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First Aid for Fishing Villages
“It’s a strange place for a medical clinic I know. But it is the only place we have at the present. They come here day and night. It is not unusual to have a patient come to the gate at 11 o’clock at night,” says Samatha Ludick, the owner of the Cool Runnings Resort on Lake Malawi. This patient is coming because of some sort of a rash, probably from some allergy. “Rub this on and if you still have a rash in two days come back and see me again,” she instructs her gateman. He in turn conveys the instructions to the woman who is seated on the ground in front of Ludick. Thirteen thousand people live in the fishing villages around Cool Runnings and there is not one vehicle that can transport a patent to the nearest hospital located east of Salima.
“It is 29 kilometers to the District Hospital in Salima and these poor people cannot afford transportation and it’s just a bit too far to walk there, don’t you think,” she asks? “This is why we must get the clinic done here. That way we will be able to do the simple first hand that is so badly needed.”
Ludick has ambitious plans for Senga Bay and “its all about the villages,” she emphasizes. “These people have no resources to handle even the simplest first aid needs. Yet the problems that arise can cause someone to loose an arm or a leg, or worse,” she concludes.
Ludick has operated the little resort on the lake since 2001 and feels it is critical for those who benefit from the area, whether by living here or just visiting, to help support the people who have no other way to make a living except through the tourism trade. In addition to a small clinic for the simplest of first aid needs Ludick intends to help the villagers create a culture center where the local people can capture and present the history of their culture in plays, bands and dances. She is also spearheading a number of other projects that are designed to keep the Senga Bay shoreline clean, as well as projects that help to create a pioneer spirit in the younger generation.
In the meantime Ludick continues to entertain her guests with stories about Africa, offers of a “cool” and “relaxing” place for those who are always on the “run” (thus the name Cool Runnings), service projects for the villages in which her business sits, and first aid for those who come to the gate to the only place they know to get help. The Malawi Project is pleased to be assisting the Clinic at the Gate.
“It is 29 kilometers to the District Hospital in Salima and these poor people cannot afford transportation and it’s just a bit too far to walk there, don’t you think,” she asks? “This is why we must get the clinic done here. That way we will be able to do the simple first hand that is so badly needed.”
Ludick has ambitious plans for Senga Bay and “its all about the villages,” she emphasizes. “These people have no resources to handle even the simplest first aid needs. Yet the problems that arise can cause someone to loose an arm or a leg, or worse,” she concludes.
Ludick has operated the little resort on the lake since 2001 and feels it is critical for those who benefit from the area, whether by living here or just visiting, to help support the people who have no other way to make a living except through the tourism trade. In addition to a small clinic for the simplest of first aid needs Ludick intends to help the villagers create a culture center where the local people can capture and present the history of their culture in plays, bands and dances. She is also spearheading a number of other projects that are designed to keep the Senga Bay shoreline clean, as well as projects that help to create a pioneer spirit in the younger generation.
In the meantime Ludick continues to entertain her guests with stories about Africa, offers of a “cool” and “relaxing” place for those who are always on the “run” (thus the name Cool Runnings), service projects for the villages in which her business sits, and first aid for those who come to the gate to the only place they know to get help. The Malawi Project is pleased to be assisting the Clinic at the Gate.