At five years of age, Chisomo attends an orphan nursery school near her village. But, it takes more than Mary can provide. Not only can she not keep up, the problem is getting more serious. The family is running out of money and resources. She looks at the visitor with deep concern. There is no work in the area for the older children. Malawi has an employment problem with 50% of its people out of work.

“You can see I have stopped baking the scones,” she says. “I do not have the capital,” She was embarrassed that she could not provide food for the visitor during his visit to her home. She had no food in the house that day for anyone, not even the children. “What will happen to them? Who will provide what I cannot give?”

“I understood her problem, and was unable to answer her question and the plea it contained,” noted Wilson Tembo as he left to prepare his report for the Malawi Project web site. “I don’t know what is to become of her, and the children, including little Chisomo.”

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I met a 9-year-old village boy who has a burning desire to be educated and crawls to school.  Fredson Mtentha of Nkanda Village is the boy, and  he has never walked. While some of us complain of worn out shoes, old-fashioned clothes, and boring channels on television, Fredson’s worries about how he can get to school. His burning desire propels him to crawl a 4-kilometer stretch of dusty road in order to reach school each day. Even though he tries in his classes, he lags far behind, and at the age of 9, Fredson remains in the first grade of a primary school. His case is a symbolic representation of many young boys and girls who are struggling with being unable to attend classes due to mobility issues and a lack of suitable wheelchairs.

At Namikango Mission each day is different from the others, and each day brings its own new challenges. Today I had to tell a 9-year-old boy that, at least for now, we do not have a wheelchair for him to go to school.  It’s been a painful day.

Report by Wilson Isaac Tembo

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

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.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I don’t think I can explain the feeling I am having three days into this trip to Malawi. Obviously it was going to be considerably different without Suzi, and that has such a major impact on me, but that is not all that it is. The situation in Malawi this time is so different. The fuel situation is unimaginable. This has been going on for nearly two months, and it has reached crisis stage. Tiny trickles of fuel are coming in, a station here today, one way over there tomorrow. As you drive down the street you approach cars sitting along the side of the road. The line may extend as much as a mile or more. In one case we passed a line that seemed about two miles long. Many of the cars were empty. The people had parked them in the line, and then gone somewhere while waiting for the fuel truck to come their way. Other cars and trucks, in fact most of them, just have people sitting or sleeping in them, waiting and waiting.

Yesterday we made our way from Lilongwe to Blantyre, a distance of 311 kilometers, and when we reached our destination at Thondwe, near Blantyre, the tank registered slightly below half a tank. That is the moment you face the panic. Less than half a tank. That means you are not going to be able to drive as far back up the road as you have come down the road. The mission where we are staying cannot help us, they have no fuel either. One of the destinations on our route in Senga Bay is holding some fuel for us, but how to get there? Another, back in Lilongwe, is also holding fuel for us, but how to get there? It is a feeling that is probably never felt in America. After all, we have an abundance of stations, and ample fuel.

Another interesting note to this situation is in the fact that if and when we find fuel the price is going to be someplace from $11.50 to $15 or $18 a gallon. And do you know that price doesn’t even bother me at this moment. I’d pay a hundred to see that gage back up around 3⁄4 of a tank. More on this in the days to come.

First Report — From Dick Stephens and Scott Gordon- The Webmaster

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Sitima village, Zomba, Malawi… In our last story we told you about the Msamba Community Based Organization, and the way it is helping the people in the community. Today, you will meet one of the children being helped. Her name Chisomo, and she is 4 years old.

Accompanied by her aged grandmother, Chisomo Rodrick is one of the beneficiaries of clothes, blankets, pillows, shoes and writing materials that were given by the Malawi Project, and Namikango Maternity Hospital and Mission. Chisomo is the youngest member of her family, and lost both of her parents when she was just two years old. Mary Saikolo, her grandmother, cannot fully support her with the needed school materials, food and clothing. Despite heavy rains, the old granny took little Chisomo on her back to get support from this center. Chisomo’s case is a clear picture of the impact of HIV/AIDS pandemic in Malawi, and indeed in the whole of Africa. Children like her suffer as old weary people like Mary Saikolo are left with the huge responsibility of looking after these orphans.

“This is the first time to receive such a donation since the inception of this organization in 2008. We never thought we could get this aid, because this group is only located in this remote area”, said Group Village headwoman Sitima. She expressed her thankfulness to the sponsors, for extending aid to this community, and indeed to young Chisomo.

Leaving the village that day I could easily see the great need for more aid. Young kids, orphaned and helpless like Chisomo, really need support if their lives are to change for the better.

The coordinator of the organization had this to say, “Today we have witnessed a good demonstration of Christianity by Namikango Mission of the Church of Christ who have come without an invitation and helped these people.” Martin Bernard said the organization has struggled to get the resources to help ease some of the suffering. He was quick to add the need for more support, such as milk for HIV/AIDS members, bedding, clothes and any other help that can make someone’s life better.

By Wilson Isaac Tembo

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

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

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Malawi Vice President Visits Indiana

Indianapolis, Indiana … During a recent trip to the United States the Right Honorable Joyce Banda, the Vice President of the nation of Malawi, made a trip to Indiana to express her gratitude for the work the Malawi Project has accomplished in her nation in recent years. During her time in Indiana she met with a group of businesswomen who have been able to create successful ventures in the Indianapolis area. Sharon O’Donoghue, the Executive Director of the Business Ownership Initiative, organized this meeting.

