Healthcare in Malawi

In Malawi, the health care system has been at the forefront of concerns among citizens and the government alike for years. Organizing sufficient health care and providing the resources to promote good health in Malawi has been a constant struggle. Recently, hospitals have been suffering from shortages of clean water, beds, and adequate staffing; making providing adequate health care difficult. 

At Khombedza Health Center, near Salima, expectant mothers and other patients who are able are required to sleep on the floor. In some cases, when space runs out on the floors in the ward, patients are forced to sleep in hallways or outside areas. According to the Nyasa Times the hospital simply does not have enough beds to be able to provide one for every patient. Due to its location near two hospitals where patients pay for care, all those who cannot afford to pay for services end up at Khombedza. In addition to a shortage of beds, the hospital also has poor mosquito netting, which is sometimes ripped and cannot prevent patients from contracting malaria and other diseases. The matter has been reported to the District Health Officer who can hopefully provide proper equipment or even build another health center to help provide for the 56,000 people Khombedza serves. (Nyasa Times)

Ntcheu Hospital has had to suspend major operations due to a lack of clean water in the district. The water supply has been undependable for approximately five months with conditions worsening as of late. Many people from the Ntcheu District have been forced to drink unsafe water which is causing more cases of diarrhea and other ailments. The citizens of the District called for answers from the Central Region Water Board with a ten-day ultimatum to address the issue. In the meantime, the hospital finds itself ill-equipped to help those affected by unclean drinking water, without clean laundry or properly functioning toilets. (Nyasa Times)

Though the situation at Malawi hospitals is better than in the past, there is still much need for improvement. On top of other issues, hospitals find themselves understaffed with the current nurse to patient ratio at 34:100,000 far lower than the recommended 500:100,000 (Nyasa Times). Attention is being drawn to these issues and programs to train more nurses as well as provide proper facilities and utilities are being developed. It can only be hoped with the help of the local government, as well as global support, Malawi can look forward to a brighter future of health care.

What Makes Camp Magical? The SeriousFun Network Meeting Reminds Us!

This past week, SeriousFun Children’s Network, one of our implementing partners in Camp Hope, held an international Network Meeting in Connecticut. World Camp works with SeriousFun and Baylor-Malawi to plan and implement Camp Hope, our summer camp for youth living with HIV. SeriousFun operates similar camps around the globe, and once a year brings primary staff from all camps together to share best practices and receive training. Typically, I don’t get to attend Network Meetings, they’re directed primarily at staff that implement camps in a hands-on matter. However, because the event was being held in the States, I was able to attend this year!

 The Network Meeting was one of the most reaffirming, inspiring  events I have been able to attend in a long while. Staff from  camps from around the world (Latin America and the  Caribbean, Asia, and Africa) come together to share their  experience serving youths facing serious illnesses. Seeing the  level of dedication displayed by these individuals was what was  most inspiring. The people that staff the camps around the world are those that have grown up in  that environment and have chosen to give back to their communities. The challenges these  individuals have faced are often far greater than what I might, and their drive and passion is often  incredibly deep-rooted.

The Meeting was very well-run, bringing the joy of camp together with the quality information found at a good conference. Held at the original Hole in the Wall Gang camp, the one started by Paul Newman, the setting was beautiful if a little cold - especially for our African counterparts. Chipingo Phiri, our Country Manager who serves as Camp Hope Camp Director had not been to the US before and was so enthused to see the beautiful camp grounds and meet other Camp Directors. We attended sessions on working with the media, new activities for camp, best practices from various programs, a small seminar for African camps, and more. Highlights of the trip included ridiculous group cheers, singing songs after meals, dance circles full of show-offs, and evening activities that involved bobbing for apples and an Americana photo booth.

The feeling I will carry with me the longest will be the sense of community that can so quickly be formed in a camp environment and the knowledge that that incredible feeling of warmth is being created for our campers each year. Camp is a singular and powerful experience of both carefree fun and deep, true acceptance and the fact that we are involved in bringing that to Malawian youths living with HIV overwhelms me with a reaffirmed sense of meaning.

MediServ: Providing Medical Care and Training in Malawi

During the second week of October, World Camp ran our MediServ program in Lilongwe in partnership with Operation Medical. We hosted 16 health care providers and ancillary staff that performed 60 surgeries and 120 emergency room procedures in one week!

The average patient in need of surgery in the Central Region of Malawi arrives at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) which has 1,000 beds but typically at least 1,500 admitted patients on any given day. After being admitted to KCH, it is common for patients to wait 2-3 weeks for surgery. During this time, patients stay in 200-person wards, each served by only six nurses. One family member is allowed to stay in the ward with each patient. Just outside the hospital lies a Guardian Area, host to anywhere from 5,000-6,000 relatives of admitted patients. This area has fires for cooking and space for doing laundry. Many patients treated by the MediServ group had waited about 2 months for their surgery.

Upon arrival the first day, MediServ volunteers saw families manually ventilating pediatric patients struggling to breathe. This is ceaseless work that must be tended to every moment of the day.

The MediServ team included three RNs, three nurse anesthetists, six doctors (including Baker Henson), and five ancillary support team members. The group was split into two crews, one of which was performing surgeries, and the other worked in the Emergency Room. Both crews were honored to be able to help Malawian health professional provide services and to offer medical services to Malawians in need.

Some procedures provided included:
Caring for fractures, including a 2 year old with a skull fracture
Performance of two amputations
Multiple mastectomies
Emergency bedside tracheotomy
Removal of masses (abdominal, head, ovarian, a goiter, occipital, chest wall, ovarian)
Treatment of burns – MediServ volunteers estimated that 90% of pediatric cases in the emergency room were burns. Children did not receive pain medication while wounds were being cleaned.
Various musculoskeletal injuries – Bike and car accidents account for many injuries presented in the ER
10 dermatological surgeries

MediServ volunteers were able to visit patients in recovery and even saw some patients discharged. Even the Recovery Room is stretched thin at Kamuzu Central Hospital. There are no EKG or blood pressure monitors, only two nurses, and only one oxygen machine. In the US, there would be one oxygen machine per bed.

Another purpose of the MediServ trip is to provide training to Malawian health care providers. MediServ volunteers worked side-by-side with Malawian practitioners, offering hands-on training in all surgeries and many procedures. Further, Dr. Bipin Patel offered a lecture titled, “Gastro-Intestinal Malignancies” to third year medical students attending Medical College of Malawi.

Overall, the trip was a huge success. World Camp is excited to begin planning the next one. Our plan is to eventually operate two MediServ trips annually. There is a huge need in Malawi for experienced medical professionals. World Camp is addressing this need by providing direct health care and training Malawians.
Thank you to all our MediServ volunteers, our generous donors, Operation Medical, and all the wonderful health care professional with whom we worked in Malawi!