Report on the Supervision of the Homoeopathy Graduates and the Inauguration of the two clinics
(Jumbi & Mphangala) in Malawi in April 2015

by Nicoliene Potgieter & Manuel Steiner

We had a most satisfying and very rewarding trip to Malawi in April 2015!
As you know, a group of 11 students graduated as Homoeopathy Assistants after an intensive 6 months’ training at the end of October 2014.
The aim of this training was to provide better, and especially, accessible primary health care by using effective and low-cost Homoeopathy to even more remote parts of the area serviced by the Eva Demaya Centre.

During our trip in April 2015 we visited each of the eleven Homoeopathy Assistants in their respective villages. What we saw was amazing! Excellent work is being done by each of the graduates. We were very impressed by the high quality of their case-taking and prescribing. Most of the graduates live in extremely remote areas. In most of these areas it is almost impossible, or only with extreme difficulties, for patients to get to a health centre / hospital. The Homoeopathy Assistants are helping their communities tremendously by providing them with good primary health-care. Thereby many patients do not need to travel, or spend money on expensive transport, to get to the health centre / hospital.
These Homoeopathy Assistants treat between 5 to 10 patients per day with a high success rate. They are respected within their communities, not only by the patients they treat, but also by the Village Headmen / Chiefs. In the communities where Health Surveillance Assistants (government officials) and Traditional Healers are active, there is very good collaboration between all of them. Knowing their own limits, they do refer patients to the next health centre / hospitals in cases of emergency or in complicated cases.

The Homoeopathy Assistants ask a small fee for their services (ranging from 100 – 500 Malawian Kwacha (0.20 – 1 Euro / patient). In most cases, this is much less than the money which would’ve been spent on transport to a health centre / hospital and most of the patients can afford to pay 100 – 500 MK. In this way, it is also a good source of extra income for the Homoeopathy Assistants. Besides rendering their services to the patients, they continue to work as farmers cultivating their crops of maize and tobacco, in order to make a living and support their families.

It is important that all the Homoeopathy Graduates and Trainees be supported in furthering their knowledge and improving their skills. Therefore, a continuing education programme has been organised where all three respective groups (Homoeopathy 1st Aiders, Homoeopathy Health Workers and Homoeopathy Assistants) will receive a one day per month training / supervision at Eva Demaya Centre.

The two new Homoeopathy Clinics were inaugurated in the remote areas of Jumbi (8 April 2015) and Mphangala (15 April 2015).
For both communities, these were extremely happy days since they have asked and waited for a clinic since many years.
Both inauguration events were extremely well planned and organised by the Eva Demaya Management Team. Government officials, Village Headmen and Chiefs, Eva Demaya Board Members, several local development organisations and NGO’s, as well as, radio and newspaper representatives were amongst the invited guests, and of course, hundreds of people from the respective communities. A memorandum of understanding was signed by Jacqueline Kouwenhoven (MD of Eva Demaya Centre) and the representative of the community, in order for these buildings to be used solely as clinics.

Samuel Chipofya, our Homoeopathy Assistant (2014 graduate) from Jumbi, will be using the clinic in Jumbi and Andrea Mkandawire, our 2011 Homoeopathy Assistant graduate, will run the clinic in his home village of Mphangala. Both clinics are fully furnished and equipped. Eva Demaya will continue to support these clinics with needed materials.
Andrea Mkandawire has been employed since 2011 at the Eva Demaya Clinic in Luviri as a Homoeopathy Assistant. He has been most valuable to the clinic and we are sad to see such an excellent and dedicated homoeopath leave. It has been Andrea’s dream to go back to his family in his home village of Mphangala. He is much needed there in his community and we wish him the best of luck and success.
Our graduate of 2014, Kenson Chilembo of Luhono, a village closest to Eva Demaya Centre, is now employed as the new Homoeopathy Assistant at the Eva Demaya Clinic, Luviri.

Our heartfelt thanks to all who made this project possible and are still assisting us in it’s continuation! A very big thank you to Jacqueline Kouwenhoven for all the planning and coordination, the employees at Eva Demaya Centre (especially the building & management team) for all their hard work and the Van Kesteren Foundation for the generous funding and financial support in making all of this possible!

Tawonga chomeni! (Thank you very much – Chitumbuka)

Please also see following photos / attachments:
- Newspaper article on the opening of Jumbi Clinic
- Inauguration of the Jumbi Clinic with Samuel Chipofya
- Inauguration of the Mphangala Clinic with Andrea Mkandawire
- Bannet Kawonga, Homoeopathy Asst. Graduate 2014, practising homoeopathy in the extremely remote area of Chelinda, Niyka

Nicoliene Potgieter & Manuel Steiner
Basel, Switzerland 3 May 2015