Namikango Faces the Shortages
Posted on | May 14, 2012
Thondwe, Malawi …Located in southeastern Malawi, the Namikango Maternity Clinic opened in 1975 in response to the need for maternal health care for a coverage area of over 51,721 people.
Today, the center helps deliver as many as 95 babies a month, and in 2011 provided maternal health care for 1,626 pregnant women. Symon J. Katete, the administrator for the clinic, reports concerning a recent shipment of drugs from the Malawi Project and World Emergency Relief, “The drugs greatly help us give health care to women and children, because we provide free services to the community in which we operate. These supplies help people who would not be able to get help anywhere else. The drugs would be very expensive and the poor would never be able to afford them. We were able to give them free because of this donation,” Katete explained.
The clinic is the only facility in the area specifically providing maternal and antenatal services. In view of the increased maternal death rates due to birth complications from women delivering in their villages, the government introduced the Service level agreements (SLA) with church facilities, so women could get free maternal care. This has proven successful and the death rate, due to complications, has been reduced.
However, Symon notes, “With the current crisis in health care supplies there is increased pressure on the clinic to provide necessary drugs and supplies.” He singled out the shortage of drugs and supplies nationwide as a major setback to these healthcare programs. “Even with us,” he notes, “the need for oxygen concentrators, and autoclaves are a must. Like so many others we are unable to access them due to the unavailability of spare parts anywhere in the country. It is this way with supplies everywhere. The shortage is causing people to die from lack of care.” By Wilson Isaac Tembo
Self Reliance Through a Wheelchair
Posted on | April 30, 2012
Another Self Sustaining Program
Salima, Malawi …The success of the Malawi Project to procure needed supplies, and to distribute them throughout Malawi has been a great success story. Governments, corporations, small businesses, not for profit organizations, churches and innumerable individuals have come together to make it happen. When these shipments reach Malawi, with hardships unrecognizable by the rest of the world, the people move to unload, store and distribute these goods where needed. People come from distant parts of the country, realizing great difficulty to reach the distribution points, to obtain goods that are often not for themselves, but for others they are trying to help.
Growing Numb with Numbers
As these shipments come and go, they often seem to be simply massive numbers; numbers of medical supplies, numbers of books, numbers of pencils and paper, numbers of pieces of literature. A shipment arrives, and distributed. Another comes, then another, and another. Sometimes, however, it is good to look back for a moment, and see the value of the supplies, through the eyes and life of a single individual.
George Banda, organizer and administrator of Kuchandiza Osayenda Disability Outreach (KODO), a program to help those with physical disabilities, takes a look back to one person who received assistance several years ago. Her name is Tomaida Chande, and in 2006 she was in grade 7 at the Yambe Primary School. When she came to K.O.D.O she was struggling to get by. Her and her grandmother received supplies, including a wheelchair, schoolbooks, blankets, and other items from one of the shipments. (
George reports today, “These items assisted the girl’s life at secondary school. She finished, passing her final exams with very good grades. This has enabled her to secure a course in accounting at one of the colleges in Lilongwe. Who would know she is still using the wheelchairs so many years later.”
Rather than give a man a fish, it is better to teach him to fish. In this case it might sound like this, “Rather than feed and care for this girl for life, it is better to give her a wheelchair.” Some call them, “self sustaining programs.” Whatever you call them they are spell S U C C E S S.
Shipment of Bibles and Commentaries
Posted on | April 21, 2012
Working with the Malawi Project in the U.S. and the Namikango Mission and Maternity Clinic in Malawi, two Canadian groups have supplied Bibles, Commentaries and other religious material to Malawi. Universal Aide and Compassionate Warehouse in British Columbia, Canada recently sent a 20-foot trailer filled with thousands of books for Bible students, church leaders, and church groups in Malawi. In the pictures of the truck being loaded in Victoria, British Columbia it appears to be a trailer filled with fruit from Dole. The boxes have proven to be a successful way of packing books and literature.
Funding Targets Maize Mill
Posted on | April 14, 2012
Dedza, Malawi … Funding made available through a major contributor has resulted in the construction of a new maize mill for the people in the Lintipi area of Malawi. The mill is located north of the Dedza Trading Center, and west of Highway M-1, in a remote mountainous area of Malawi. It is part of an ongoing project by MIBI, an outreach program of the Green Valley Church of Christ in Noblesville, Indiana, congregations in Malawi, and the Sunset International School in Lubbock, Texas.
MIBI stands for Malawi International Biblical Institute, and was created when Tribal Authority donated over 200 acres of land for the school project. When it is completed the site will house a major international preaching and leadership training facility to help develop the Christian community, along with other programs to assist the people to be self-sufficient.
Near the MIBI construction site, the Malawi Project is also assisting a grass roots Malawi organization, the Dzidalire Community Development Group, in the construction of a new medical facility. The Dedza District, and this area of Malawi in particular is one of the poorest regions of the country. Construction on this facility is expected to begin later this year.
Malawi President Suddenly Falls Ill and Dies
Posted on | April 6, 2012
Indianapolis, Indiana … News filtered out of Malawi mid-day Thursday indicating 78-year-old Bingu wa Mutharika had suffered a heart attack, and was rushed to Kamuzu Central Hospital for treatment. Reports and rumors became confusing as some sources indicated he was critically ill, but being flown to South Africa for treatment, while others reported he had not survived the initial heart attack. Contacts with the Malawi Project indicated the latter was true.
By Friday morning major media outlets were updating their stories to indicate the President had died, citing government officials and medical personnel as their sources. In respect for the Malawi people, and their government, it was only after word was released by government officials, that a statement was prepared by the Malawi Project.
“It is regrettable when any national leader suddenly and unexpectedly falls ill and dies while in public office,” states Scott Gordon, President of the Malawi Project, “I speak for all of the members of our Board of Directors when I extend our condolences to the family, and the people of Malawi. We grieve with them today over the loss of their President. We pray the government will make a peaceful transition of power under the terms of the Constitution.”
Mutharika was the third President to serve the Republic since it became an independent nation in 1964. He was elected in 2004, and re-elected to a second term in 2009. He would have completed his time in office with elections in 2014. Under Malawi law the first Vice-President, Joyce Banda, will move into the Presidency.
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