Initially formed as a response to the BBC Panorama programme Dead Mums Don’t Cry, Hope for Grace Kodindo is dedicated to making birth safer for the mothers and babies of the Hôpital Général de Référence in N’Djamena, in the Central African country of Chad, and supporting their dedicated team of midwives and obstetricians. However, due the success we had and the experience gained we have been able to spread our wings to other Sub - Saharan nations.

In 2007, we in HFGK were approached by a representative of the UNFPA (a wing of the United Nations), requesting that we consider extending our support to Liberia where the rate of maternal mortality is 1:8 and Sierra Leone where the rate is 1:7. Before any decision was made we asked Dr Kodindo whether she would be happy with us extending our support beyond Chad. We were not surprised to be told by Dr Grace that “I would be honoured for women’s lives to be saved in any country using money raised in my name.” Co-incidentally, Angela Gorman HFGK Chair was offered the opportunity to travel to Liberia in January 2008 with another charity to see the situation for herself and HFGK. Angela funded the visit herself and on return, recommended that the charity remit be extended to include Liberia, a country, which has only just emerged from a long civil war and has not, trained any doctors for 15yrs. The UNFPA Representative is understandably delighted that we are going to help Liberia. The charity’s work has come to the attention of the Welsh Assembly Government, who funded a further short visit in May for Angela to allow robust accountability arrangements for any future resources to be set up, plus funding for a midwife and neonatal colleague to begin the training for midwives, all of which was achieved. We have been made aware that the Liberian President Mrs Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been informed of our visits and intentions and wants to be kept informed via the Liberian Ambassador in London.