Scott Gordon, President of the Malawi Project, was at the site in July for the groundbreaking ceremony for the new hospital. Nearby was the growing stockpile of bricks. He observes, “Can you imagine a pile of 200,000 bricks made one brick at a time, by hand? This is the commitment of the impoverished village people in the area. They are determined to do all they can to get this hospital constructed, and the school underway. In a western culture where the heavy lifting is done with machines, it is hard to imagine making bricks by hand, one mold of mud at a time. Their commitment leaves ours something to be desired. We have ample heath-care, even though we complain at times over its cost. The fact is that we have new hospitals all over America. We have pharmacies, manufacturers, and abundant supplies of drugs and resources. We have doctors and healthcare workers available at a moments notice, and we have emergency response teams in nearly every fire station across the country. Malawi has none of these. No wonder they are so eager to have this hospital.”

The current value of a brick in Malawi is 2 Kwacha. That means the brick contribution is worth at least 400,000 Kwacha, or approximately $2,500.00. In a part of the country where the average person makes less than $1.00 a day, and unemployment runs 50%, this work is compounded in value.

More Than Simply Bricks
This is the villagers’ contribution to building the new hospital. But this is not their only contribution. With a Shoes for Trees program in place much of 2010 and 2011 the village people planted thousands of trees all over the property to enhance the beauty and value of the land donated for the school, hospital, and training center for helping develop self reliance in the local population, primary the widows and orphans. The program stopped, and the shoes ran out, but the village people did not. They have continued making bricks, planting trees, and cutting a road across the mountain to give access to the upcoming facilities. This work is all being done by hand.
Your tax deductible  donation is needed:

Online:

Via Mail:The Malawi Project, Inc. c/o Mike Ferris – Treasurer 1356 5th Ave, Terre Haute, IN 47807

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“Having a picture of a small health facility like Msipe, one may think the situation is better in some main hospitals of the country,” Wilson starts his report. “But contrary to expectations, these government run centers are in a critical situation with many challenges when it comes to acquiring drugs and equipment that are needed to deliver health care to the masses.”

“A few days after visiting Msipe in central Malawi, we made some donations to the southwestern district hospital of Mwanza. This hospital serves a population of 94,000 people, near the Malawi-Mozambique border. Like Msipe, it has a massive task in trying to serve the needs of the people because of inadequate supplies. The District health Officer, Dr. Bwanali Jereni confirms that with a 250-bed capacity, the hospital has over 350 patients at a time. This means that over 100 people sleep on the floor without beds and mattress.”

“Dr. Bwanali Jereni explains why there is such a high population count of patients at this hospital. ‘More patients come from neighboring Mozambique, and other districts like Chikhwawa and Neno, because of the geographical position of this area. It is impractical for patients to walk to the Chikhwawa District Hospital, or to other centers in Neno. As a result they flock to Mwanza, because it is accessible. The roads are poor and hilly in the other areas so people prefer to come to our hospital. This increases our count, and the need for more supplies goes up.’”

“Like Msipe Health Centre in Central Malawi, Mwanza district Hospital has a high number of cases of malaria, HIV/AIDS related cases, pneumonia, tuberculosis, measles and malnutrition. There is a critical need for oxygen concentrators, mattress, beds and Elite glucometers.”

“At the conclusion of our visit, Dr. Bwanali Jereni thanked the supporters for making available the donation of syringes, orthopedic supplies, beddings, walkers, toilet chairs, and other medical supplies. The doctor observed they will make a big impact on the people along the border region.”

Report by Wilson Isaac Tembo

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One is the fact they are using the supplies to help the very, very poor. This is a major reason we choose these types of facilities to receive aid. Second, if we can outfit these rural facilities with supplies the people will attend close to home and not overload the district facilities who are overwhelmed each time the rural facilities run out of supplies. Third, it is in a rural area. When these facilities run out of drugs people are forced to walk, cycle, or go by ox-cart to other facilities. There is a high chance that by the time they get there these other facilities will also be out of supplies.”

The trip through the facility begins to draw to a close, and Tembo concludes his report.

“The nurse said to me, ‘Our challenges are many. We generally lack drugs, gloves, exam couches, beds and mattresses, among other things.’ I noted this facility has only one medical assistant and four nurses. They are delivering 60 babies a month, and they admit 30 patients a week.”

