Our Target: £6,000 Raised to Date...
- 71%
Potential Beneficiaries: 12,000
DATUM’s latest project is the refurbishment of the Rural Community Clinic in the village of Chikwina in northern Malawi.
Staff there are welcoming and very professional – however they are forced to try and provide care to the local people in the cramped and dirty conditions of the existing structure. Treatment is undertaken in a very rudimentary room and mothers and children have to share a ward with other ill, often contagious, patients.
The proposed works will include the refurbishment and decoration of an existing building, and the supply and installation of all required furniture, fixtures and fittings as required to make the building operational – including: desks, chairs, beds, bed linen, mosquito nets, and medical equipment. All works will be undertaken by local skilled workers.
Funding was raised in DATUM’s Big Christmas Appeal 2021, with the help and support of kind donors. This project is approved and works have now commenced on site. These include:
- Extension of guardian shelter
- Glass fitting in OPD and Under Fives buildings
- Door rimrock fitting (20) in all buildings
- Painting
- Wiring guardian shelter and Under Fives buildings
- Maintenance on broken roofs and floors
Strengthening existing health systems for mothers and children
Malawi is one of the poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa. It has a gross domestic product (GDP) of just $343 per capita – 39% of the population lives below the poverty line. Owing to this economic situation many government departments operate within severely constrained budgets. The health sector is the most heavily affected and suffers from inadequate medical personnel, resources, equipment, and buildings.
In DATUM’s experience, medical staff in rural areas of Malawi are generally well trained and dedicated to providing as good a service as is possible– but they are constrained by the severe shortcomings of the system. There are problems related to the provision of basic equipment and medicines. Also, buildings are either non-existent or very dilapidated condition.
DATUM have identified the provision of community and maternity clinics in decent, clean buildings with good quality equipment as a key intervention to helping rural people.
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