Glad Tidings Orphan Centre
Glad Tidings Orphan Centre (GTOC) is improving the health and well-being of people living in Ngolowindo, Salima, a rural community in Malawi. Salima has high rates of HIV infection, teenage pregnancy and early marriages of young girls. Most people are unable to access affordable healthcare and public transport to the nearest Government hospital (over 12km away) costs more than a day’s wages. People tend to delay seeking medical attention until their condition worsens and sometimes becomes life threatening.
E3’s partnership helps fund:
Hope Clinic, which provides antenatal care, family planning, under-fives clinic, HIV testing and counselling, children’s physiotherapy and Antiretroviral Therapy and a free general outpatients clinic, seeing over 2,000 attendances per month. Without these clinics, families would not be able to access the treatment they need. There is also a transport fund to help children travel to the government hospital for life-saving treatment and operations.
An ambulance, which replaced an old worn out three-wheeled vehicle. Now the team can transport people in comfort to their clinics and to the main hospital over 12 km away.
Grant from E3: £6,000
Mary Mabasa is the project leader.
"HIV testing and counselling has been successful with hundreds of people coming to find out their HIV status. They come in large numbers because of the kind treatment that they receive at the clinic. We counsel people to live positively and that being HIV-positive is not the end of the world. People come to access Antiretroviral medication without delay and stick to the dates given to ensure its effectiveness. Having a local clinic saves on transport costs and ensures people keep up with their medication.”
- Chifundu, one of the medical staff from Hope Clinic -
“Before Hope Clinic opened, people had to travel a long distance just to find a simple painkiller. I believe with the introduction of the maternity wing more lives will be saved as women will no longer be travelling a long distance during labour. There is also an ambulance to transport patients to the district hospital, especially for emergency care. Other clinics charge for this service, but the ambulance, which E3 donated, is provided free of charge for Hope Clinic patients.”
- William, Secretary for the Management of Hope Clinic -