Beryl Thyer Memorial Africa Trust (BTMAT)

As usual I am experiencing internet connection problems here in Cameroon I arrived at Douala airport earlier than usual last Saturday and passed through in daylight without hindrance. I was approached outside the airport by a very persistent group of youths who said “Welcome to Cameroon”, and then tried to grab one of my cases…

You may have read in the Archive of February 2012, about BTMAT’s mobile phone initiative. A study of the anticipated usefulness of simple phones in our follow-up work in Cameroon was presented at the SIOP Auckland conference, and at a meeting of doctors interested in paediatric oncology in developing countries in London. Lorreta Chindo –…

I have never seen the London Marathon live before. Only seen it on TV. Today I was there, with friends and family, to watch it live. Claire McLoughlin – friend of my son David and Sara his girlfriend – ran it for the Beryl Thyer Trust. We saw Claire at mile 18, going well, and…

The results of our Burkitt lymphoma treatment programme under the clinical direction of Prof Peter Hesseling and supported by BTMAT are acknowledged as the best recorded in small resource limited hospitals in subSaharan Africa. We are justifiably proud of the results of our hospital chemotherapy but of equal importance is advocacy for the programme in…

Claire Here’s Claire McLoughlin, in a park in Hackney. Four of the Trustees met her here at the end of March. A powerful, cheerful, and determined lady. There are four gruelling hours of running ahead of her on April 22nd. She is closing on her target of £2,000 for BTMAT. We will be there to…

We try hard to cure as many of our child cancer patients as we can. You may have read elsewhere: Q ‘What is our main aim ?’ A ‘To save the lives of children’ Q ‘What is our next aim?’ A ‘To save the lives of children’ Q ‘What is our next aim?’ A ‘To…

Major child cancer congresses organised by the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP), are held annually, in different host countries. Continental, smaller SIOP congresses are also held. The most recent was in Cape Town, March 19 – 24. Trustee Dr Paul Wharin and I were there. Also present was a strong contingent of colleagues from…

Our Clinical Director has family in Rugby; his daughter Sonella has recently had her first child. Prof Peter and his wife came to visit them there. Peter expressed the desire to come to Warkton one day, to meet all Trustees of BTMAT, with a view to reviewing what we have achieved together in the past,…

BTMAT’s project about the use of mobile phones as a useful means of following up children with cancer in rural Cameroon has already been mentioned in this website. In 2010 Prof Hesseling and I met people representing the American organisation called Jiv Daya Foundation at a child cancer congress in Boston, USA. At that meeting…

You will find reference to World Child Cancer elsewhere in this website. It is a British charitable organisation younger than our own, but bigger, mightily supported by influential people, and global in its reach. World Child Cancer seeks to support organisations that work for children with cancer anywhere in the world. It actively seeks out people…