SNAKE HANDLING : COURSES AND DEMONSTRATIONS
Due to lack of funding, life-saving anti-venom is not available in Swaziland, so people have no choice but to turn to more conventional cures.
For more information on the Eswatini Antivenom Foundation go to: eswatiniantivenom.org
1,000,000 people suffer from snake bites each year in Africa and 20,000 of those people die from it. Swaziland has a high number of victims of snake bites yearly. The correct anti-venom and treatment can help to stop the snakebite suffering and deaths.
Specialized medical treatment is needed to cure a snakebite and although herbal cures are great for certain things they are not enough to treat a bite from a Black mamba.
A modest, unassuming couple in Swaziland, Thea Litschka-Koen and Clifton Koen are reaching out with their hearts and hands to help the snakebite victims in rural Swaziland. Thea Litschka-Koen and Clifton Koen manage a large rural business in Simunye, Swaziland. Frustrated by the lack of medical services and in particular life-saving anti-venoms, Thea and Clifton have set up a charity Antivenom Swazi to raise funds to establish to treat snake bite victims in Swaziland.
The Eswatini Antivenom Foundation
has a mission which aims to raise funds to treat snake bite victims in Swaziland. In Swaziland there is a great percentage of snakebite sufferers and also a great deal of deaths caused by snakebites so if we raise enough to save one life then it is worthwhile.
The Eswatini Antivenom Foundation hopes to establish an anti-venom bank that can provide free anti-venoms to snake bite victims throughout the country, and plans to maintain emergency stocks in two locations so that anti-venom can reach any patient who needs it by road within 2 hours. They are involved in public education, teaching rural people to avoid snake bites and about the importance of seeking medical attention quickly, rather than delaying care i.e. seeking out local ‘Witch Doctors’.
If you would be interested in helping to support or make a donation go to:
Thea can also be contacted with regards to snake handling and snake identification courses at thea.koen@res.co.sz or Tel: (00268) 2313 47 58
GALLERY