By Wilson Isaac Tembo

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Namikango

Church Building Becomes Distribution Site
Four years ago the Malawi Project established a strong working relationship with the Namikango Mission and Maternity Hospital, near Zomba. Forty-foot trailers of supplies had been directed to three sites in the central region for a number of years, but Namikango became only the second site for distribution in the south. A former church building was refitted to be a major warehouse, storage and distribution facility, and millions of dollars in aid started flowing through this new venue. Wilson Tembo, who had worked with the Project in the central region, moved to Thondwe to oversee the program. Tembo set up an intricate reporting and follow up system in order to track supply distribution. He started accessing various medical facilities in the south, and accumulated their needs lists. He makes site visits that are a vitally important component to this work.

Responsible Malawians Know the Territory
“With these site visits, Tembo can assess where future supplies are needed, and what items should be at the top of the list. These trips are vitally important to the health of our medical supply program throughout Malawi,” according to Richard Stephens, one of the founders of the Project. “Americans cannot be everywhere on site, all the time, in order to track these supplies. Responsible Malawians know the territory, and they are better qualified to manage the program. They form the front line management team who exercise responsible oversight of this program. We have a great team in Tembo, Bisini Mphongolo, the administrator of the mission, and his staff. They are doing a great job.”

“During their visits to the various facilities they are able to gain a better picture of the health situation and need. They can quickly communicate this information to the states, and the most critically needed items can be sourced for future shipments,” reports Suzi Stephens RN, Medical Director for the Project. “It is a great benefit to have them making these first hand, on site, visits to report what these resources mean to everyday Malawians, and how they are being effectively used.”

A Heart Warming Sight
During a recent trip to Malawi, Scott Gordon, President of the Malawi Project, looked in on the team at the warehouse and observed, “It is really heart warming to see the way the Malawi staff has taken hold of this program, and are faithfully executing it to the benefit of the people. It is very different than many other programs where upper staff and management are from the expatriate community, and the Malawians are secondary players. In our programs the Malawians take the lead. For them to be responsible for their own future is the way we think it should be. It is working.”

In coming weeks new information will be posted on this site giving first hand reports of trips by this management team to sites where millions of dollars are being distributed. New stories post every week. Sign up today for an instant email as the stories are posted.

In the picture Wilson Tembo, far right, poses with the staff of a health care facility as they receive a portion of a recent shipment of supplies from the Malawi Project.

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During the same week another 40-foot trailer of medical supplies were unloaded at the Malawi Project’s southern warehouse at the Namikango Maternity Hospital and Mission in Thondwe. The value of the truck shipment has been valued at approximately $600,000.00. This makes the total of the two shipments approximately $ 1,600,000.00. Both shipments had the same destination, and have been made possible through a joint effort of Universal Aide in Canada, World Emergency Relief, and the Malawi Project in the United States, and the Namikango facility.

Within days of their arrival Wilson Tembo, warehouse director, had the supplies and medicines ready for distribution. Medical facilities and doctors were contacted in all three regions of the country, and in spite of a serious fuel shortage, medical groups were able to find fuel and make the trip to Thondwe to pick them up. The event was quite newsworthy, and was covered by Malawi Broadcasting Cooperation, Television (MBC-TV), and the Zodiak Radio, Malawi (ZBS).

Included in the group picking up drugs and supplies was the Kamuzu Vocational Rehabilitation and Training Centre Clinic. This center is located deep in a remote part of southern Malawi. Opened in 1984, the center trains physically challenged people in different vocational venues, in order for them to become economically independent. It’s clinic serves the staff, students and village community surrounding its location, and treats over 200 patients a month. Drugs such as Albendazole, Amoxillin, Doxycline tablets, Multivitamins and SP were among the items arriving on the air shipment. These drugs help reduce the suffering of many people in area villages.

Another beneficiary of the drug shipment is the Malawi Prison system, and its headquarters facilities at the Zomba Central Prison. This facility is the biggest prison in the country, and is home to over 2,000 inmates. Like many other facilities in the country, the prison hospital lacks drugs, supplies and equipment. Unlike other Malawians who have the freedom to choose where to get medical attention, the inmates have little or no choice. This emphasizes the need for a continual flow of supplies to the prison. Moses Chigayo is the Malawi Prisons Services Clinical Officer, and is the official responsible for all prison infirmaries.

