Christian charity organization secures hospital equipment from UK for Zomba Hospital
As attention from stakeholders is focused assisting the fight against COVID-19 in various ways, Zomba Central Hospital has received an equally essential hospital medical equipment of different kinds for use in theatre, accidents-emergency department and intensive care unit (ICU).
The was courtesy of Women of Virtue International Christian Charity Organisation (WOVICCO), which secured hospital equipment from South End University Teaching Hospital NHS Trust based in Essex, United Kingdom.
According to WOVICCO’s executive director, Brave Nyirenda, they decided to come in with such an initiative taking cognizance that as hospitals are being overwhelmed by the pandemic, they still need essential equipment to treat other patients.
He said government alone cannot meet some of the demands of the hospitals and hence there is need by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as theirs to come forward and offer additional support.
“Our charity thought of donating the equipment to Zomba and one other district hospital to ease pressure that has come due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Nyirenda said.
“We prioritized Zomba General Hospital because it’s in the districts where we operate in and we are planning to scale our services to many districts in the near future in supporting Malawi hospitals with equipment that will help critically ill patients in ICUs whether they are COVID-19 positive or not.”
Receiving the donation, the hospital’s doctor, Delia Mabedi concurred with Nyirenda, saying the donation will really go a long way to assist other patients while the concentration is currently on COVID-19.
“We are glad that they first contacted us to assess our needs and we worked together in order to balance up the equation.
“It’s not just COVID-19 we are treating here but we do get accident victims who need ICU services as well as other patients needing attention from different ailments,” she said.
Nyirenda disclosed that WOVICCO is leading communities’ movement for change by promoting and advocating for family-based care for vulnerable children with learning disabilities.
He said they believe that children belong in families and there is need to strengthen families of the abandoned vulnerable children.
“For many years, vulnerable children have been forgotten and ignored. Millions of children are abandoned who go on to seek for a life in the street or live with unsafe families or in soulless institutions.
“We offer practical wisdom and hope for the future of vulnerable children and their families through community fostering and empowerment.”
He added that they contribute to the care of the vulnerable children and their families across Malawi through child and adult protection.
“As WOVICCO, we believe that with the help of social workers, teachers, traditional leaders, healthcare workers, the police and the children themselves and their families, we can do something together to encourage the care for children in safe and loving families.
“We also believe that families are the best place for children to be raised than to be placed and raised in orphanages — where cultural values are discarded and not followed.”
Nyirenda said in working with the various professionals with different skills is to ensure a multi agency working team, which helps and enables information sharing to safeguard lives of the vulnerable adults and children.
“The key is always the best interest of a child. As a CEO I would like to ask these questions — would you want your own child to be cared for in an orphanage? If not, why is it good enough for other children?
“Would you want your children in a safe family or in an institution? Would you want your children to belong to something? Or to someone?
“What happened to those vulnerable children who were separated from their families? If you wouldn’t place your child in an orphanage, why consider it the best option for the world’s most vulnerable children?”
Nyirenda also said apart from community fostering initiative scheme, WOVICCO also support and empower vulnerable youths to reach their potential goals by supporting them with their social and academic needs.
WOVICCO Executive Directors are grateful to the management of Southend Teaching Hospitals for the donation that has gone a long way to saving lives especially during the Covid-19 pandemic where hospitals in Malawi have been found lacking many vital equipment. Research Manager Christopher Khuoge, who works at Imperial College Hospital, Pastors and his friends facilitated the donation.
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