African Medical Mission Inc.

The African Medical Mission was founded in 1981 under the direction of Dr. Chris McConnachie, a member of Hendersonville Orthopedics & Associates of Hendersonville, NC. With his wife Jenny, a registered nurse, and their five children, Chris went to Umtata, South Africa in 1984 and has been in residence there ever since. Their family has grown to include two Transkeian boys. As of 2004, they've added four in-laws and four grandchildren. In the following years Dr.Chris McConnachie has performed orthopedic surgeries and treated many conditions, such as tuberculosis of the spine, polio, congenital defects and various other conditions virtually unknown today in North America or Europe. The scourge of HIV-AIDS poses problems for AMM, including caring for the sick and dying abandoned by their families, and teaching and promoting prevention. Chris is the only board-certified orthopedist in the Transkei, sometimes performs as many as 15 surgeries in a day. He visits outlying hospitals and treats upwards of 150 outpatients in a week.

Jenny's focus is the Itipini Community Project. Itipini is a squatter's camp grown up on an abandoned municipal dump outside of Umtata. About 3,000 people live there. AMM provides a primary health care clinic, a pre-school and a feeding program. An after school program has been added. A dramatic decrease in the infant mortality has been achieved. A group of the women have organized into a craft co-op to earn money for their families. They gather materials locally and receive donations from sources in South Africa and the U.S. Four donated land/sea containers have been employed as spaces for the clinic, the craft group, a pre-school program, and as a hospice center for the terminally ill. At the hospice container, residents can find counseling about AIDS and other serious diseases, family planning assistance and information on other health issues.

January starts the new school year in South Africa. Education is not available to those students who cannot pay the tuition and buy the books. And that includes almost all of the children at the Itipini squatters camp in Umtata. Tuition is $25.00, for $45.00 they can pay tuition and buy the needed uniform and books. During the month of November St. Peter's collects money to send to the Itipini Medical Mission for scholarships.

A special offering is collected the second Sunday of each month for the African Medical Mission and the people of Umtata.