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While a joint Malawi-American group started planning for the international school, the Malawi Project obtained information about the medical need that sparked the Chief’s request. It was learned that literally thousands of villagers in the Lintipi area have to travel 15 miles or more to reach the district hospital in Dedza. With no mechanized vehicles to transport ill patients it is necessary to walk, ride the back of a bicycle, or bounce along pothole laced, dirt roads in a wooden cart drawn by a pair of oxen. Few people from developed nations can imagine the harrowing trip, bouncing along on the back of a bicycle, or thrown around on hard slats in the wooden bed of an ox-cart. It is a long, dangerous, and harrowing trip, as the patient and the caretaker make their way slowly down steep, winding, mountain roads. Then, as if this were not enough, realize that when they reach the hospital there is the very real possibility the cash strapped government facility will be out of supplies, and unable to give the proper assistance. There is always the risk they will be returning home without care. No wonder, the chief extended her first and only request for someone to hear her plea for healthcare for her people.

Two Groups Respond with Assistance
Not only did members of the Malawi Project hear her request, so did the Board of Directors of the Dzidalire Development Agency. This later agency was formed in 2008-09 to assist the people in this exceptionally poor region of Malawi to develop the needed skills to become self-reliance. The Malawi Project assisted with funds to obtain land, and also helped in the creation of the marketing literature for the organization. (See upcoming story about Dzidalire in the next few days).

The two groups have set out to fulfill the request of the Chief, and build a medical clinic and birthing center that will be adequate to supply the needs of the people in the neighboring villages. The facility will contain twenty-eight rooms, with a construction cost estimate of $300,000.00. The Malawi Project has already been successful in sourcing most of the needed equipment, and the supplies to make the facility a first-rate asset to the surrounding communities. At the same time sufficient funding is available to pour the foundation for the buildings, and begin construction.

Village People Making Bricks
Meanwhile, the village people who live around the needed facility have been hard at work making bricks for construction of the buildings. While the bricks are a major expense to the project, the cost of concrete for the floors, the windows, doors, and metal roof will compose the major outlay for the buildings.

Both Sides Working Hand in Hand
At the conclusion of the project the facility will be solely owned and operated by Malawians. This is in line with the long-standing position of the Malawi Project to not own, manage, or control what should belong to the people of another country. This, as with its other programs, is built on joint respect, joint relationship, and the confidence that if the Malawi people own and manage their own programs, the pride of ownership and the self confidence that comes with personal achievement will sustain the programs long after the western supporters have ended their support. According to Scott Gordon, President of the Malawi Project, “The part the Malawi Project plays is to bring needed resources to the table for a project. The people of Malawi bring their creativeness, commitment, skills, and long-term sustainability to the program. Combine what both of us offer the other, and one can see a successful and dynamic relationship that can only lead to success. We feel the time has come for contributors to follow a different approach to helping Africa, and the Malawi Project intends to be in the forefront of this movement. Our relationship with the Dzidalire Agency extends to the time of it’s creation, and we have the greatest respect for those who brought this non-governmental organization (NGO) into existence.”

Members of the Malawi Project Board of Directors are currently taking the story to possible contributors in order to reach the funding goals and the completion of this joint program. It is hoped the buildings can be under roof by the time the rainy season begins in October 2011.

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Floor Baby Deliveries in Mitundu
The article , “Floor Baby Deliveries In Mitundo“, written by Stonald Kuphunda and appearing in Zodiac Online in late July, recounts how pregnant women at Mitundu Community Hospital in Malawi’s capital city of Lilongwe are delivering babies on the floor because of the lack of mattresses in the maternity wing at the facility. The story reports the Clinical Officer for Mitundu Community Hospital Mr. George Mtambo has sent an SOS appeal for the donation of mattresses at the hospital.

Mitundu Community Hospital serves 112,000 people in its catchment area. It is also a referral hospital for eight health centres from Traditional Authorities Chadza, Masula, Chiseka and Masumbankhunda in Lilongwe; and Traditional Authorities Chilikumwendo and Kachere in Dedza districts, according to the story in Zodiak Online, and forwarded to the Malawi Project by Wilson Tembo, with the Malawi Project’s medical supply distribution site in southern Malawi.

