Gift of the Givers has been donating vital CPAP Oxygen Machines to hospitals around the country to help save as many lives as possible.
Garden Route, South Africa (15 January 2021) – The Gift of the Givers Foundation is the largest disaster response non-governmental organisation of African origin on the African continent. The essence of their presence is to bring hope and restore dignity to the most vulnerable.
During the pandemic, the Gift of the Givers has been on the frontline of supporting all those in need. They have been donating food parcels, PPE, medical supplies and even makeovers to hospital wings.
Their latest donation is one that will really save lives. Public and private hospitals in Swellendam, Riversdale, Mossel Bay, Sedgefield, Knysna and George have received much-needed oxygen machines.
“The importance of delivering these machines timeously cannot be underestimated. We have witnessed thousands of desperate patients requesting oxygen concentrators or pouring into hospitals, in many cases travelling for several hours from hospital to hospital in search of oxygen.
“Tragically, due to unavailability of sufficient oxygen delivery machines, hundreds have died in their cars, in hospital queues, casualty departments or at home in their beds.” – Imtiaz Sooliman, Founder of the Gift of the Givers.
This isn’t the first donation of its kind. Gift of the Givers project manager Ali Sablay confirms that they have already delivered close to 600 CPAP machines to Eastern Cape hospitals. The CPAP machines conserve oxygen which is already a scarce resource.
“We donated close to 600 CPAP machines in the Eastern Cape, then we went to Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. The machine saves a lot of oxygen and since it is very scarce, the CPAP can be used as low flow and intermediate flow. Hospitals are using these machines in ICUs first because the recovery time is much better.” – Ali Sablay, Project Manager at Gift of the Givers.
Sablay confirms that when they arrive, hospital staff are exhausted, but the donations always reinvigorate their spirits.