Health care in rural Malawi is extremely under-resourced.
There are insufficient health workers, inadequate medical supplies and medicine, and an ever-growing list of illnesses plaguing under-privileged communities.
Pamoza has been working to address these health challenges but there is still a long way to go. The nearest hospital in our service area is six miles away. That means when people get ill they have to walk to the hospital (or if they are fortunate they get a ride on the back of someone’s bicycle or an oxcart like the woman pictured on the right). There are no ambulances, no 911 service, and no vehicles. As a result, people tend to go to the hospital when their illness is dire and by then it might be too late. To counter that, we built a medical post in the community and have been bringing health workers once a week to treat the ill. This is great, but still doesn’t address urgent health care needs that happen on non-clinic days.
We have big dreams for our health care initiative!
One dream is to bring a nurse into Zowe, our largest community. We have identified a retired nurse who is currently living in government housing. Since she retired, she will be losing her housing and will have to find another place to live. We would like to provide housing for her in Zowe. This will mean instead of having to bring health workers once a week to treat the sick, community members will have full-time access to a nurse. To achieve this, we will have to raise $7,000 to provide her housing. After that, we will work with the local community to provide her an allowance.
With your help, we can reach our goal! We can get a nurse for Zowe Community.
Donate to this project, or you can mail a check to Pamoza International, P.O. Box 23804, Philadelphia, PA 19143.