The Problem Would Be Worse
As the story went to press, two other members of the Malawi Project Board of Directors were in Malawi assessing the needs in future shipments. Scott Gordon, the President of the Project, and Dick Stephens, co-founder, both agreed that if this is the problem in the largest city of the nation, the problems faced with the lack of supplies in the village areas are far worse. Scott, upon seeing the picture of a baby being born on the concrete floor, and reading the report commented, “This is tragic. While the world goes on about its business this poor nation is suffering in ways unimaginable in other parts of the world. It is why we are seeking funds to build a second hospital in Malawi, and to increase future shipments of medical supplies to the country.”  Stephens shook his head in sadness. “How can we get the rest of the world to take note and respond? It is at catastrophic levels, and since these kind and gentle people don’t throw rocks at us that get our attention, we just pass them by without a nod or second notice. The world has to see. It has to learn what is going on in this place. It has to respond to the need. It has to.”

To contribute towards mattresses, and other medical supplies you can contribute online from our homepage at: www.malawiproject.org or mail your check to:
The Malawi Project, Inc.
3314 Van Tassel Drive,
Indianapolis, IN 46240

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Into this empty void came the worst famine Malawi had experienced in over 50 years, and the need for food, medical supplies, and other critical goods hit the top of the needs list for the nation. The Malawi Project was new, and had little knowledge, resources, or contacts through which to aid the people who were dying of starvation, malaria, HIV/Aids, and a number of other problems that could be relieved with the simple solution of trailers of supplies going to the hospitals, schools, villages, and trading centers throughout the nation.  The Malawi Project faced a bleak future without aid assistance. Enter Universal Aide from western Canada.

Contact between the Malawi Project and Universal was made, and the first trailer of medical supplies was off to Malawi at the height of the great famine. “This will be the only one. I can send you only one,” Shirley Gremyachev, the Director for Universal, said to Suzi Stephens on the phone. It was the beginning of a long and prosperous relationship that has added Malawi to the map of people’s hearts all over the world. World events, and the influx of other good intentioned Samaritans in recent years has also added Malawi to the international consciousness, but it was Universal and its assistance to the Malawi Project that raised the profile of the Malawi Project to a national level in the tiny African republic.

With a trailer of medical supplies valued in excess of a quarter of a million dollars, the Malawi Project, with the support from Universal, set out to “change the healthcare of the nation”. Universal was up to the challenge. Joining with its own network of suppliers, Universal Aide put the Malawi Project directly into the heart of famine and medical relief. After offering the one shipment in 2002, an additional 8 shipments were added to the list. In 2003 the number of trailers earmarked to the Malawi Project went up to 25. In 2004 the total added another 10 to the list, and the relationship between Universal, the Malawi Project, and the goal of changing the healthcare of the nation grew to include increasing the educational resources of the nation, influencing the agricultural output of the farm community, and generally helping to raise the quality of life for people throughout the three regions of Malawi. Because of Universal the Malawi Project gained national reputation in the highest levels of tribal and national government circles, and was given open doors in many areas with which to extend aid that could make a difference in the lives of the people.

“One never knows where one phone call can lead you,” notes Richard Stephens, one of the founders of the Malawi Project. “Imagine if Suzi had not made that phone call to Shirley on that most important day back in 2002. And, imagine if Shirley had not been available or tied up with something else, and unable to take the call? We might still be looking at the critical need, watching people die needlessly, finding ourselves hopelessly empty handed, and feeling the deep despair of not being able to do anything to help them.”

Concerning the way this all came about, Suzi notes, “May God be glorified by the way He brought these two organizations together to bring aid to Malawi. He is just so magnificent in the way He touches hearts to accomplish His goals.”

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Sitima Village, Zomba, Malawi… Msamba Community Based Organization provides physical and moral support to the local community with a major focus on the orphans, elderly and HIV/AIDS support group members. Their outreach extends to at least sixteen villages with a population of over six thousand people.

Situated eight kilometers northwest of the Namikango Mission, this community-based organization has a sound work structure of voluntary workers who combine resources to reduce the suffering of their community. With the government’s decentralization policy in place, village organizations are encouraged to provide solutions to the problems they face.

Registered with the local government’s social welfare office, Msamba is authorized to receive donations to serve the community.

