President of Malawi tours health and engineering facilities

President learns about Lipscomb’s mission efforts to serve at the Blessings Hospital and Mtendere Orphanage.

Janel Shoun-Smith | 615.966.7078  |  01/03/2023

This past September, the ongoing partnership between Lipscomb’s engineering and health colleges and organizations that serve the nation of Malawi through the Blessings Hospital in Lumbadzi was highlighted on a visit of the Malawian President to the United States.

His Excellency Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, president of Malawi, visited Tennessee as the guest speaker for an event held on Lipscomb’s campus by Chikondi Health Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that works with Blessings Hospital and supports medical mission teams to the hospital. As part of the president’s agenda, he visited Lipscomb’s engineering and health college’s and learned about the university’s medical mission efforts to the hospital.

Included in the Malawian delegation were: President Chakwera; Her Excellency Madam Monica Chakwera, the first lady; Madam Ambassador Esme Chombo; Honorable Minister Nancy Tembo; Honorable Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda and Dr. Napoleon Dzombe the founder of Blessings Hospital.

For at least 13 years, Lipscomb students and faculty have been travelling to Malawi to provide service while also experiencing real-world vocational practice. Students from various disciplines have traveled to Lumbadzi to serve at the Blessings Hospital as well as the adjacent Mtendere Orphanage, but the two programs highlighted for Chakwera were nursing and engineering.

“This is something that we are all still talking about and will likely continue to do so for decades to come.  It was an honor and privilege to meet such a kind and compassionate global dignitary,” said Dr. Chelsia Harris, executive director of the School of Nursing, who led Chakwera on a tour of the schools’ Health Simulation Lab featuring computerized patient simulators.

“It was incredible to watch President Chakwera's face light up when he saw our 25-week-gestation high-fidelity neonate simulators (a computerized simulator of a premature baby).  He was mesmerized when we allowed him to use a stethoscope to hear the baby's heartbeat.  It was such a sweet moment.”

“President Chakwera is a faithful believer who appreciates and shares our commitment to serve others,” said Dr. David Elrod, Dean of the Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering, who led the president on a tour of the Fields Engineering Center, including the Peugeot Center for Engineering Service to Developing Communities. 

“That he recognized the work being done through Lipscomb's Peugeot Center was especially heartwarming. His visit and engagement reinforces the true value of work done by our students in serving others,” said Elrod, who also spoke at the Chikoni health dinner featuring Chakwera.

The engineering college has sent four teams to Lumbadzi since 2018 to install solar panels and a communications system at Blessings Hospital and solar power and water for the Mtendere Orphanage.

The new solar array is crucial in saving the lives of patients in the last stages of malaria, who require a blood transfusion. Because the power grid is extremely unpredictable, cutting out 20 to 30 times per week, the hospital was unable to reliably store blood at a constant cold temperature. So patients who may have walked for days to get to the hospital, would have to wait longer to have blood brought in for the transfusion.

The solar array provides a reliable power back-up for a refrigerator to store blood and vaccines as well as for critical equipment and patient monitors in the ICU unit. In addition, it saves money, as it costs $500-$600 a month for diesel fuel for the back-up generator, which still often didn’t last long enough to save blood supplies.

“It was a unique experience for undergraduate engineering students to connect with the president of a country regarding serving as the hands and feet of Jesus,” said Elrod. “By providing visibility into the impact that students can have using their God given talents, this visit opened doors of opportunity and understanding to those who may be interested in and feel called to help those with greatest need.”

Lipscomb Health has sent more than 50 student nurses and pharmacists to provide volunteer medical service at Blessings Hospital over the past ten years, primarily funded through the Sara Walker Foundation, founded in honor of a Lipscomb alumna. The hospital serves a geographic region of about 400 square miles, and 85 percent of the Malawian population do not own even a bicycle.
His Excellency Chakwera took questions from nursing students about mental health in Malawi.

“These kinds of opportunities show the world that Lipscomb is a wonderful place for service-oriented meaningful missions opportunities,” said Harris. “Most of all, I hope that it inspires future students and sparks their curiosity in being the hands and feet of Jesus on the mission field.