Chitimbe Village, Malawi … It is mid-day and cold in Malawi as we enter a village previously unknown to us. It is cold Chitimbe, and as we enter we pass a number of schoolchildren walking along the dirt road. They wave, and we wave back. Obviously, we are strangers, and they observe us carefully. In the distance, a group of children, probably under the age of 15, are playing sporting games.
Sitting alone on the Ground
When we reach our destination we pull to a stop in front of the house near the road. Then we see her sitting patiently under a tree nearby. Her name is Aisha, and she is 22 years of age. Seven years ago Aisha fell ill for a long period of time. Malaria, they believe. Soon afterward her legs grew weak, and she stopped walking.
The inability to walk meant her mother, who had to care for four other children, could not get her to school. She ended her schooling at grade 5.
Mosquitoes Near the Lake
Because Chitimbe is close to Lake Chilwa (at 60 kilometers long and 40 kilometers wide the lake is the second largest in Malawi), social workers say there is much malaria in this area. Because it is so common many of the poor cannot take their children for medical treatment, and malaria kills many of them.
One of Twenty that Day
As a result of our trip that day Aisha was one of twenty to receive a mobility unit. She told us, “I am so excited that I can now start going to school again.”
These units, supplied through the efforts of the Malawi Project and Mobility Ministries, are changing life, and giving hope to hundreds of people all over Malawi.
Reported by Wilson Tembo