Newsletter: September 2006
The Operating Theatre
The entrance to the new Operating Theatre, in the final stages of completion
It is really exciting news that the Operating Theatre will be in use very shortly thanks to a generous donation from Aspect Capital Ltd., a hedge fund management company in London. The building houses a large and light main theatre, a minor ops theatre, prep rooms, post op room, nurses’ room, clinicians’ room, showers and all necessary storage areas. The Theatre building is located adjacent to the labour ward/delivery rooms which, even though they are regarded as among the best in Malawi, will be upgraded in the next phase of development to give an additional delivery room. The need to enhance the maternity facility is a result of the popularity of St. Andrew’s Hospital and the campaign to persuade mothers to deliver at a Hospital, because statistically one in seven mothers in Malawi dies in childbirth. Patients are now coming to St. Andrew’s not only from Kasungu, 30 kms away, but also from Lilongwe, 130kms away, because of the quality of care they receive. And some of them are health professionals working in other medical centres!
The interior of the Main Theatre showing the large windows.
More exciting news is that St. Andrew’s, which opened in August 2001 as a small clinic, has been upgraded first to a Rural Health Centre and in August 2006 to a Community Hospital. As the Hospital grows so the demand for more Staff and therefore more houses grows. We are making application to various NGO’s for funding for several new projects. We want to build a post-operative ward with ICU and HDU facilities, an Administrative Block containing all administration offices, accounts, Staff Rest Rooms, (to date the Staff do not have anywhere to “switch off”) a Library, and a purpose built VCU (Voluntary Counselling and Testing Unit) for HIV/AIDS patients. We plan to open a Dental Unit as soon as the equipment becomes available – the room has already been set aside for such a development. Kyle Danielson from Canada has set a target of raising sufficient funds for a new 45-bed ward. Additional staff houses are required, as is a bore-hole to supply water to some of the staff houses. Thanks to South West Water and St.Peter’s School, Exeter, the Hospital has a new bore-hole as a stand-by should there ever be problems with the main water supply.
The new bore-hole for the Hospital
More Construction Work
We need also to construct a storage unit, a Guardian Shelter for those caring for patients, and to build a much larger NRU for the Under-5 programme. In mid-August the NRU had only two patients, but by mid-September the number had risen to nine. There is no doubt that over the next weeks that number will continue to increase as the food shortage resulting from very poor rains begins to take effect. The NRU/Under5 programme is the biggest in the whole of Central Region.
This child shows the swollen belly typical of Oedema (malnutrition)
We have been able to make significant purchases of maize while prices are low so that we now have a store of maize ready for the time when people have no food and no money to buy any. It is expected that there will be in the region of 90/100 children seeking help at the NRU by the middle of November. By that time it will be necessary to run an adult feeding programme, but again we have made provision in the purchase of maize while it is available and relatively inexpensive.
Maize bags being closed up after the addition of Actelic Dust to prevent weevil infestation. Each bag contains 100kgs of maize; we have 100 bags.
Staffing at St Andrew’s Hospital
You may like to have an idea of the staffing of the hospital. We currently employ:
two Clinical Officers;
one matron and one deputy matron, both of whom are Nurse/Midwife/Technicians;
four other Nurse/Midwife/Technicians;
one nurse;
one Medical Assistant who also does dental work;
one Lab Assistant;
one Pharmacy Assistant;
one Dental Aide;
one Patient Aide;
seven Ward Attendants;
four Homecraft Workers;
two Cleaners;
two Drivers;
one Laundry worker;
one Administrator;
one Accountant;
one Accounts Clerk;
one Cashier;
one Receptionist;
ten Watchmen/labourers;
and two Maize Mill Operatives.
We are advertising for a Clinical Officer Anaesthetist to start as soon as possible.
Also interesting is a guide to net monthly salaries - Matron: £82; Nurse/Midwife/Technician: £74; Lab Assistant: £31; Driver: £27; Cleaner: £13. And St. Andrew’s pays good salaries!
