April 2018 Report – Mangochi District Hospital up in flames

Some very sad news from April. We learned that the Mangochi District Hospital caught fire. 

The Hospital front section in flames

The Hospital front section in flames

The front section unfortunately burnt down. It was established that the fire was due to an electrical fault. Efforts to put out the fire in its early stage proved futile as the fire extinguishing experts had to drive all the way from Zomba which is about 200km away. The entire antenatal ward got burnt down. Thankfully, there has been no report of injury to the patients and guardians who were evacuated. Some of the evacuees transferred to Monkey Bay Hospital, 65km away. Equipment and furniture from this ward was burnt too. MOET feels very sad about the damage because the hospital is the main referral centre to most of its pupils, and it has been the main beneficiary of key items that MOET and FOMOE has supplied such as medical assistance, mattresses and beds.

FOMOE Volunteer (Ben) issuing Hospital Staff with Supplies in 2013

FOMOE Volunteer (Stephanie) outside Hospital with Patterson (MOET Director) and MOET pupils in 2013