From Scottish Missionary to Digital Missionaries

We have previously featured Dr Daniel Grace F’05 for his work as a GP during the Covid crisis, as well as his role as an event and expedition doctor, but perhaps most famously for his work with Virtual Doctors, an organisation providing advice to rural clinics and hospitals in Zambia and Malawi via smartphone.

Daniel is now part of a pioneering expedition starting in September to revisit David Livingstone's historic expeditions whilst investigating contemporary disease epidemiology and the challenges associated with healthcare accessibility in Zambia and Malawi. As Daniel says, “service and dedication to improving the lives of others is something that is obviously well aligned to the values I developed whilst at Worth”.  

The Livingstone Revisited 2024 Expedition will be an exciting multidisciplinary project that links telemedicine, historical adventure and education in order to improve health inequalities. Daniel goes on to say, "Our 2,000 km journey aims to improve access to healthcare in rural communities, through onboarding new clinics, providing solar lighting and charging capabilities, running snakebite and trauma first aid workshops, and connecting with local stakeholders and patients. We'll also be filming our journey to raise awareness of the challenges these communities face every day.” All this whilst visiting key historical landmarks from Livingstone’s expeditions.

The aim of the project is to bridge the past and the present and make a real difference to healthcare in Zambia and Malawi. You can support Daniel on the expedition here and there are corporate sponsorship opportunities here.  They are still looking for an additional sponsor who might be interested in covering the cost of a Starlink device for one year for one of the clinics they will be visiting.