Monday 27 October 2014

MALAWI - Beit Cure International Hospital

Today I am going to tell you why my son in law, Jon decided to take his family from the home comforts of Australia to volunteer and work as a Bio- Medical Engineer at the Beit Cure International Hospital in Malawi. However the story really starts over 100 years ago. CLICK HERE to find out about a wonderful man called Alfred Beit.

The Beit CURE International Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi is a 66-bed teaching hospital that specializes in treating the orthopedic needs of children and adults. The facility was opened in 2002 and serves children with physical disabilities regardless of their ethnic background, religious affiliation or ability to pay.


At this point I am showing you a short video (from YouTube) where Dave, who I met at the hospital talks a little about the work that goes on in the the private wing so that children can have their operations free.

You can access it at 

http://youtu.be/Dy5RGv3OKNk

If there is a black space below, click it and the  video will appear.



Annually, Beit CURE Malawi sees about 8,000 patients and performs 1,100 surgeries. The hospital also has special expertise in total hip and knee replacement surgery, one of the very few places where this surgery is available in Sub-Saharan Africa. The hospital treats a wide range of orthopedic conditions including clubfoot, burn contractures, osteomyelitis and other acquired or congenital conditions. In addition, Beit CURE Malawi also provides physiotherapy and chiropractic services.  See how this hospital all started.  CLICK HERE.


As I am from a medical background I was keen for Jon to give me a tour of the hospital and below are some of the shots I took. 




Over time this old generated above had worked well however it needed replacing and Jon was very proud of his new recent acquisition below.  Jon is responsible for all the machines in all the departments in the hospital and loves working there although he says it is very frustrating at times as he cannot get spare parts easily and when they do come they are not all that good quality. 




When returning from the tour I passed these beautiful flowers, then we joined Judith in the café and watched the children play in the little playground.





Now isn’t this a great vehicle in a hospital for children to play in.


Of course Annika wanted a patient so 'moi' was laid in the ambulance!





 Then before going home I went to get mandasi from a local woman who spends all day making these.  It is like a deep fried dough-like bun which you see above and is deep fried.  Not really good for you however the Malawian people eat it all the time but then they walk miles and miles most days so you rarely find anyone overweight here like the western world!



I hope you I am very enjoyed this post and found it interesting. I am very proud of Jon and his family in coming to Malawi to be part of a team who is willing to help less fortunate people.

Thank you for visiting and also for leaving coments

28 comments:

  1. An amazing hospital Margaret. Thank you for sharing its story with us. The photos make it come alive. They are wonderful.

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  2. How wonderful for Judith and Jon and the children to be part of all that. What a clean hospital,, Margaret and so state of the art. I love the pile of "broken?" bicycles. And the ambulance with granny the patient! Yes, our Guest House staff make mandazis quite often. Great post. Makes me want to wander around Mwadui and photograph the area and the local people. Maybe after my holiday. Have a great day. Jo

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  3. What wonderful work they are doing. Thank goodness for people like your family who are willing to do this! Thank you for the tour of the hospital and the surroundings ... Beautiful tropical flowers.

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  4. It is always good to be reminded there is a lot of wonderful things happening in the world-terrific photos.

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  5. Looks like he has made a great decision that will reward others as well as himself. Thanks for sharing!

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  6. What a huge journey. And great mission of your son in law and family. Good for them. I hope they make a difference.

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  7. i can only imagine how difficult it is to maintain equipment and facilities there with limited access to parts and funds, too. bless them for the work they do, changing lives every day.

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  8. Oh My---what a wonderful ministry. I know you are proud of your son-in-law/family for giving of themselves to help those who need it and cannot get it other places... That is SO special... God Bless ALL of them.

    Love your red headed grandchildren.. Are there lots of red-heads in your family???? I love it!
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  9. Yes, Margaret!
    I'm not surprised that you admire his son-in.
    It's a wonderful man. Well, you're proud of him. For me it is a great hero.
    Flowers lovely.
    I marvel at your terrific photos.
    Greetings.
    Lucia

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  10. Beautiful people of Malawi, working in the hospital, and your grandchildren, playing with a cut down an ambulance, great photos.

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  11. Great post and it is encouraging to see that these people are getting the help the need.

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  12. Wow, I enjoyed this post very much. Nice to see this is happening for the less fortunate as it is truly needed.

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  13. How amazing! I really enjoyed your post. Quite special in so many ways. Blessings to you and yours.

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  14. Andagi! (what fried dough balls are called in Hawaii/Okinawa)

    Wonderful post, M. A Privilege to share your journey.




    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^= . <3 . >< } } (°>

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  15. Patient? you were just taking a nap.{:))
    Fascinating account though of the hospital Margaret.

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  16. This is really a fascinating post margaret! Know you must be so proud of your son in law as this looks like an awesome hospital with a great cause. What a wonderful visit you must have had, and looks as if you were an excellent patient. Pretty narrow stretchers they have in there! Gorgeous flowers and that dough bun looks very good. Love the shots of it being made over the fire.

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  17. Wonderful post! How is the hospital funded?

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  18. Hi Janice. That info is in this post. Click links, watch video and the first shot tells you how some of the money is raised. Have a good day.

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  19. Wow. The hospital sounds so amazing. I am glad to hear all the good they are doing.

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  20. oohhhh kind souls, making a difference, saving lives. they have done a wonderful job on the facility, all things considered. the living conditions are so tough....makes it hard for me to raise my head and look around my home, seeing all i have!!!

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  21. It's great to have a passion in life! And when you have family overseas, you get to travel, lol (I know about that- we left fam. and friends in Holland) Love your capture of your red-haired grand daughter:)

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  22. A great post, Margaret. Thanks for sharing your tour of this amazing hospital.

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