MEDyARTE

MEDyARTE is a Charitable Foundation operating across the entire world. It was set up with the view of providing an opportunity to lead a life with dignity to those who need financial support to achieve such a goal.

Having considered dignity as the most essential and undeniable value of conditio humana which should be viewed in the widest sense of the word, the founders decided to undertake work in those fields where they personally have most knowledge and experience.

True to the concepts of medicine and art contained in its name, the Foundation undertakes projects supporting health and promoting development of artistic potential in individuals and whole communities.

OUR PRINCIPLES

MEDyARTE works all over the world without any limitations. We do not provide emergency help in crisis zones, but initiate projects which become self-sustainable in the long term. We support the use of natural raw materials. We aim to improve local standards of living and healthcare provision. MEDyARTE values, helps to protect and supports traditional forms of art and craft. In an effort to achieve these goals we develop links and work together with trusted local organisations.

About

 

MEDyARTE foundation was set up in August 2017 by two doctors and an anthropologist who has spent most of his life studying various cultures around the world. Its conception was a direct response to global inequalities observed during individual travels and a deep desire to make a difference.

The trigger for the formation of MEDyARTE was an event which had occurred two years earlier in Indonesia. While visiting Borneo, organisation founder Gosia was called to see a gravely sick man and asked to offer medical advice. The man, although rich by local standards, was clearly dying and had received neither a proper diagnosis nor adequate medication. This is because access to medical care is difficult and prohibitively expensive in a country whose inhabitants are scattered over many islands, with limited road networks and specialist care which is concentrated mainly in the capital.

Gosia was deeply affected by this meeting – if appropriate care could not be accessed even by those with the money to buy it, what chance did the majority of the population have, with the additional hindrances of geographical remoteness and poverty?

Could health provision be improved, and how? Could the rich heritage and culture of these people somehow be channelled so as to enhance the local economy and empower local populations to enact improvements to healthcare and education themselves? And in so doing might these precious and unique cultural traditions be nurtured and preserved

Our Team

Malgorzata (Gosia) Trubshaw
Malgorzata (Gosia) Trubshaw was born in Warsaw, Poland but has lived in England since 1989. Having graduated as a doctor from St George’s Hospital Medical School, University of London in 1995, she now works as a General Practitioner but additionally has developed a passionate interest and expertise in neurology. For over fifteen years she has been practicing as a Neurology Specialist in the field of Epilepsy and Headaches, working in various hospitals and community clinics in London and Surrey and collaborating with local Clinical Commissioning Groups in designing plans for improvement of local community neurology care. Malgorzata has always identified strongly with her Polish background and cultural heritage and was a co-founder of a successful and vibrant volunteer run library at the largest Polish School in London under the name of Marii Sklodowskiej-Curie. Throughout her life, she has travelled to the furthest parts of the world admiring the versatility of cultures and the beauty of nature, at the same time finding inequality around every corner. Her dream is to help people to live with dignity regardless of birthplace and believes that no matter how impossible a task appears, full and committed application of determination and effort will allow it to be achieved. Malgorzata also believes that even one person can make a significant difference to the world’s future: the MEDyARTE foundation was born out of this belief. Her motto is Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away
Cecilia Harrington

Born in Scotland by Swedish parents but raised in Sweden, Cecilia returned to the UK in 1982 at the age of 19. After working in hospitality and administration and raising a family, she became a teaching assistant at a local primary school, where she is also a governor. Her main role at school is to support troubled children with their emotional needs. This can be through group work on social skills or friendship problems, as well as one to one sessions helping children understand their feelings and actions, while being a sympathetic listener. The mental well-being of our children is very important to Cecilia, as is education as a way of bettering their lives. Being from a multi cultural background herself, Cecilia is passionate about having access to ones cultural roots and heritage to foster a feeling of belonging. Cecilia enjoys the arts and literature of both the UK and Sweden. Nature is important to her and she is happiest when spending time outdoors walking, swimming and horse riding with her family and dogs.

