Two of our trustees, Rebecca and Julia, are still buzzing about their recent trip to Malawi. In this article Rebecca shares some of her impressions and highlights.
It was a joy to be reunited with the children and their parents as we returned to Malawi this October. It was also very encouraging to see how they’d put into practice much of what we’d taught last year and how the mums were supporting each other. We even heard stories of parents visiting each other when children were in hospital.
It was wonderful to have Lisa an experienced Speech and Language Therapist with us. Seeing her engage with the children and help them to communicate better was magical. She was able to give some training and tips to parents and staff and it will be exciting to watch the impact of this unfolding.
For example; Have you ever tried swallowing with your mouth open, head turned to the side or tilted back? Last year Julia was able to give advice about good positions for children when feeding to help with safety and effective feeding. This year Lisa was able to give further teaching. Simple tips like giving children time to finish their mouthful before giving more and helping them to close their mouth. It was transformational to see the children’s attitude to being fed. One child’s neurological patterning means that her tongue only goes forwards and backwards. This means she tends to push food straight out of her mouth. When trying to feed her a banana her mum commented that she didn’t like banana. Lisa simply taught her to put the food in the side of her mouth, something our tongue does naturally without us thinking. The child then ate the whole of the banana with no waste. We are hopeful that simple lessons like this will make mealtimes safer, more enjoyable and more effective.
Of the children seen last year Angel has now started walking. Her mum reported a big improvement after she was provided with a Lycra suit (to help her trunk stability) on our last visit. Patrick’s mum came especially to tell us how much the glasses we arranged for him last year have helped ease his headaches and how he is now managing much better at school. It was good to see Ashraf again who during the year has had surgery for his club foot which we facilitated. He is doing much better although still has some foot pain which affects his walking. During our visit this year we were able to provide some strengthening exercises and have just been informed that his pain is easing.
Heart of Mercy members from each zone (or village) have been given funds to help with income generation. This is proving to be very effective and we heard several success stories. In one zone each member puts a small amount into a group pot each month which can be used when one of the children has an emergency and needs funds. In another zone funds are used to bulk buy maize then sell it off for a profit. Another zone has a small savings and loan scheme. Each member is able to borrow a small amount to set up their own business. They then pay it back with a small amount of interest so more people can be helped. Some then borrow more to expand their businesses. Businesses include buying ground nuts and processing them into flour which is then sold for a profit. There is still a huge problem with malnutrition amongst the children and food security in the region following two years of poor harvests but these activities are giving some help to the families and children we serve.
Comments