St. Gabriel’s Hospital - Namitete, Malawi

St. Gabriel’s Hospital is located in rural Malawi. It is a Catholic mission hospital established in 1959 by Carmelite Sisters from Luxembourg. The mission statement of the hospital is “to provide excellent services to the poor rural community and all those in need.” God’s Economy is currently raising funds to purchase much needed equipment for the hospital.

Current Needs

1. Epilepsy Clinic

One of St. Gabriel’s key out-patient programs is its epilepsy clinic. Epilepsy, a chronic neurological disease, that is easily treated in the developed world often goes untreated in under-developed nations. Most of St. Gabriel’s epileptic patients come from very poor families. Because some of the disease symptoms (seizures) are misunderstood and potentially frightening to witness, young patients are often abandoned by their family and raised by distant relatives.   

The hospital runs its epilepsy clinic free of charge; however, it incurs an expense for the medicines that it dispenses to the patients. Medication to prevent seizures, called anti-convulsants, have the ability to reduce the number of future seizures. These drugs are taken by mouth. St. Gabriel’s prescribes the most common anti-seizure drugs like phenobarbital. 

Last year St. Gabriel’s treated an average of 110 patients per month in its epilepsy clinic. The monthly cost of medication for a patient is $42.

 

2. Supplemental drug program

Each month hundreds of HIV positive patients come to St. Gabriel’s to receive their medicines. The anti-retroviral drugs used to combat HIV are given free to the patients through a government-subsidized program. Given the nature of HIV, most of the patients require supplemental medication to combat other diseases like hypertension, diabetes, cancer and sometimes pneumonia. These medicines are often too expensive for the patients at St. Gabriel’s. (If employed, the average Malawian worker earns less than $150/US per year.) It is the dream of Dr. Kiromera, Director of St. Gabriel’s Hospital, to have a fund that would sponsor supplemental medication for the poor in his patient poulation. $20 month sent to St. Gabriel’s Hospital funds medicines (not covered by the government) for treatment of opportunistic infections and systemic diseases common in AIDS patients.

 

3. Community Garden

St. Gabriel’s Hospital has numerous HIV patient support groups  functioning in the communities surrounding the hospital. When a person is diagnosed with HIV notonly are the medications necessary to restore and maintain good health, but also proper nutrition plays a big role in over-all healing. The opportunity exists to fund community gardens. The average community garden which is tended by men, women, and children will provide food for up to 10 families. The cost of fertilizer, tools, seeds per garden is estimated at $249. The St. Gabriel’s patient groups need 10 gardens for this season’s crops. 

 

4. Pigs and Pig Stys

St Gabriel’s Hospital is hoping to fund 4 pig houses for its HIV/AIDS patient support groups in the villages. There is a request for 6 pigs per house. Pigs provide a collective village group with both a source of high quality protein to feed families, as well as a source of income in raising and selling the piglets. The community programs through St. Gabriel’s Hospital have need of 4 pig houses (concrete sties) to house 6 pigs per house. The cost per pig also includes the service of a veterinarian. 

Cost of construction per pig house: $900 each (4 requested)

 

Cost of the pigs: $80 each (24 requested)

 

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Somebody Cares - Lilongwe, Malawi

Somebody Cares (SC) has been in existence for seven years. Founded and directed by Chief Theresa Malila, SC is involved in a holistic approach to village transformation. SC only partners with a village after the ministry has been approached by village chiefs, elders and pastors. Once SC determines that the villagers are serious about participating in the village transformation, SC commits to guide and to partner in the process of improving the quality of life and the living standards for the village. SC works in partnership with local and worldwide churches to provide its services and ministry.

Mvunguti District

Mvunguti District is outside the capitol city of Lilongwe. In early 2007, the chiefs, elders, and pastors of several combined villages in the Mvunguti District approached SC and asked if the ministry would work with its village occupants. In October 2007, one of the villages in the Mvunguti District was the recipient of a new borehole (well) that was funded from a gift from Grace Fellowship Church.

God’s Economy has invested in Mvunguti by funding the purchase of a brick-making machine; the digging of four latrines; the building of a large feeding center for the village’s 150 orphans; and funding the creation of a community garden. God’s Economy has also funded a blanket distribution system for the village orphans, and scripture has been purchased for the pastors of Mvunguti.

