Category Archives: Stories

This set of triplets was born in August 2008. Mrs. Namaleu was contacted by the nursery nurse to follow up due to reports that the mother was failing to provide sufficient breast milk and that the babies were failing to thrive. Since that point Mrs. Namaleu has been visiting them and providing supplementary formula. The morning of November 13th 2008, Mrs. Namaleu phoned the village chief who told us to come and that we would… read more

As she was on her way to visit Mrs. Msumba a few months ago Mrs. Namaleu noticed a large group of women gathered around a neighbor’s home. Gradually she made her way to the center of their circle and there she found a toddler with severe Kwashiorkor (a disease of malnutrition, manifested by – generalized swelling, peeling skin, loss of pigment of hair, and areas of the skin which are either hyper or hypo pigmented)…. read more

Though we have big dreams, at this point African Mothers Health Initiative (AMHI) and Chimwemwe mu’bereki (CU) are surviving hand-to-mouth. Because Bwaila is a referral hospital, women come from villages all over region to deliver there. This is our starting point. Nurses in the nursery maintain a log of all the babies who need follow-up at home, they obtain maps to their homes and then give the information to Beatrice. Since CU has no vehicle,… read more

Mrs Msumba lives in a village just on the periphery of Lilongwe and has been a traditional birth attendant for the past 30 years. She has a small clinic next to her home and there she conducts between 40 and 80 deliveries monthly, on her own. She is an excellent TBA and a kind woman – providing safe and humane care the women who come to her clinic. If a woman needs food, she cooks…. read more