Your donations have purchased a new trailer for our Mobile Outreach Clinic! Read our latest blog as our Mobile Outreach Clinic (MOC) team shares how the new trailer will be of great help to the team’s daily operations.
Mobilizing Masks for Malawi
Today, September 1st, marks the first day since April that the mobile outreach clinic will return to its routine schedule. Remote villages who have lacked access to medical treatment for the past four months will be tended to again. Orant’s clinicians are eager to see their patients again. Still, the return is one laced with unease.
Typically, mobile clinics draw large crowds. Many villagers need to see a doctor, but many also gather just to socialize. During the pandemic, however, gathering into large groups is unsafe. Since the virus is likely spread through particles in the air, crowds naturally increase people’s exposure risk. As Orant prepares the mobile clinic to operate again, it must mitigate these risks. While Orant does want to leave remote villagers without medical attention, it’s also wary of the dangers of encouraging public gathering.
The Masks for Malawi initiative is preparing clinicians and local volunteers for mobility as best as it can. The mobile staff will bring 200 masks each day to distribute to patients. Orant is hopeful that the mobile outreach clinic will serve an additional role now: one of spreading awareness, disseminating masks, and encouraging social distancing practices. Orant’s trusted health professionals will encourage mask-wearing in each rural village they visit. With this practice, Orant is likely to set a strong example and make a considerable impact on virus safety measures. But the mobile clinic will need more than 200 masks to protect its clinicians and supply all villages with masks.
Orant needs to increase mask production capacity. Last week, Orant scouted two more seamstresses to join the team. Thanks to the generosity of donors, the Masks for Malawi campaign has raised over $5,000 thus far. Orant has already hired 2 tailors, Chisoni and Bright, each with one assistant. They’ve sewn 3762 masks in total, at about 60 masks each a day each. With the additional two seamstresses at work, and with donations still streaming in, Orant anticipates finishing an average of 240 masks a day.
By mobilizing mask distribution, Orant will encourage much-needed prevention efforts in rural villages in Central Malawi. With time, villagers will learn the clinician’s social distancing requirements. And when social distancing measures are respected, masks are distributed, and people are kept safe, the mobile clinic team will feel more confident in returning to its normal routine.
Share on:
Stories From The Field
Learn how to make this favorite Malawian dish, Mpiru Otendera. One of Malawi’s most popular recipes, Mpiru Otendera (mustard greens with peanut flour) is a nutritious and filling recipe that goes well with many meals.
In rural Malawi, pregnant women face many challenges including lack of access to prenatal care, poor nutrition, and lack of safe spaces to deliver their babies. Orant is working to change that with the renovation of our maternity ward. Read about it in this week’s blog.
In rural Malawi, pregnant women face many challenges including lack of access to prenatal care, poor nutrition, and lack of safe spaces to deliver their babies. Orant is working to change that with the renovation of our maternity ward. Read about it in this week’s blog.
On the last Wednesday of every month, our Kasese Health Centre conducts eye clinics for local residents in need of treatment. Read our latest blog to learn more about our eye clinics and how they help people in rural Malawi.
One of the greatest challenges that our Healthcare program faces is women starting antenatal care too late in their pregnancy. This puts the lives of pregnant mothers and their unborn babies at risk. Read our latest blog to learn about what our Healthcare program is doing to motivate pregnant mothers to start attending antenatal care as soon as they find out that they are pregnant.
As Orant renovates our campus in Kasese, we find a need for more consistent power supply. Working with Green Impact Technologies, we will be installing solar power onto our campus. Read more about the project here!
Lack of food is one of the factors that affects maternal health in rural Malawi. Read our latest blog to learn more about how our healthcare program is tackling this challenge and encouraging women to come to the hospital on time.
We believe that everyone deserves access to quality healthcare, and we know that making timely and professional decisions can sometimes mean the difference between life and death. Read on to hear the story of Samuel, a boy afflicted by severe malaria.
Read our latest blog to learn more about how our Financial Empowering Microloans (FEM) for Women program serves the Kasese community and helps to lift a heavy burden off the community’s shoulders.