IMBP has stated that they have awarded $184,000 for health care initiatives
in Africa (http://www.breastmilkproject.org/wwd_hcd.php) 

This includes $22,448 to Milk Matters for "milk bank operations and
development", 
My question really was whether or not local milk banks are actually
receiving what appears to have been promised on the website?   This is what
they are marketing as having already happened to potential donors.


Yes Milk Matters has received $22,448 from IBMP and it has gone toward
paying for the blood tests which the mothers previously paid for themselves.
It has also covered micro testing the milk post pasteurization which has
eased our costs considerably.  It will maintain those costs for another year
or two (we hope).

Two very important factors not covered by costs or stats is the education of
lay people on the importance of human milk.  How did this happen - because
the milk was being handled with such care from LAX to Geneva to Johannesburg
to Cape Town/Durban.  All those airport handlers were amazed that something
like human milk was being sent across the globe - wow how important it must
be.  The cold storage company in Cape Town and Durban realized the
importance of human milk because they stored the +- 25 boxes (to Cape Town
on 3 occasions and 5/6 times to Durban) that were sent across and realized
how important human milk must be to all those premature babies we managed to
feed. 

During the times that we have been supplying the government hospitals with
donor milk the Drs have gone from seeing no mother and placing the baby on
formula.  Now they ask where the mother is, get her breastfeeding, if she is
HIV pos get her expressing and pasteurizing her own milk to feed the baby
and if none of those are possible then use donor milk.  Sadly if no donor
milk is available or the baby falls outside of the strict criteria only then
do they use formula.  How amazing is that - all done because we had an
injection of supply and the Drs could see for themselves the wonders and
importance of breast milk on the outcomes of the prems.  Yes they might have
read all those studies but nothing compares to the sight of seeing the baby
recover so well so quickly.

We could not have done that with all of the supposed $803,046 dollars sent
to Africa.  
Please remember that Milk Matters has received to date 3 donations of human
milk.  The others have been sent elsewhere and I only speak for how Milk
Matters has dealt with the donations and how they have worked for us and how
they have not been a disaster like in Haiti.  

What we have achieved might not be comparable in research and statistics but
it has made a huge difference in Cape Town to the lives of many premature
and sick babies.  No matter how much money we have we will never have enough
donors from our local communities.  1% of the population is trying to supply
donor milk to 40% of the population.  How we manage some days we do not know
but receiving donor milk for the USA has made a difference.

Once again I say we are grateful to IBMP for being passionate enough to set
up this project and we most gratefully receive any and all milk sent to us.
Every last drop does count and make a difference.  That's all that counts in
my book.

Kind regards
Linda Glynn
Milk Matters
Cape Town

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