The Dalitso Project
Kambilonjo trading centre is situated in rural Malawi near to the Mozambique border. This township is more than an hours drive from the nearest hospital. There are some private clinics in some villages nearby, however these are staffed by poorly qualified staff who often perform questionable procedures at very high costs. We have heard of several incidents of patients receiving dangerous treatments and then having to sell all of their animals or other possessions in order to pay for it. In 2010, the local chiefs approached The Dalitso Project and asked the Dalitso Project to build a clinic that would provide high quality healthcare for the community at an affordable price. From that meeting a dream was born.
The land that we built the clinic on was given to us as part of a land exchange by a very generous poor widow who wanted to support us. We were overwhelmed by her generosity and so decided to build her a new house on her new land to say thank-you! What a wonderful woman she is! Here you can see her new house, complete with toilet, store, kitchen, washroom and electricity!
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In 2014 plans were finalised and in early 2015 building began. Kambilonjo is so rural that the roads can become almost impassable in the rainy season, which means that the building process was frustratingly slow. By summer 2016 the building was completed and began to be used by the government for their baby immunisation program whilst we awaited all the government approvals and hurdles!
Finally we are ready to open The Dochas Medical Centre. Dochas is gaelic for 'Hope' and we believe that the Dochas Medical centre will provide hope in this disadvantaged community. In rural Malawi, access to healthcare is so poor, with the average life expectancy currently being 54.8 years, 4.6% of babies dying before their first birthday and 36% of women in Malawi being expected to die in childbirth. These statistics are both horrifying and unjust. We hope that we can start to make inroads into these kind of statistics within the community of Kambilonjo by providing quality and affordable healthcare.
At Dochas we will only charge adults and will only charge for each medication at cost price. Our centre manager, who knows the community well also has a very good relationship with the local chiefs so that should a patient be unable to pay the subsidised fees, we would be able to reduce the price further as required. This is so that everyone can access the healthcare that they require regardless of their financial situation.
As well as hands on care, the vision of the health centre is to improve the quality of life of the community by running health education classes on a variety of topics. It is hoped that classes on areas such as nutrition, malaria prevention and screening on blood pressure and diabetes will help in prevention rather than curing of common ailments.
These classes will also include pre and post natal care and family planning. Annie Chalamera, a nurse and midwife, specialises in this area and is leading this work.
These classes will also include pre and post natal care and family planning. Annie Chalamera, a nurse and midwife, specialises in this area and is leading this work.
Recently 4 men were working in a potato field and accidently ingested some of the pesticide used to treat the potatoes. They were found hours later by their family and friends, by which point they were unconscious, foaming at the mouth and fitting. At this point they were carried by family to the Dochas Clinic, where they were met by our expert staff. The team worked through the night catheterising them and giving them each 7-10 litres of intravenous fluids and medications. Eventually 3 of the men stabilised and were able to return home the following afternoon. The 4th man was then transferred to the government hospital an hours drive away where he was admitted for a further night of treatment before later returning home. Each of these men's hospital bills came to around £14 which they were able to later pay up in instalments. It is work like this which really is saving lives!
Here our very own Chifundo, who is studying medicine at the University of Malawi and who has been sponsored through school and now University, leads us around the Dochas Medical Centre before it opened!