My Experience at the Solomoni Pop-up Clinic

Twice a week Jean, a qualified nurse who volunteers her service’s at Joshua, and one of our Field Officers go out into the communities Joshua support to run a pop-up medical clinic for mother’s to bring their young children and babies to. Here, the children are weighed, checked for illnesses or symptoms of, and provided with medical care and advice. This week, I had the privilege to join Jean and Joseph and what a touching experience it was.

Having travelled Africa widely on family holidays, I have seen the widespread effects of poverty. Or I thought I had. What I learnt yesterday was that I had only begun to skim the surface of what it means to live in poverty in Africa. Arriving Solomoni, there were queues of women with their children waiting for us; prepared to walk for miles and to wait for as long as it took to be seen by Jean. 

One by one, mothers, grandmothers, sisters and friends would bring in children and babies to be examined. I had the very important job of weighing the infants. This, I was told, was crucial in order to monitor the weight of the child over time, enabling Jean to assess whether the child was developing normally or was malnourished. The women then described to Jean, through Joseph, any symptoms the children had. Armed with a thermometer, a stethoscope and a box of medical supplies, Jean was able to give advice, treat any illnesses, or praise mother’s for their decision to take the child to hospital at the right time. Illnesses ranged from upset tummies and ear infections to Malaria.

 In particular, one family will stick with me; a lady brought in her young sister who had downs syndrome. The little girl played with her young cousins beside us whilst Jean was able to stress the importance of education, playtime, and communication in order for the little girl to develop. Having previously read that many disabled children in poverty-stricken countries are often abandoned due to the families’ inability to care for the child it was truly humbling to see how loved this little girl was.

By the end of the day over 100 children had been seen, all leaving with the help they needed whether it be medical advice or just peace of mind. Two of the cases required us to transport the mother and child to the local clinic and Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Blantyre. One child was suspected of having malaria whilst the other had complications post malaria treatment.

The day on the whole showed how important events such as these pop up medical clinics and healthcare education is for these communities. I felt extremely privileged to be a part of the work done by Jean, Joseph and the rest of the Joshua team in communities such as Solomoni. 

Christmas comes early in Malawi

Christmas came early for 22 families at Chilomoni Health Centre in Malawi yesterday as clothing, blankets and teddies made by Stork Support Knitters in the UK were distributed to vulnerable children from the local area.

New born babies and children under the age of five are acutely vulnerable to preventable and curable diseases in Malawi. The children living in the Chilomoni area on the outskirts of Blantyre are no exception and at the beginning of the rainy season they are particularly vulnerable to coughs and fevers, acute respiratory infections and pneumonia. When pneumonia is combined with malaria it can be deadly.

So keeping these vulnerable youngsters warm and dry during the rainy season is a great step forward in helping to stop them from contracting coughs, colds and pneumonia.

We would like to say a huge thank you to Stork Support Knitters for all their efforts on our behalf, and we had this message from Malawi yesterday:

"The children's parents were very happy and they asked us to thank the donors on their behalf."

  

The Joshua Health Clinic

The construction of the Joshua clinic began in 2008. With local people working side by side with volunteers from the UK. The fantastic bunch of people involved included 45 Royal Bank of Scotland employees who not worked hard to complete the project from foundations to roof, but also helped raise over £60,000 to do so.

Their work was then supported by a number of smaller groups of Quest and Inspire volunteers who helped with the rendering, plastering, painting, and construction of the auxiliary buildings such as doctors housing.


In 2010 Joshua Orphan and Community Care opened its new maternity, HIV and health centre in Pensulo, serving a wide area and a population of over 40,000. The clinic provides expectant mothers with maternity services as well as treating common diseases such as malaria, pneumonia and HIV/AIDS. Previously the closest clinic had been 8 miles away in Blantyre – too far for people to
get to easily.


It also promotes family planning and acts as an education centre. In 2012 electricity reached the clinic after years of hard work and women no longer have to give birth by candlelight.


Over the years the clinic has proved to be a valuable lifeline to people living in this impoverished rural area.

Day 7: Papaya and playgrounds

Update from Tonbridge Grammar volunteers

Today has been very busy. We woke to the delightful scene of homemade porridge with papaya and banana. 

After our early rising we got ready for a day of hard toil. Lizzie, Caitlin, Freya, Izzi, Annie T, Preet and Megan went to Mwandika feeding centre where there was a monthly drop in clinic. They spent the morning weighing the children and recording their weights in their baby books; selling medicated soap; and listening in to nurse Jean dealing with maladies ranging from fire smoke induced congestion to open wounds... 

Meanwhile Niamh, Anastasia, Hebe, Lydia, Anneka and Alice were flattening the playground area with paint pots full of cement and positioning tyres. They also went to the feeding centre and fed the children porridge whilst teaching them some basic maths and English.

Having returned for lunch we had a quieter afternoon playing with the local children as due to the late return of the group at the clinic, lunch was not finished till 4. 

We played duck duck goose a variation of French cricket and football.

We have just had an amazing singing performance by the girls from the lion king, a surprise hot chocolate and a lovely reflection time.

Over and out from Africa.
By Alice and Izzi.

Health clinics at Feeding Centres - Update

Malawi is one of the world's poorest countries in the world, 74% of the population live below the poverty line and access to clean water, education and healthcare facilities is limited - only 46% of citizens live within a 5km radius of any kind of health facility.

Joshua is dedicated to improving access to healthcare in rural areas and for some time now we have been running under-five clinics at four of Joshua's feeding centres.

Recently these clinics have started working in the villages of Chigwaja and Mwandika. The clinics take place every Friday morning in the villages' feeding centres and are run by two Joshua volunteers. Children under five have their weight, temperature and height recorded, as well as receiving a general check-up to monitor any skin infections, wounds or other signs of illness they may have.


Since these clinics started we have seen very positive results. Common childhood illnesses are being caught and treated early, the burden of travelling long distances to access healthcare is being lifted from hard working mothers and because of our training sessions and wound care advice less children are suffering from skin infections, and wounds are being thoroughly washed and dressed, resulting in quicker healing times

As well as the under-fives clinic, the two volunteer doctors also run a training workshop every Friday afternoon. They teach the local community about important health issues, such as: first aid, hygiene, malaria, HIV/AIDS, diabetes and blood pressure. These sessions make people aware of the causes of diseases like diabetes and blood pressure and how to take care of an HIV/AIDS patient. 

Taking healthcare into the heart of rural communities like this is key to saving lives and improving health long term.