Helping Charity meet staffing costs
Retired midwife, Joan Pears, was so moved by her recent visit to Achikondi Clinic that she felt compelled to help fellow midwife and clinic founder, Charity Salima (pictured here with Sally).
On her return, she created an appeal through Watson’s Malawi Partnership and raised £1,300 to help Charity meet her growing staff costs.
Achikondi Clinic offers maternity services and community care to people in area 24, Lilongwe. While infant mortality runs at a rate of around 32 per 1000 live births in Malawi, Charity’s team has managed to deliver more than 8,000 babies with no record of maternal or baby death. Their record stands testament to Charity’s belief that with good antenatal and delivery care, many complications can be avoided.
Over the years, the clinic has extended its care to include the
sick and injured from the community. It also screens and treats women in the
early stages of cervical cancer and runs immunisation clinics.
While Charity charges a token payment for her services, in
reality the clinic relies wholly on donations. Jean was so impressed by the
standard of care on offer, she wanted to raise money to cover some of the
clinic’s staffing costs.
“The facilities might be basic but Charity is able to look
after the women in her care with respect and love,” explained Joan. “Her record-keeping
and professionalism are faultless. In her gentle way she empowers the women in
her care.
“In a country that faces so many struggles, it is uplifting to see what a difference one individual can make when they have the support to do so.”
The clinic is set in a beautiful garden with its own
vegetable patch. Charity likes to send mothers and babies home with a chicken
or rabbit to help them recover with a nourishing meal.
Charity is also working on setting up a simple laboratory to
run routine screening tests for malaria and other conditions that would benefit
from early intervention and treatment.
Joan's visit was part of a trip organised by Sally for adults interested in the work conducted by Watson's Malawi Partnership
Click here to support Joan's campaign to help Achikondi Clinic.
More information about Charity Salima and Achikondi Clinic here.
