Chiawa Clinic is located in the largest village of the Lower Zambezi’s Chiawa Chiefdom. The 13 rural villages in the area constitute a population of roughly 18 000 villagers and is growing rapidly. It is the main clinic servicing the area which has two smaller satellite clinics in the outlying area. The nearest hospital is over 40km away and is unaffordable to most villagers.
When we first arrived in 2008, the clinic had no beds, no running water, and precious few drugs on hand to combat the variety of diseases prelavent in the area. We immediately got to work and through DIA have supplied beds to the wards, erected a water tower, built patient and staff ablution blocks with toilets and showers. DIA also sponsored clinic director Charles Chiyama in a 6 month training course in Lusaka to improve his skills and add small surgeries to his repertoire. We just completed the building of a labour ward which has its own toilets and shower. A carport for the ambulance has been built as well as a 2 room dispensary and waiting area for families. Medicine is supplied twice a year. Our next goal is to build an onsite laboratory to assist with the early detection of a number diseases, specifically HIV.