Tomasz Mazur

Tomasz Mazur has graduated from Munich University with a degree in Cultural Anthropology having also previously completed a degree in Social Sciences at Uniwersytet Pedagogiczny in Krakow, Poland. He currently teaches at an Institute for children with hearing impairment in Straubing in Germany also works as a translator and an interpreter. Since his early twenties, he has travelled the world and spent extended periods of time in more than 100 countries across all five continents, concentrating his passion and interest on countries in Asia and Latin America studying their languages, traditions and religions. Tomasz is an author of several press articles concerning the non-western world. His particular area of interest and expertise is intercultural communication. Both in Poland and in Germany he has led many workshops and lectured widely on this subject. In the nineties, he set up a publishing house specialising in editing tourist guides. In addition to writing a tourist guide about Munich and Turkey, he has published two further books: one of them, (released in 2003) explores a culture of India and in 2006 was nominated for a prestigious Beata Pawlak award. In 2013, he published a collection of essays based on experiences gathered during his travels over the years entitled "Anatomy of existence" In 2017, he was awarded a distinction for his life’s work in the field of intercultural dialogue. He is a member of Polish Writers Association. He would like to offer his extensive experience, knowledge of languages and understanding of cultural backgrounds to MEDyARTE Foundation in aspects of research, choice of appropriate locations for projects and then their management.

Our Work

Breaking News!

Update on Helicobacter Project


 

Our first project which started in 2017 is still ongoing and continues to be very successful. On Borneo we have developed a working relationship with a small local non-governmental organisation (Ransel Buku) and with their help we have built a children’s library on the banks of the Ruanga river in Central Kalimantan. This is much more than just a simple library: it is an “educational after school club”, in the form of an afternoon school. It not only offers children in impoverished villages access to books but also teaches diverse subjects such as traditional local dance and music, environmental protection and provides health education, as well as giving supplementary teaching on topics covered by the standard school curriculum. This programme helps to shield children from the (often harmful) temptations of the everyday world and gives them unrivalled opportunities.

In another project, also on Borneo, we have provided two villages, each of 400 people, each with water filters. As a result, there has been a 50% reduction in the frequency of diarrhoeal illness in both areas. This initiative was accompanied by educational events focussing not only on how to operate the filters but also on more general health and well-being issues such as hand and food hygiene and methods of disease transmission.
As well as the clear health benefits of the water filters, their introduction brought financial and environmental benefits: villagers no longer need to buy bottled water thereby reducing yearly household expenditure by at least 120$ and the volume of single use plastic.

In a separate project we funded the purchase of traditional shepherds’ instruments for a mountaineer’s music school in Poland. They were commissioned from local artisans and are replicas of historically important instruments that time has almost forgotten, found in museums and in private ownership of local families. There are only a few people left who know how to play them and the idea behind this project was to revive these forgotten skills amongst the next generations. Children in the mountain area of Zakopane have been able to attend individual classes and group music sessions over the last three years which allowed them to master the new instruments with a high level of confidence. The instruments have gained increasing popularity amongst the students resulting in growing number of national and international awards.

The aims of our Foundation would not be fulfilled without a further medical project. In 2019 we managed to set up a medical clinic at an altitude of 3500m in a remote part of the Himalayas, in Nepal. Despite many challenges the clinic has been effectively providing medical care to the population of the Nar Phu Valle,y reducing significantly morbidity and mortality in the area. An additional part of this project occurred in November 2022, involving population testing for Helicobacter Pylori, a stomach infection responsible for symptoms of gastritis, which is very prevalent locally. We were able to offer eradication treatment to a large part of the population and impart knowledge about long term management of the condition to the medical staff in the health posts. This hopefully will make a significant lasting impact. 

Finally, we started cooperation with a Cultural Museum in Kyrgyzstan initially providing display cabinets for valuable requisites in order to protect them from exposure to the elements and gradual damage. In the long run however we hope to develop a more specific programme which will support artisans in their endeavours to impart knowledge and skills to the next generation and which will ensure protection of Kyrgyz culture.

 

 

Contact

Address
MEDyARTE
PO Box 443
Leatherhead
United Kingdom
KT22 2JJ

Registered Charity Number: 1174295

Contact us

    Registered Charity Number: 1174295