Volunteers living their dream

Margret Bowa of Maonga Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Njolomole in Ntcheu District, wanted to become a nurse but dropped out of school due to poverty.

“I wanted to care for the sick and save lives, but my family couldn’t afford further education,” says the 60-year-old.

Meagre earnings from piecework could not raise her school fees and basic needs.

Being the first-born in her family, she often escorted her parents to do piecework in fields and homes of well-off neighbours, but the proceeds could not sustain the family.

She dropped out of school while in Standard Seven.

“It wasn’t easy,” she says. “I wept because I knew that was the end of my dream,” recalls Bowa.

She is not alone. Lazarus Langishoni, 62, from Kanyimbo Village in the vicinity also rues his shattered dream of becoming a medical doctor.

“I regret quitting school in Standard Eight due to peer pressure and married a girl who was learning at a nearby primary school,” he says.

The pair and eight others now work as Tuberculosis (TB) and Leprosy volunteers at Kanyimbo Sputum Collection Point.

Since 2011, they have been going door-to-door in their area to collect sputum from TB suspects and submit the samples to Biliwiri Health Centre.

“Every morning, we meet at the sputum collection site to divide ourselves into teams that go in different directions to collect samples for further tests at the healthy facility,” Bowa says.

This improves early detection and treatment of tuberculosis.

Community agents work with the National TB and Leprosy Elimination Programme to reduce deaths caused by treatable diseases.

Malawi targets to eliminate TB and Leprosy by 2030 in line with the global Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) five adopted in 2015.

Bowa leads a group of volunteers.

“I’m happy that I’m living my dream despite failing to become a nurse,” she says. “What we are doing is similar to what we could have been doing had we gone further with education.”

Equally satisfied is Langishoni.

“We are happy to serve lives,” he says.

However, the volunteers require bicycles to surmount their long travels to collect more samples in the hilly setting.

“We only have one bike and it isn’t easy to move from one community to another,” says Langishoni. “We serve people from four villages far apart. They include Kanyimbo, Maonga, Kadzakalowa and Ngalande—far apart.”

The volunteers also require bags for carrying samples and T-shirts to be easily identified by their potential clients.

Health surveillance assistant (HSA) Gloria Chigoga says:  “Mobility challenges are paralysing the fight against TB and leprosy.

“The volunteers cover over 10 kilometres from their area to Biliwiri Health Centre.”

However, Ntcheu District Hospital laboratory technician Timothy Donda says the district is doing well in the fight against TB and Leprosy despite persisting setbacks.

“The treatment success rate for TB in the district is at 80 percent and the death rate is at zero. We are on course to eliminate the two diseases by 2030,” he brags.

Beatrice Nindi, community mobilisation and engagement officer at the national TB and leprosy programme, hails the volunteers’ commitment which buoys the fight for a healthier future.

“More people are being reached with TB and Leprosy messages, resulting in early detection and treatment. This has helped us to register milestones in the fight against the two scourges,” she says.

Nindi encourages the volunteers to work relentlessly for the country to eliminate TB and Leprosy in less than a decade.