Susan Buxton Wood family name Wood
Susan Wood (1918-2006), British philanthropist and writer who helped create the African Medical Research Foundation (Amref) in Kenya and founded an enterprise to employ poor single mothers. She lived much of her life in Kenya.Life
Susan Buxton was born in an African mud hut. At the time, her English missionary parents were living in the Ituri Rainforest in an area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the age of two, she was carried in a litter on a six-month journey to the Nile and on to England where she spent her childhood. During training as a World War II nurse, she met the physician Michael Wood and they married in 1943, eventually having four children together.The young family moved to Kenya in 1947 seeking to make a difference there. Michael Wood set up a medical practice in Nairobi but demands for his surgical skills came from far beyond the city causing him to charter private flights to reach patients in remote locations. Soon he learned to fly and bought his own plane. To expand the reach of medical care, Susan and Michael Wood worked together to recruit more doctors and create the Flying Doctors Service, which evolved into the African Medical Research Foundation, and still later to Amref Health Africa. Michael Wood remained Director General of Amref for 29 years and Susan's work there continued even after her husband's death in 1987.
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