Current Needs

1. Latrines

Much more needs to be done in the realm of overall sanitation for Mvunguti. This is an on-going need for funding. Mvunguti SC would like to construct at least 27 toilets enabling every two households to share a toilet. The current cost for a latrine is $375.

2. Orphan’s Feeding Program-Operating Costs

Once completed, the feeding center will need funds for its operation. Included in the monthly support are: food for the orphans’ daily meals; meager salaries for center employees; fuel, cleaning supplies, and seed for the community garden. Estimated costs to feed 150 orphans one meal per day per month is $1,750.  

 

3. Motorcycle

Somebody Cares (SC) is in the trenches ministering to the HIV/AIDS infected and affected in Malawi. SC works in 17 communities in the impoverished urban and rural areas surrounding the capital city of Lilongwe. SC has a staff member who serves as its Volunteer Community Coordinator working with its network of more than 550 home based care workers. Daily this dedicated man travels from the SC headquarters in the center of Lilongwe out into the villages where the volunteers are engaged in transforming their communities.

When possible, the Community Coordinator gets a lift from one of the SC vans. More often than not, he is either traveling to the rural villages on his personal bicycle, or by taking a network of public buses and then walking on foot. The average day's trip is often as long as 360 kilometers one way on dirt roads! He dreams of a day when he'll be able to get to his volunteer groups in less time with fewer transportation challenges.

SC has requested a motorcycle for their Volunteer Community Coordinator. This would enable him to access the most remote villages no matter the season. It would streamline the traveling process, thereby extending his time in the field working with the volunteers and the community members.

The cost of a motorcycle is $4,000.  

 

4. Sewing Machines

Somebody Cares serves numerous women’s support groups throughout Malawi. These women gather twice a week to share key issues of life such as: what it means to be a widow; how to mange child rearing; what it means to be HIV positive; and how to support oneself and her dependent children.  

In several villages Somebody Cares has provided the women with new sewing machines and training. To train the women with this marketable skill equips the women with the tools to be able to become self-sufficient, thereby tangibly touching these complex issues in life. Somebody Cares has been asked by a women’s support group for an additional ten machines. The women currently have one machine for their group of twenty women. They each take turns using the equipment.  

The cost of a new machine, training, and materials for training is $300. A total of 14 machines has been requested.

 

 

5. Bicycles

Paved roads crisscross the nation of Malawi connecting the major cities to one another, but paved roads are the exception rather than the rule. Most of the roads in Malawi are dirt roads which connect village to village. Bicycles serve as the primary mode of transportation for the people of Malawi. 

The Home Based Care (HBC) volunteers who tend to the sick and the dying in the villages use bicycles to travel from village to village to see their patients. The HBC volunteers are critical in the overall treatment of HIV, TB, and other long term treatment cases. These in-home visits are important to encourage patients to adhere to their medical regimens and also provide basic nursing care. Non-adherence can result in the patient becoming more ill and failing his/her treatment.

Somebody Cares needs 23 bicycles at a cost of $160 each. 

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Partners In Hope

PIH is a Malawian non-profit organization focused on making a difference in the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Malawi. Founded in 2001, PIH has become one of the most dynamic organizations offering a 'holistic approach' to HIV/AIDS. They provide HIV prevention education, HIV testing and counseling, as well as care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS. 

Current Needs

1. Bicycles

Paved roads crisscross the nation of Malawi connecting the major cities to one another, but paved roads are the exception rather than the rule. Most of the roads in Malawi are dirt roads which connect village to village. Bicycles serve as the primary mode of transportation for the people of Malawi. 

The Home Based Care (HBC) volunteers who tend to the sick and the dying in the villages use bicycles to travel from village to village to see their patients. The HBC volunteers are critical in the overall treatment of HIV, TB, and other long term treatment cases. These in-home visits are important to encourage patients to adhere to their medical regimens and also provide basic nursing care. Non-adherence can result in the patient becoming more ill and failing his/her treatment.

Partners in Hope needs 23 bicycles at a cost of $160 each.