They saw patients like this lady with serious problems

Our instruments were sterilized in what looked like a large pressure-cooker so that we could do our best for young patients like Arthur as well as older patients who had toothache.

The staff were very keen to teach local people how to look after their teeth better. but we found that over half the people we saw had dental decay. So we promised the people of Mtunthama that we would try to get them their own dental surgery.

Our application to the charity, ‘Dentaid’ was successful, and they agreed to send a surgery to St Andrews clinic. The equipment travelled from Dentaid’s Headquarters in Salisbury over 5,000 miles to Mtunthama carefully packed and crated for the journey.

Crate from Dentaid

In November 2007 Malcolm returned to Mtunthama with a suitcase full of supplies to check that all was well with the crate and that the dental surgery would soon be ready for treating patients. 

Malcolm Prideaux doing a checkup

Don the dental therapist looking very pleased with the new chair

With special thanks to Dentaid for their help in finding equipment for our surgery, and preparing it for the journey. Medic Malawi will continue to support the work in the new dental surgery.

Malcolm would like to thank you all for your prayers and support during his visit.

December 2007

Alex, now 26, is a landscape gardener who uses his bike as daily transport to and from work, and is also a keen tourist on his bike. Most weekends he covers between 80 and 100 miles, usually on Dartmoor or Bodmin Moor.

His marathon ride took exactly the 15 days he had planned. Each night was spent in a Youth Hostel or a Bed and Breakfast and he allowed himself only one rest day during the 959-mile challenge.

Why choose Medic Malawi to benefit from his exploit? “I chose Medic Malawi because it is a small charity with no administration costs, every penny going to Malawi, because it is a charity I know personally from my family’s association with St. Andrew’s Church, and because it is based here in Plymouth.”

If you would like to sponsor Alex, you can make a donation at any branch of Barclay’s Bank. The account name is Forsyth-Malawi, account number 90736813 and the sort code 20-68-10.

At the clinic were treated like royalty, with our host families sharing what they had with us, making sure we had hot water for baths, and European-style food.

We divided our time into three areas.

Firstly we assessed the current dental facilities, and looked at the needs of the local population. The facilities consisted of a broken wheelchair a few needles and anaesthetic cartridges, and some very elderly forceps. We marvelled at the skill of Cuthbert, the clinical officer responsible for extractions. During our time there we examined 160 patients, of whom 60% had tooth decay, about half of these complaining of pain.

Our second task was to extract teeth, and carry out some simple fillings for those where the decay was not too far advanced.

Our third task was to set up a preventive programme, consisting of simple tooth brushing instruction and diet advice. We visited the students in the local primary and secondary schools, and families in one of the nearby villages. We had taken supplies of brushes for Cuthbert and James to give to patients who may attend in future for dental advice. By the time we left James, Cuthbert and Millica, the nutritional educator, were ready to work as a team on outreach programmes, in the other nearby villages.

Sam was able to put to use his pharmacy skills in the clinic. One achievement was the cataloguing of medicines, reorganising them, allowing the clinicians to dispose of expired drugs, which had been taking up valuable storage space.

David worked in the laboratory, carrying out blood tests for patients with diseases such as malaria and AIDS. He also taught group of the local lads the finer skills of basketball, and was given permission to use the basketball courts of nearby Kamuzu Academy.

Jonny, made lots of friends at the local primary school, learning about Malaria and agriculture in his science lessons, alongside Maths and English. Education was different to that in the UK, but he really enjoyed it.

As we left we did make a promise to raise funds to provide a much-needed dental surgery to serve the forty thousand local population. In the words of Arnie…the Terminator….”I’ll be back”….

At the beginning of our trip, we spent five days working in and around the hospital. We spent our time working in the kindergarten and feeding programme, painting murals in the reception and painting the new operating theatre. This was a special experience because not only were we helping practically but we were also in the centre of the community, meeting new people and playing with the children.

