The Dalitso Project
November 2018
11/3/2018
I have just returned from two weeks in Malawi last weekend. This was a very busy but very productive. It was great to see the clinic progressing and assisting so many people in the community of Kambilonjo. It was especially encouraging for me to see 3 of our health graduates from this year working with us at the Dochas Medical Centre on a postgraduate placement. Freestone Mawale, graduate clinical officer and Jean Maluwa and Emmanuel Phiri nursing graduates all wanted to give something back for the support that they have received over the last 3 years. Just before I arrived in Malawi, the clinic delivered our very first baby. A young woman had presented overnight with severe abdominal pain. The patient had not realised that she was pregnant and so unfortunately had let the labour develop for a considerable period of time. It came to light that she had not quite reached the 8th month of her pregnancy at this point and the labour was very complex. When the baby was finally delivered it was not able to breathe on its own because it was so premature. The team were able to help the baby breathe for a short while as they transferred it to the local government hospital an hour’s drive away. Unfortunately, the government hospital also does not have any ventilators and so the baby died the following day. The mother on the other hand has recovered completely physically and is now in full health. Whilst this is an incredibly traumatic story, it also illustrates the significant need for our rural healthcare facility and although we were unable to save the baby, saving the life of the mother is something which was really worthwhile. Just a week later, the team were again called into action when 5 people were poisoned whilst working in a potato field. It seemed that they had ingested the pesticide that was being used to treat the potatoes. By the time 4 of them arrived at the clinic at half 8 at night (8 hours later) they were in a very bad way. Several were seizing and foaming at the mouth and none were conscious. The staff team worked tirelessly through the night treating these men, and got the man with the most severe symptoms well enough to transfer him to the district hospital. The other 3 were well enough the following day to walk home. I was so impressed by the team’s professional and calm approach to dealing with this significant and life threatening situation. They were accurate and efficient in all they did and did a fantastic job. I was especially impressed with our new graduate nurses and clinical officer who kept cool heads and were directing the treatment even though they are still so early in their clinical experience. It was also heartening to see that despite the challenges with the water problem and the regular electricity cuts, the staff have maintained their work ethic and have worked hard to continue to provide excellent infection control measures and top quality patient care. With regards to the water issue, as most of you are aware, we have not had piped water in the clinic since June. This is because the water table in Kambilonjo is currently so low, after 3 years of poor rainfall. This has meant that both the water board and the nearby boreholes are out of water. Instead the staff have to walk 400m or further to some other boreholes to draw enough water for the whole day. As many of you are aware we crowdfunded for this on facebook back in July but unfortunately as with all things in Malawi, it took time to get a water survey done and when we eventually found a place where we believed that there was to be water, we were able to start drilling. Unfortunately the first couple of drilling attempts were unsuccessful and an extra piece of land had to be purchased to try a deeper bore in an area where the water table sits even higher. This has been a time consuming and lengthy process which has been incredibly frustrating for all involved. Finally we now have a borehole which is producing water and which will allow us to pipe water directly to the clinic and the residence. Hopefully the piping will be completed within the next week or so. It was also exciting to see the new graduate staff beginning a program of community education where they called all the villagers to meet in a local town hall and were able to teach around 70 local villagers about high blood pressure, how to identify the issue and how to manage it through lifestyle changes. A clinic testing for high blood pressure was also undertaken. This was highly useful and highly appreciated by the community. It was also heartening to see the daycare children at both Thyolo and Kambilonjo working hard and engaging really well with all of their extra lessons. We hope that this continued investment with continue to pay dividends in our students end of school results and therefore career prospects. I want to take a second to thank and encourage all of our teaching staff for all the hard work they do day to day. We have such a good group of talented and dedicated teachers who are such a blessing to our children. Once again, thank you for all your continued support. Please keep aware of the upcoming fundraisers- Saturday 10th November – Murder Mystery night – St. Andrews Church Arbroath. 6.45pm start for an evening of great entertainment and a 3 course meal- all for £14! What a bargain! Thanks Becky
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