Shortlisting for Programme Action Award.
Our project child Mortality in Malawi has been shortlisted by Rita Beaumont, Assistant Programme Director Food Security and Healthcare for a Programme Action Award in the area of Food, Security and Healthcare.
I understand the award is made at the Malta Conference next month, so fingers crossed for a successful outcome.
Progress of Charity Kanyanda
We have received regular updates from Charity on her progress the latest was in September 2016.
Charity sent this report to the hospital and asked that it be passed on to us:
“Hope you are fine up there, here we are doing good after resting at home for a month its time now to prepare for school again.
We just got the exam results for end of year three in which we managed to do well in all ten courses that we sat for and we give God all the glory he deserves.
The first semester of year four starts on the 19th of September and will be travelling back to Mzuzu on the 18th.
Thanks for all the care that we have been getting for the past three years without this we would not have been where we are and we are looking forward to a very successful final year of our studies”
I am sure we all wish Charity well, also to Agnes who was supported by an unknown sponsor at the same time that we supported Charity and has been studying along side Charity.
Sponsorship of Elizabeth Mgawana
We have now been able to sponsor a second nurse through training. She is Elizabeth Mgawana. The cost of the sponsorship has been £4k a considerable increase since we sponsored Charity. This is due in part to the increase in fees and we have included contribution towards living expenses that are required to undertake the training.
We have been able to achieve this through numerous Club raising activities including the Lion’s Plant Show, book sales at each meetings and the sale of blankets. We also received several personal donations and support from SI Stourbridge of £722 from their Women’s Health Quiz and Sri Lankan Tea Party. A big thank you to all who have given so generously to support the project and helped organise fund raising events.
I am sure during the next four years we will no doubt get to know Elizabeth better as she reports on her progress. We do however, have the following information to support the sponsorship.
Report from Joe Langton Consultant Paediatrician Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital Malawi
(Joe’s home town is Stourbridge.):
“Elizabeth is without a doubt an outstanding nurse and I fully support her undertaking further training. By completing this training, she will further the nursing expertise within our Department, she will inspire others to do the same and will improve paediatric health care in Malawi”
Joe has also supported the sponsorship that we are supporting with the following statement:
“Elevating the education of carefully selected general nurses to a much higher level is a serious investment in the future of Malawi having a sustainable paediatric health offering for the half of the total population who are children.
In turn this will continue the work to reduce the appalling levels of child and maternal mortality in that country.
You are supporting educating, enabling and empowering women in one of the World’s poorest nations,
Malawians running their own services = sustainability, by reducing dependence on ‘outsiders’.
Next Steps
At the October 2016 Business meeting it was agreed that we should continue to support Friends of Sick Children in Malawi and to target supporting a third nurse through specialist paediatric training in Malawi