Everyone at the clinic was so welcoming – they really went out of their way to look after us and make us feel that we were doing something valuable for the hospital. In the NRU we were able to help the nurses weighing and measuring the children, mixing feeds and keeping records up to date. Some of the children were really sick and their mothers had walked for miles to bring them to the hospital, but when we started to play with them and give them toys or balloons, they became really excited and animated.

It is good to know that the decorating we did in the new Operating Theatre has helped in a small way to get this fabulous new facility completed. We heard how, at present, people have to travel 30km to Kasungu for emergency operations such as Caesarean Sections and that many patients don’t survive the trip or the wait in the government hospital. When the Operating Theatre is open, it will make a huge difference to the care that St. Andrew’s can offer.

Both classes had good attendance and enjoyed the Maths lessons. In Secondary schools in Malawi education has to be paid for. (100 Kwatcha – about 50 pence per week). Some students receive sponsorship through Medic Malawi. Those who cannot pay drop out, save up, and then repeat the year. Those who do not pass the end of year exams will repeat the year, if finances permit. Unlike the UK, the classes have similar ability but not age. Form 4 students ages ranged from 15 to 22+ years.

Maths level was Higher GCSE and A level standard. Students passing exams in October (when the school year ends) can be awarded MSC (Malawi Secondary Certificate). Enough credits will get them a place in college or university. All students were eager to learn, knowing an education is a privilege and is the key to success.

Equipment is basic; most students still used log books. Calculators are expensive (£20 in Lilongwe for one costing about a fiver in UK) so few students have them although the exam board now permits their use in examinations. Several students shared pencils and rulers, though I gave every student a pen at the start. Only one student pretended to have lost it to try to get another! I didn’t fall for that! Textbooks were not available. Malawi students are brilliant at mental arithmetic and can carry out complicated procedures, e.g. cancelling down fractions, with the greatest of ease. Many UK students never develop these skills.

It was a really enjoyable and fulfilling experience and such a contrast to UK schools. It was especially good renewing contact with the staff and some students I taught last year.

Mtunthama is a sprawling village of mud tracks, mud huts interspersed with a few brick buildings, friendly curious faces and maize fields. It is the home of the endlessly energetic Reverend Frank Dzantenge – pastor of All Saints’ Church and Archdeacon to 34 outstations stretching as far as 60km – and his charming wife, Eunice. It is also the location of the St Andrew’s Clinic, established four years ago through the hard work of Mac and Dot Forsyth to serve the desperate health needs of the community.

I went to Mtunthama to remind myself how half the world lives. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world – a good wage is £2 a day, with most living on far less than this, surviving by subsistence farming. And yet the parishioners of All Saints welcomed me with such generosity. They cooked me meals, introduced me to their families and gave me gifts. I will long remember the Baptist pastor who presented me with a biro as I left his house – a gift of great value to him. My joy at his gift mingled with my embarrassment at the relative riches of my country.

In this place of need, the work you are funding is a beacon of hope. The maize mill provides employment and income, while the clinic is constantly busy with nurses working amazing hours and some patients walking 30km for assistance.

Abiding memories? Getting up with the sunrise every day and finding everyone already up. People’s shocked faces when I told them I had only one sibling, didn’t know any of my neighbours in London and had been to only three funerals in my life. And, of course, constantly discovering from Frank on the way to church services, school assemblies or general gatherings that the main speaker was none other than me! “Is that OK?”, Frank would ask with his disarming smile.

Above all, my chance to teach in the church school will stick with me. What the people of Mtunthama need most is the chance to help themselves. To this end, the greatest gift we can give is education. It is heartbreaking to see so many gifted Malawian children never attending secondary school because their families cannot afford the annual fees. The cost? £20 a year! Before I left the village, I met the 25 children who are being sponsored through St Andrew’s. Your money is giving them hope. In your generosity I found the gospel being proclaimed – a gospel for our ‘small world’, where people in Plymouth can change the lives of children 5000 miles away. Now that is a gospel worth crossing half the world to see.

Jonathan Yates