Lydia's sons receive treatment from Mackson, a health worker

Lydia lives in the village of Makande, about nine kilometers from the nearest health center. Lydia’s two boys are 4 ½ and 2, and she used to have to travel the 9 kilometers on foot to reach Kwitanda Health Center any time her children were sick.

Lydia was very pleased to hear that Mackson Khalawako, a health surveillance assistant with VillageReach, moved to Makonde to set up a Village Clinic for children under 5 to receive basic child health services.  Both of Lydia’s boys were coughing and acting very tired, so Lydia brought them to the new village clinic to see Mackson.

Mackson assessed the two boys using the Intergrated Management of Childhood Illnesses protocol from the government of Malawi.  Although the boys were both breathing quickly, they did not meet the warning signs for pneumonia.  Mackon gave them five days worth of cotrimoxizole, an antibiotic, and instructed Lydia to return if the symptoms did not subside within a few days of taking the medicine.

Lydia was saved a long day of travel to and from the health center and the health of her children was improved, thanks to the care her children received from Mackson at Makande Village Clinic. Thanks to Neil, Mackson is able to treat children like Lydia’s for an entire month.