In Mitundu, Malawi, the afternoon was characterized by cotton candy clouds drifting aimlessly across robin’s-egg blue skies as representatives from Action for Progress and the Malawi Project traveled south of Lilongwe to the trading area. This is the largest division of Malawi’s University network, and encompasses the research and development divisions of the country’s agricultural programs.
Community hospitals are established to alleviate the overcrowding of tier one hospitals within the Malawi network. Despite Lilongwe having only two tier one hospitals, they serve over 3.1 million people. The primary responsibility of community hospitals lies in addressing numerous challenges that would otherwise fall to the tier one group. Mitundufulfills this role with a staff of 51 nurses, 10 clinicians, 4 lab technicians, 3 anthropologists, 1 orthodontist, and 1 medical doctor. The facility provides surgical, dental, prenatal, postpartum, and birthing care, along with other essential services. Nine additional healthcare facilities feed into this single entity and together they serve a catchment area of over 600,000 people.
During a tour of the various buildings, it became evident that the facility requires substantial equipment, beds, and other supplies to meet the growing demand. There are only 200 beds, and often patients must share a bed while others are accommodated on bamboo mats on the floor.
Top medical officials collaborated with Action for Progress to identify suitable equipment for the expansion and enhancement of this facility. A ten-ton truck was utilized to transport the equipment to the staging site for the “turning over ceremony.” This ceremony involves the gathering of community, tribal, church, and medical staff for a formal event where the donated items are publicly displayed. This procedure serves as a safeguard against potential misappropriation and provides an opportunity for everyone to express gratitude for the gifts received.
During the ceremony, where several people, including tribal, medical, and community leaders, addressed the audience, the District Health Officer noted this contribution would help greatly to enlarge the services this facility offers. He had traveled down from Lilongwe to attend this event, and he noted the Health Department would now assign a repair technician and two others to this hospital to help maintain and repair this equipment. He noted this is a major contribution and will help enlarge this facility. He also smiled as he noted the government is planning five more community hospitals will be added to the system, and they will be counting on Action for Progress to be there to assist them. He noted this is a great example of “Malawians helping Malawians”, andshould be an example to others.
The event was noteworthy enough it brought the Zodiak News Network to cover the event.