A major focus of the organization is to provide preschool services to children below five. These services prepare them to begin their primary education by introducing them to academic basics.

Secondly, Msamba has created a group for HIV positive people. They meet weekly to share their challenges and encourage each other. Discrimination is a major problem, as well as the serious lack of nutritious food. The Msamba group carries out small income generating activities to support group members. Supplies like soap, salt and used clothes are provided to the needy. .

The elderly are another target group that Msamba Community Group assists. Culturally many elderly people are regarded as witches. In many instances, they are deserted and helpless. In this community, however, there are not such issues. Martin Bernard, the organization’s coordinator, reports, “Such issues are widespread of course, but in this area we have never experienced this to an extreme, where the elderly are chased out of the village after being accused of practicing witchcraft. However, many of their supposed victims and children are indeed victims of HIV/ AIDS. These elderly are escorted to the clinic when they are sick and their home surroundings are swept, to ensure cleanliness all the time, to check the spread of disease

As a preventive measure to the widespread effects of the deadly HIV/AIDS and its rocket speed spread amongst the youths, Msamba has a youth arm that disseminates the HIV awareness message to the community. Discussions through different means including debates and drama are conducted to develop skills and share knowledge on the dangers of the HIV/AIDS.

After we learned of this village based organization that is working so hard to meet it’s community’s challenges, supplies from the Malawi Project were taken to support them in this wonderful work.
By Wilson Isaac Tembo

Next week: Meet Mary Saikolo and 4-year-old Chisomo Rodrick

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Reaching the Balaka District Hospital

It was another of those interesting life experiences visiting two referral hospitals who have received medical aid from the Namikango Mission, through the Malawi Project. It was still morning when I reached Balaka District Hospital about 100 kilometers north of Namikango Mission in Thondwe. The temperature was very humid the two of us were soaked in sweat. There was no option to the intense heat.

At the beginning of my visit I met with some of the senior staff of the facility, and learned about the problems they face.

Can you imagine a villager having a toothache and needing urgent medical attention, yet the doctor has to tell you to wait until he borrows a dental chair from a nearby private hospital for you? He has no dental chair in the entire hospital.

Can you imagine walking into a hospital only to be told the hospital is running out of drugs, and no one knows when more will arrive?

Just imagine being admitted to a hospital, and being told to sleep on the floor because of a lack of both beds and mattresses.

The list goes on and on, as they list the challenges this hospital faces. The Balaka District Hospital opened in 1996, and has a capacity of 140 beds. The facility currently admits over 250 patients at a time, meaning the additional patients spend their time sleeping on the floor.

Serving Over 300,000 people
The district Hospital serves a population of 317,000 people in its catchment area who directly or indirectly seek medical attention from this hospital. The district has a total of 14 health centers (clinics), which refer the complicated cases to this district hospital. Out of the budgeted amount for procurement of drugs this financial year, the hospital only received half, hence the drug, equipment and supplies shortages, explained two of the senior members of the staff at the facility.

“When Balaka became a district, the hospital was extended to suit the status of a district hospital, but no additional equipment was provided’’, according to Mrs. Zuza, the District Nursing Officer. She highlighted the fact that hospital beds, mattresses, linen, oxygen concentrators, surgery beds and packs are critically needed at the hospital. The hospital has one aged oxygen concentrator that does not function properly.

Hospital with Only One Doctor
This hospital has 1 doctor, 87 nurses and 27 clinicians (some of whom work for the health centers). They register exceptionally high cases of malaria, with HIV/AIDS running second. Maternal related complications are third on the list of the most common cases that the hospital registers.

The needs for both preventive initiatives and continued medical supplies to help those that are suffering are a must. The government’s effort to ensure availability of necessary supplies and drugs for its people cannot keep up with the demand. The facility needs more support.

“We really appreciate the donations that we get from the Malawi Project through the Namikango Mission. They are changing people’s lives for the better. You must know that we had only one damaged dental chair before you came. Now, that we have received our own dental chair, we hope to improve our service delivery to our clients,” she concluded.

On this trip more supplies have been given to the hospital, sheets, pillows, crutches, walkers, and gowns have been provided courtesy of those who are supporting this effort. Somehow as we started back toward the mission the intense heat of the African summer did not seem to matter as much.

Wilson Tembo
Namikango Medical Distribution Site
Thondwe, Malawi

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