Island was founded by Maureen Butterfield whose daughter Frances battled with cervical cancer and died in 1977, a few days short of her 20th birthday. Since that time Island has supported thousands of Zimbabweans facing life threatening illnesses, bereavement & trauma; trained other start up hospices in multiple African countries & in 2017 was selected by the World Health Organization to be evaluated to be a demonstration site for Africa. We require funding support to document this rich history
In 1979, Maureen Butterfield with a few friends founded the first hospice in Africa, Island Hospice & Healthcare. Maureen deeply regretted that in the eight months of her young daughter's battle with cervical cancer the word "death" never entered their conversations and she felt they were never truly prepared for her death. Island has trained multiple hospices in Africa, served thousands & become a centre of excellence. We turn 40 in 2019 & our story needs to be told through a documentary.
Nicola Simmonds, has over 30 years experience as a producer/director, writer and she has agreed to produce a short documentary about Island at cost. The funds raised on Global Giving will be used to pay for a short documentary that details the history, the models of care and the organizations impact.
The documentary will honour the founders and raise the organizations profile which we believe will lead to increased funding for the 1 in 60 Zimbabweans (WHO) in need of palliative care services in the country. Last year Island provided services to more than 14,500 patients and the need grows daily.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
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