Salima, Malawi … This center for trade and commerce near the edge of Lake Malawi was once a notorious center for the trade of human beings. Thousands were captured in the interior, brought to Lake Malawi, moved across present day Mozambique, sent to Zanzibar, then to the Arabian states and India where they were never seen or heard from again. Salima was the jumping off point for this one-way journey and carried the scar on its reputation well into the last century.
The noxious trade in human cargo has passed into the dark pages of history. Salima no longer bears the scars of an embarrassing past. Today it is a thriving center for trade and commerce located near the lake shore where fishing vessels have replaced the notorious ships that carried human cargo.
However, Salima and Malawi still face a trap as notorious as the former trade in human cargo. It is the trap of immobility, the inability to get around, being unable to walk. It is a 21st century plague that cannot be ended by signing a Declaration of Independence. It can only be addressed by giving those affected the means to get around in a better way than crawling on the ground, the opportunity to live life through use of a cane, walker, wheelchair, or mobility unit.
Thanks to a co-operative program between Mobility Ministries and the Malawi Project in the U.S., and the Malawi Council for the Handicapped (MACOHA), and Action for Progress in Malawi, people like Ishmael Charles have realized a dream come true. He, and so many others, could never afford to buy such a unit. They could only imagine what it would be like to own such a device. They can only dream. But for him and so many others those dreams have come true. Over two thousand mobility units have been distributed over the last few years. The group also offers canes, walkers, and crutches to those in need.
Born in 1997 Ishmael currently lives in Tembwe Village near the Salima District Hospital, west of the city. He dropped out of school in Form 1 because of his inability to get around on his own. Despite his struggle Ismael makes a living selling used phones. Now, with his new mobility unit he has the freedom to move about, a dream he has only been able to imagine in the past. Now he can brush the dust from the knees of his clothes. Now he has mobility.