2024 Mission Trip
| We had another inspiring and successful trip this year. Our on ground team included 6 high school students, 1 dairy farmer, 1 nurse anesthetist, and 1 physician’s assistant in training joining our 4 doctors for this year’s annual medical mission trip and directly engage with our other programs’ beneficiaries. |
| We saw first hand the signs of approaching famine. This picture shows the maize (corn) turned brown. There has not been enough rain this year forcing farmers to harvest early, with a crop about 40% smaller than usual. As the main staple of the Malawian diet, this has major impact on food security for people in the area. |
Our village medical outreach was incredibly successful this year. We saw an astonishing 734 patients one day, and 462 the other. Pictured here is our mobile test lab performing a wide range of tests such as blood sugar, malaria and HIV.
| Jen and Dow of The Hardy Foundation have once again donated more time and equipment to advance access to quality education for school students. They provided another continuous professional development training to 43 teachers. They also provided advanced computer technician training for 17 teachers to build the schools’ internal capabilities to maintain their equipment. Sankhula CDSS school now has access to power and lighting in 4 classrooms. Tchesa Primary School, Chilinda CDSS and Livwezi CDSS all benefitted from upgraded and repaired solar power systems. A young woman named Andularie also received the Hardy Bunch Foundation Scholarship to pay all costs associated with a Bachelors of Clinical Medicine program. Two additional young women received school fee support for the remainder of their secondary schooling. The Hardy’s visited a total of 20 schools supplying basic computer supplies and executing IT upgrade projects to improve access to these highly marketable skills. Education is the number one method to reduce poverty, and we are very lucky to have the support of the Hardy Foundation. |
| Our own Brian Lisse, Peter Minjale, and Dave Smith met with the Kusungu district minister of agriculture. Negotiations largely surrounded dairy equipment to buy with government help like tractors, a refrigerator trailer with a cab and bailer. We secured a 70% government grant. Currently only 4% of Malawian children have access to dairy, and Malawi’s government fully supports our initiative to increase access to this nutritious food family. Our pass on livestock beneficiaries and dairy facility are expected to be the main producer of dairy products in central Malawi within 10 years. |
| Dave Smith built a prototype hydroponic system for providing sufficient fodder for cattle for 3 cows with a 10 day turnover. Eventually, we expect to have a system to supply 20 dairy cows with fodder that with hay supplementation will benefit our farmers in numerous ways including lower feed costs, increased milk production, space efficiency with vertical production, and 85% reduction in water consumption. It is anticipated to cost about about $120 which is accessible via microloans. This system is pesticide and chemical free, unaffected by unpredictable weather patterns, and has the ability to generate a fresh crop for harvest each day. |
| A huge thank you to everyone who made this happen. We cannot do it without you! |
| Bridges To Malawi will turn your donation into direct action for rural Malawian families through medical, agricultural, and educational outreach. |