Set against salaries the cost of basic requirements: rent for a tiny two room house - £4; a month’s supply of maize - £2.00; a month’s supply of firewood to cook for a family of four - £2.00; soap for a family of four for a month – 60p. A farm worker employed on a local estate, after ten years (non-pensionable) service, receives £8.50 a month.
The Orphan House
The Orphan House now has 32 children living in it, and other orphans who are living with foster parents are fed every day. Fifty children are sponsored at the Primary School, 87 at the Secondary School, and the Kindergarten has 40 children, over half orphans, who are fed each day as part of the Kindergarten programme. Funds are now available to complete the second half of the Orphan House, so that we shall soon be able to accommodate another 30 or so youngsters.
Bunk beds and happy inmates at the Wrekin College Orphan House
Future Developments
In order to permit future developments, we have purchased a tract of land adjacent to the Hospital. It will obviously be quite some time before we can afford to build on that land, but in the meantime we hope to establish a drip-feed irrigation system which will enable the growing of two or even three crops a year, and which will also be a tremendous teaching aid in showing what can be done if water is available. Sustainability and self-help have always been at the core of all that we have sought to achieve through Medic Malawi, and such a project could prove immensely valuable over the next few years.
Prideaux Family Visit
In July the Prideaux family from Plymouth – two dentists and their three sons – visited St. Andrew’s. They set up a dental education programme, carried out many examinations, fillings and extractions, and prepared the way for us to apply for help from Dentaid, UK. Their two older sons helped in the Pharmacy and the Secondary School, the youngest one attended the Primary School. You can read their report here.
Finances
We do not usually write much about the detailed finances of St. Andrew’s in the Newsletters, but having given some idea of staff salaries and the cost of basic foodstuffs, we thought supporters might like a more precise indication of how the money raised in UK is actually spent on a month-by-month basis.
Salaries – £600 (CHAM now pays £1600)
Drugs/consumables - £1500
Outreach Clinic - £50
Fuel - £150
Maintenance - £100
Lab Facilities - £600
HIV Testing - £70
NRU - £400+
Electricity - £150
Water - £60
Telephone/Postage - £30
Insurance - £200
Maize Mill maintenance - £70
Orphans - £15
Registration fees - £5
Misc. - £250
In addition, there is the cost of all project work, such as buildings. We also endeavour to offer staff the opportunity to enhance their qualifications, provided that they undertake to continue working at St. Andrew’s after they have qualified.
Sometimes a reminder of why the work of Medic Malawi is so important may be useful. The following experience serves such a purpose.
“I asked the house boy this morning if he had a mosquito net. ‘They are too expensive,’ he replied. (They cost 25p.) Just imagine being so poor. But then he told me an even more heart- rending tale. Yesterday he had met a young boy aged about 13 in the market. The boy explained that last year both his parents had died, and that a week ago his older sister had run away. The boy himself had been thrown out of the house where he had been living by the village headman. The lad had nowhere to go, no-one to pay his school fees, no-one to give him food or shelter. Thankfully, with the Orphan House and the sponsors who support pupils at the Secondary School the boy now has a roof over his head, food to eat, a caring community and the chance to be educated.”
In the past we have not used the newsletter to ask for funding, but on this occasion we would like first of all to thank all those who contribute as members of the “100 Club”, for it is those donations which are the basic source of revenue for Medic Malawi, and to ask all supporters to consider whether or not they are in a position to increase the level of their support. Most people have submitted a Gift Aid Form which allows us to reclaim tax paid on eligible donations; if you have not done this please obtain a form from the web site or contact us direct. As you can see, the original target for the “100 Club” of 100 people each to donate £10 a month, thus raising a regular monthly income of £1000, now falls far short of what is needed. Are you in a position to increase your monthly support; or could you perhaps encourage friends to help by joining the “100 Club”? Please remember… every penny raised goes to Malawi.
May God bless you all.
Dot and Mac Forsyth
21 September 2006