“We don’t have to be rich to help someone out here. My hope is that more people will be inspired to do the same for their community.”
Josephine Kondowe, Watipa Scholar, Malawi
Malawi has less than one physician for every 54,000 citizens and has a healthcare budget of only $77 per person per year. The country also faces great challenges in terms of the response to diseases such as HIV, Malaria and tuberculosis, as well as ongoing concerns relating to nutrition and food insecurity.
As the name itself hints, Medical Outreach Mission (MOM) is an organisation that works through the Church to care and provide for people in need, particularly the sick and the elderly.
We reach out to people in their most difficult and challenging times to let them know that they are not alone, and that they are loved. So, it if happens that they are sick and can’t afford some medication, we buy the medication for them. If they don’t have clothes, we gather clothes for them. If they have no food, then we help them with that as well! The help we provide may not be long-term but at least with the little we do we change peoples mind and hearts.
With our actions we tell them that love exists. We know that for us to share the will of God, we don’t have to always carry our bibles, we can simple carry love.
On April 14th, we help our word by reaching out to twelve elderly people at Kauma village in Lilongwe, Malawi. There we gave away vital items such as soap tablets, over a kilogram of sugar, a further kilogram of salt, candles and match sticks. At this initial visit we unfortunately didn’t have enough information on their medical records in order to buy them the medication that they required. However, next time we can proceed on this front too. Some of these elderly people were sick and more generally were living with challenges that come with old age.
It was simply amazing to see how people were moved with the little things we gave them. This then encouraged us – we don’t have to be rich to help someone out here. My hope is that more people will be inspired to do the same for their community.
Let’s reach out and spread the love. #MOM.
Josephine Kondowe, Watipa Scholar 2017 and young woman aged 21, Malawi, with editorial support from Sam Mudie
