£300k anti-rabies campaign launch
99% fatal, 100% preventable: rabies is the world’s deadliest disease, killing 1,500 people each year in Tanzania alone and leading to the needless, brutal culling of thousands of healthy dogs.
Today, Glasgow charity Four Steps to Freedom calls for public support as they launch a £300,000 fundraising campaign to build and equip a new base for their life-saving work in Tanzania.
This base, “The Gongo Centre”, will provide the facilities they need to accelerate the battle against rabies, saving human lives and helping stop animal cruelty.
Glasgow, 18 August 2021
Glasgow charity Four Steps to Freedom was founded in 2015 by 71-year-old Phyllis Hutchison of Giffnock, Glasgow, following a visit to Tanzania where she witnessed the terrible impacts of rabies at first hand. Six years later, the charity is calling for support as it prepares to launch its biggest fundraising campaign yet.
The Four Steps to Freedom story began when Phyllis saw the cruel suffering of dozens of dogs, brutally injured and left to die in the streets of Meserani, Arusha Region, following an ‘anti-rabies cull’.
Then she discovered the human impact of rabies: a family torn apart by the death of their child after a rabid dog bite. 1500 families lose loved ones in this way in Tanzania every year.
Finally, Phyllis learned that dog culls don’t work: research shows that the only way to break the cycle of dog-to-human infection is the mass vaccination and sterilisation of dog populations; a humane methodology that saves lives and stops suffering. Phyllis said;
“I just knew I had to do something. I set up this charity in 2015, and since then I’ve dedicated every spare moment to raising funds and awareness to help stop rabies, save lives and end animal cruelty in Tanzania. Thanks to our supporters and volunteers, we’ve wiped out rabies in 21 communities of Tanzania already, but now we need to act faster to save more lives.
“That’s why we’ve pledged to build The Gongo Centre, to provide a dedicated base for our anti-rabies campaigns, an education centre for local communities, and a safe environment where our volunteer vets can work and train local professionals in life-saving work.”
Today marks the official launch of the fundraising campaign to raise £300,000 to build (£180,000) and equip (£120,000) The Gongo Centre, with a target completion date in 2022.
Gongo means ‘crutch’ in Swahili, and the Centre is named in honour of Phyllis’s beloved three-legged dog, Gongo, who lost a leg and suffered facial injuries following a brutal machete attack in Tanzania.
As the first Veterinary and Training Centre of Excellence in Tanzania’s Arusha region, The Gongo Centre will be built on land already owned by the charity. Plans for the Centre have already been drawn up and, upon completion, it will provide a base from which the charity will:
Vaccinate 20,000 animals per year
Spay & neuter 4,000 animals per year
Educate 1,000 local children per year in the safe and humane treatment of animals
Train 24 local vets per year in vital small-animal sterilisation skills to keep rabies in check
Accommodate two international volunteer vets on-site, all year round
Today, Four Steps for Freedom are calling for support from individuals and business owners, to help them in their campaign to build The Gongo Centre in 2022, providing a permanent base for their campaigns to wipe out rabies and save lives in Tanzania. There are many ways to get involved:
Donate money on a one-off or regular basis
Play the monthly Four Steps to Freedom Lottery to help raise funds for The Gongo Centre
Volunteer your time to support the charity: at home or in Tanzania
Make Four Steps to Freedom your business’s charity partner
Phyllis said,
“The clock is ticking, and every little helps. The World Health Organization has pledged to wipe out rabies completely by 2030, but for many that will be too late. If you have an idea for how you’d like to help us end rabies in Tanzania so we can save more lives and stop more suffering, please get in touch today: I’d love to hear from you.”
- ENDS -
Notes for Editors
The name, ‘Four Steps to Freedom’, refers to our tried-and-tested sustainable approach to wiping out rabies: vaccinate, spay and neuter, educate communities and support local vets. Read more.
Four Steps to Freedom is the known name of Friends of Mbwa Wa Africa Animal Rescue, a charity registered in Scotland Scottish Charity Number SC045521.
Mbwa Wa Africa Animal Rescue is the name of our Tanzanian partner charity, which acts as the base for our vaccination, spay and neuter campaigns in Tanzania. https://mbwa-wa-africa.org/
Read the World Health Organisation’s Rabies Fact Sheet: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/rabies
Read Gongo’s story
Contact Four Steps to Freedom
Phyllis Hutchison
07931 555977