Joshua Orphan Care Trust to open new maternity clinic in Malawi built by Malawi and UK volunteers and fundraisers

The Joshua Orphan Care Trust is set to open a much needed maternity clinic in the rural Malawi village of Pensulo on 3rd July 2010. The clinic, which will make a huge difference to the lives of the people in the area, has been funded and built by groups of volunteers from Malawi and the UK under the guidance of the Joshua Orphan Care Trust, a UK and Malawi-based charity that has funded, built and continues to support a growing number of schools, feeding and community centres in Malawi.

The Joshua Orphan Care Trust has been working in Malawi for the last 12 years to improve the lives of AIDs orphans and the communities in which they live. Ten percent of children in Malawi don’t live past the age of five and life expectancy is just 53 years2.

“In 2008 work started to build the maternity clinic in the village of Pensulo, with significant contributions from over 40 volunteers from the Royal Bank of Scotland who got the walls built and the roof added, all in the space of 4 weeks. They were then followed by further volunteers from Keynsham Explorer Scouts, Quest Overseas and Inspire Worldwide.

The clinic will provide expectant mothers with the medical care they need as well as treating common diseases such as malaria, pneumonia and HIV/AIDS. It will also act as an education centre.

“The clinic is an invaluable facility for the villagers who would otherwise have to walk up to eight miles to the nearest clinic in town,” says Sylvia Avgherinos the charity’s founder and executive director who lives and teaches in Blantyre.

“Just three weeks ago Maria, a young lady from Pensulo, found herself desperately attempting to walk the 8 miles to the nearest clinic to give birth. On route she went into labour and was extremely lucky to be spotted by a passing policeman who drove her to the clinic. She arrived just in time and a few hours later gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Lily Grace (Pictured right with mum Maria and below.) This is a typical story for many pregnant women in Pensulo but unfortunately the outcome is normally very different. Most mothers are forced to give birth at home, or worse outside, with no medical assistance, meaning many lose their babies.”

David Theriault, the Joshua Orphan Care Trust chairman, commented that: “Without the hard work of teams of volunteers from the Royal Bank of Scotland, Quest Overseas and Inspire Worldwide, plus the support of Kensham Explorer Scouts and our donors and fundraisers in the UK, the clinic would not have been possible. These volunteers, working in close cooperation with local Malawian people, built the centre brick-by-brick. In doing so they have created a major new public health facility for the people of the area. However, we now need to have a final push to provide the equipment required to make sure the local people of Pensulo get the medical care they deserve.”

An on-line appeal has begun and supporters can donate money and purchase items from the clinic ‘wish list’ on the charity’s blog www.joshuainmalawi.blogspot.com.