Greetings Contact Women!
This month’s newsletter was written by the Nurse in Charge for the Lutheran Mobile Clinic in Malawi,
Violet Chikwatu, and tells the story of how a young mother and her baby are being helped by the gifted
staff and resources at the Msambo mobile clinic in Malawi. What a wonderful reminder of God’s
blessings and great work of CAMM. We are so grateful for all of the support and prayers that contribute
to the success of all of the mobile clinic sites in Malawi.
Would you or a group you are working like to have someone from CAMM come to your church or group
meeting and talk about the work of CAMM? We would love to share more about the work we are all
doing together in Africa for God’s people. You can find information on our website or you can send an
email to public.relations.camm@gmail.com
https://www.camm.us/howtohelp/
As always, please reach out if you have any questions and thank you for your support of CAMM!
God’s Blessing,
Stephanie Otto
cwc.camm@gmail.com
Contact Women Coordinator
CAMM.US
Facebook: facebook.com/CAMM.WELS
Instagram: @central_africa_medical_mission
MONETARY Donations:
Check (Payable to Central Africa
Medical Mission)
Mailed to:
WELS Gift Processing
N16 W23377 Stone Ridge Drive
Waukesha WI 53188
Donate online: www.camm.us/donate-to-camm
Lutheran Mobile Clinic
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead.” (1 Peter 1:3) In this season of Easter, we reflect on the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1:3 tells us that Jesus did not just suffer and die, but he was resurrected from the dead, and through his resurrection, we were given new birth as all our sins were forgiven.
Here in Lilongwe, Easter celebrations were held at Mtendere Lutheran Church. It was a beautiful gathering with different singing groups from different congregations. The choirs sang different songs of the salvation that was brought by Jesus Christ. The preaching was done by Pastor Winter from the Mwalaulomwe congregation who shared the word of God from Luke 24:7 “The son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.”
Figure 1. Mtendere Women’s Choir Singing on Easter Sunday
In this month’s Newsletter, I would like to share a story of Esau Phiri, a 2-month-old baby who came to Msambo clinic on 10th March 2026. Esau was born on 28th January 2026 at Mseche Health Center, Lilongwe. He was brought to the clinic by his mother, Fatsani Zimba, who was 17 years old, and his grandmother. They come from a village called Chapata in Lilongwe.
Esau’s mother, Fatsani, came with a complaint that her baby was unable to get enough milk every time she nursed him. She also said milk came out from his nose during breastfeeding. The mother was unable to produce enough milk and due to this, the baby started looking unhealthy and was losing weight. Our Nutritional Officer, Jean Kanyemba, went to the baby and assessed him to find out what might be a leading cause to his weight loss. Upon assessment, she found out that the baby had an opening on the hard palate of the mouth, a condition called Cleft Palate. Cleft Palate is a congenital birth defect where the roof of the mouth does not fuse properly during fetal development creating an opening between the mouth and nasal cavity. This causes difficulties with feeding, speech and hearing and requires early surgical repair to ensure normal development. For this reason, Esau’s opening made it difficult for the mother to nurse him well, resulting in low milk production and insufficient milk intake. The mother was then provided with infant formula for milk supplementation.
Jean referred the baby to one of our clinicians for reassessment. The Clinician, Petros Chirwa, confirmed seeing an opening on the hard palate of the baby’s mouth and he referred him to Kamuzu Central Hospital for further management. Esau and his mother went to the hospital on 11th March 2026. Esau was then booked for palatoplasty (repair of the cleft palate) on the 28th January 2027. The procedure is usually done between 10 to 12 months to enable the infant to grow stronger enabling safer anesthesia and surgical handling of delicate tissues. We look forward to 28th January 2027, the day Esau is expected to undergo palatoplasty procedure.
As a Clinic, we will continue to supply formula to Esau for mother’s milk supplementation. The love and care we get from the people who support Lutheran Mobile Clinic is the reason we can care for babies like Esau. The prayers, support and all kinds of donations keep us moving.
May the good Lord bless you all. Happy Easter!
Your Sister in Christ,
Violet Chikwatu