On January 24, Cyclone Ana left Nchalo Health Centre cut-off by a flood that disrupted electricity and water supply across the Shire Valley.
“The flood surged to window level,” says Esnart Lokoma, the nurse in charge for the facility built by the Hunger Project. “For two weeks, people couldn’t come for treatment, care and support.”
However, the toughest test came one night when the nurse had to assist two women in labour at night.
Lokoma recalls: “The toughest test was helping them give birth using the dim light from my phone.
“By then, the health centre, which delivers about 20 babies a month, had gone a week without any. However, disaster cannot stop health issues. The two women were in pain, so I had to assist them promptly.”
Beating the odds
The skilled birth attendant paced across muddy water to assist them. She worked closely with a cleaner, who held the phone high up to cast its torchlight and backlight on the woman in labour.
Lokoma, who arrived from Nkhotakota last year, is happy that no life was lost while giving birth in the yellowish glow.
“There was no time to blink,” she says.
The 25-year-old women, from Nkhwazi Villlage near the sugarcane plantations of Nchalo, salute the nurse for averting the possible pregnancy-related catastrophe amid the devastation caused by the three-day relentless rainstorm.
“The nurse came to our rescue without delay and worked against the odds to save my life and newborn when disasters disrupted vital services, but couldn’t postpone my labour pains,” says Ruth Mike after giving birth in the night of February 3.
The flood caused by the stormy torrents choked power dynamos on the Shire River, where the country generates 99 percent of its electricity. It also damaged electricity transmission lines that power Chikwawa and Nsanje.
The Department of Disaster Management Affairs ranks the Shire Valley as the worst hit by the cyclone which affected about 870 000 people from 200 0000 families. It displaced 23 000 families, killed 37, injured 158 and left 20 missing.
Nairobi promise
In 2019, Malawi committed to ensuring that sexual and reproductive health services continue in times of disasters.
Three years on, Cyclone Ana poses a stern test to the pledge announced at the International Conference on Population and Development in Nairobi, Kenya.
“This is the first test for us, together with the Government of Malawi, to demonstrate that spirit of the Nairobi promise to fully integrate sexual and reproductive health services in disaster response efforts,” says Masaki Watabe, deputy country representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
UNFPA is supporting the government and district authorities to ensure women, adolescent girls and young people access the necessary sexual and reproductive health services despite the humanitarian crisis.
“We have set aside some funds to respond to the needs of affected health facilities as identified by the district councils in Chikwawa and Nsanje, where the majority of the displaced population is concentrated,” explained Watabe after touring Nchalo Health Centre.
Earlier, he presented dignity kits to adolescent girls, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers at Sekeni Primary School, which houses 445 displaced people at night.
Handy kits
Happy Scotch, a seven-month-pregnant teenager who fled a collapsing home, was among the recipients of the 5 000 dignitykits funded by KfW, the German bank. They include buckets, undergarments, shavers, sanitary pads, wrappers and other essentials often neglected when it comes to disaster relief efforts.
“This is the first assistance I have received since I left home on January 24. Due to my condition, I couldn’t run. A well-wisher carried me on his back, so there was no time to save my belongings, including clothes,” she recounts.
She reckons the dignity kits will be handy beyond her stay in the congested camp without safe water, sanitation, hygiene and privacy.
“When time to give birth comes, I won’t have to worry. I will just carry my bucket, wrapper and other essentials in the dignity kit when going to the hospital,” she states.
Source: The Nation_February 17, 2022_by James Chavula