In late afternoon Dick and Suzi Stephens, founders of the Malawi Project, hosted a reception for the Vice President at their home on the Indianapolis north side. Over 200 people were in attendance during the four-hour reception. The guest list included people from Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Tennessee, Michigan and Indiana.

In the evening the Vice-President was hosted by church elders and members of the Board of Directors for MIBI, the newest program in Malawi by the Indianapolis group. The new MIBI campus, now over 200 acres in size, will house an international leadership training school, pre-school and secondary school, agricultural training facility, and a medical facility.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Guardians Rush to be First

A quiet, overcast morning greeted the morning at the Namikango Maternity Hospital in Thondwe, as a light wind seemed to drift aimlessly with no purpose. People began to gather near the old guardian shelters veranda. Most of the people were there in order to care for a patient in the maternity clinic. Some came just to cheer their loved ones, or to bring food for the expectant mothers. Numbers of children accompanied them.

The Director, Bisani Mphongolo, accompanied by the Contractor, entered the new structure. Inside are fourteen fireplaces with steel rods to support cooking pots. Electrical lights and black painted stands are the final touch.

The guardians watched as the men moved to officially carry out the handing-over ceremony. They posed for the symbolic handshake outside the A-frrame structure. It marked the end of a long construction journey.

As word went out that the kitchen could be used, excited guardians rushed in search of firewood, matches, water and pots, each wanting to be the first to use the new kitchen. The situation could be more fitly called a competition. Each wanted to make a name as “the first woman to use the new Namikango Mission Clinic’s kitchen.” This wasn’t surprising. Every person wished to be associated with the best.

If it were a competition, Rashida M’baluku would have been declared the winnner. She quickly started a fire, and got her small pot ready. Rashida hails from Rifa Village of Tribal Authority Mulambe in Zomba District. She had been at the clinic for the past two weeks preparing food for her younger sister who is expecting a baby.

After using the old kitchen on several occasions, Rashida described the new kitchen as the best. “We’ll not be waiting for one another now.” The old kitchen only had six cooking stations. With fourteen fireplaces the new kitchen

will be able to accommodate all of the guardians at the same time. This will make a difference at peak times when the guardian shelter is filled with people taking care of their relatives in the clinic.

The woman pointed out additional advantages of the kitchen, contrasting it with the old. “When it’s raining, the rain splashes were making their way to the fire place. When it is hot in summer, coupled with the fire heat, it was unbearable.” The new kitchen definitely improves the living standards of both expectant mothers and their caretakers. The levels of hygiene will certainly improve following the strategic positioning of the kitchen that allows little or no dust to blow inside. There will be no waiting for them to cook, and the new kitchen has added beauty to the clinic’s face.

-Wilson Isaac Tembo

(The Malawi Project is proud to have the opportunity to provide the funding for the construction of the kitchen at Namikango.)

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Water is life. Having potable water for domestic use is a birth right. This is true to many People in the world. If only access to portable water is a birth right, then the residents of Chandiwo Village in central part of Malawi have few birth rights.  To get this precious and free gift that God gave the world, people in this village have to exchange it with more effort.  Laying parallel to a small stream to its east that also serves as a boundary with a neighboring village Chandiwo village is extremely rich with natural resources. Kawelawela River, to the east of the village, provides an abundance of water resource.
His name is Kondwani (Happy) Bwenzani and he was born thirteen years ago.  A third born son in a family of  six, Kondwani spends much of his time at home when he is back from a 9-km walk from school. Traditionally, girls are supposed to do all household chores when boys are helping their fathers with watering of vegetables in gardens and other duties like making hoe handles. On the contrary, Kondwani spends most of his time helping his mother with household chores. He washes dishes, draw water and even cook. This is uncommon for a Malawian boy. “His friends used to laugh at him for doing all this, but now they’ve stopped,” his mother explained.
Despite having water resources in abundance, just 450m away, the inhabitants of this small village lack clean and potable water. The reason is simple. They lack modern equipment and resources with which to treat the water. The village is a host to three dug wells that in rain season provide the water near people’s homes. In summer the wells run dry. Kondwani and his friends are forced to get the precious commodity down at the stream. This year however, has been described as the best, since the country received an abundance of rain. This has resulted in a rising water table that provides the water to the people through the wells during the summer.
This gives thirteen-year-old Kondwani no choice but to draw and use the untreated water for domestic use. Like many African and indeed many Malawian village children, Kondwani wakes up early in the morning to make sure he gets the water while it is clean. These water sources are breeding areas for mosquitoes that provide the parasites for malaria. Depending on such source of water for decades now, this village had its highest cases of cholera in 2001 when over ten people were seriously attached by the disease. Three died. For the good health and future of Kondwani and other children of this village, theirs is the need to have a mechanism in place to filter and treat the water from a nearby man made dam that lies along the Kawelawela stream just 450m from Kondwani home.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

    With most of its members back in the country the library is now nearly completed. A shipment of books from the Malawi Project in 2008 will make the library one of the finest in the nation. Samantha Ludick, from the Cool Runnings Resort in Senga Bay has been watching over the project. She reports, "Our Librarian has attend a training course, and we have joined the National Library. They will assist in setting up the systems and with any further assistance we may require. The Headmaster of the school has been away with the UN Peacekeeping for 8 months, He has now returned and is amazed with the progress of the Library. The enthusiasm of the students is great. They are all so excited. They just want the library up and running."

Bookmark It

Hide Sites