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.
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.
Stories From The Field
A Tale of Hope and Survival
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.
Growing Malawi’s Economy through Orant’s FEM Program
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.
A New Mother’s Experience at Kasese Health Center
Orant’s Kasese Health Center serves thousands of people each year. Many women prefer to come to our Maternity Ward to deliver their new babies. Read on to learn about Mwayiwawo’s experience in the Kasese Health Center.
Sickle Cell Anemia Affects a Family in Malawi
It is always heartbreaking whenever a mother sees her child sick. For Consolatta Kazinga, the situation was worse as she watched her two children on hospital beds, suffering from sickle cell anemia and waiting to receive blood.
Making Dreams into a Reality: Orant’s Microloan Program in Malawi
Many women in rural Malawi find themselves stuck in the poverty cycle due to lack of business capital. Our FEM Program works with such women, helping them transform their lives as they become independent. Learn more in our latest blog as Sophelet’s shares her story.
Caring for Women and Children in Malawi
This week, we had an interview with Linda Phiri, our program manager for the Maternal, Neonatal, Child and Adolescent Health Services.
Microloans and Building Business Skills in Malawi
At the end of 2022 we introduced our third group of our Financial Empowering Microloan (FEM) for Women group called Takondwa. Read our latest blog, as Magret Moffat, one of the group's beneficiaries, tells a story of how the program has already transformed her life through loans and business skills training.
Malnutrition in Malawi: Tadala’s Story
Orant's Mobile Outreach Clinic diagnosed Tadala with severe malnutrition. Malnutrition in Malawi is at its worst January to March.
Cultivating a Savings Culture in Malawi
As a way of cultivating a saving culture in the FEM Program, Orant requires each cohort to establish a savings group. Why is this important? Find out here.