mandi on 084 840 2445.

Visit www.msdelivery.wordpress.com for more information.