By Janet Karim
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denari and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ — Luke 10:30-35
Friday May 31, 2024 will be the 5th graduation for the LifeCare College and Health Sciences, located in Chigumula Township in Blantyre. The college has trained more than 800 caregivers. The student body is drawn from the surrounding community, but the college has since inception developed a national pull. What is caregiving, one might rightly ask? This is a little known sector of the global Healthcare employment sector. Thanks to visionaries like Dr. Pax and Mrs. Agnes Matipwiri, this phenomenon has landed in Malawi.
The LifeCare College and Health Sciences, is the first college in Malawi to develop a Caregivers curriculum and implement it, got it approved by Malawi Government through ministry of Gender Community Development and Social Welfare, and continues to make headways locally and internationally. The passion for caring other people, especially vulnerable populations, led the Matipwiri’s to establish the college.
“Elderly People are suffering in Malawi, and they need our support,” said Dr. Matipwiri, who is President of the college. Additionally, chief among his goals is the revitalization of the golden age of high quality and morally sound mission education up to the tertiary level.
The college was established in order to support Malawi’s government and its citizens who are living in disadvantaged situations. These citizens constantly experience heavy poverty, food insecurity and unsanitary living conditions, and often lack access to clean water {Sustainable Development goals (SDGs-1,2,3,4,8 and 17}. LCF focuses on creating community based programs serving Malawians in rural communities and finds sustainable solutions to improve living conditions of poor Malawians.
Caregiving is a sector of home health care (formerly home nursing); with the growing need for care within the home and scarcity among nurses, or the care not necessarily requiring a nurse, the home-caregiver professional sector evolved. These are not nurses; however, they are trained, with more life-saving knowledge than a nanny or butler.
Home health caregivers (or professionals) provide support to their clients in their homes. The clients are either elderly or young or elderly people living with disabilities; the latter normally are not able to take care of themselves. Among the tasks that the caregiver provides includes although not limited to the following:
- Teach the clients about activities to maintain or rehabilitate health. This is crucial for clients who may have had an operation or have recently been hospitalized, or simply may be too elderly to perform certain functions.
- Teaching about medical needs, diets and medications; this is important with the caregiver making daily reminders for taking medicines.
- Assisting with wound care, physical mobility, safe transfers, and bathing.
- Monitoring and recording patient information; this is helpful for client’s relations to know and take necessary action should other additional care (medical or otherwise) is necessary.
- Some essential activities of daily living (known as ADLs) such as housekeeping duties such as cooking, laundry, and dishes.
- Assisting with medical tasks such as administering medication and checking vital signs like taking blood pressure and temperatures.
- Helping with personal care like bathing, grooming and getting dressed.
The LifeCare College campus, where I was privileged (as a foreign-based board member and fundraiser) to attend one of its graduations in 2023, offers training in a variety of courses. Among the courses are Diploma in Public Health (where one segment is caregiver professional training in care and management for elderly people, people with disability, children and hospice care), Diploma in HIV-AIDS Management, Diploma in Project Management, Diploma in Business Management Diploma in Financial Accounting, and Diploma in Community Development.
To fulfill its mandate, the college has in its employ an academic team of trainers such as public health specialists, clinical officers, state registered nurses, and professional caregivers. The LifeCare College and Health Sciences (LCCHS) Board members is comprised of Dr. Peter Matipwiri, Mrs. Angela Chatulukira, Mrs. Agness Kumkwenzu, Fr. Frank Chingale, Mrs. Janet Karim, and Dr. Pax Matipwiri who is the President and founder of the LCCHS.
One of the outstanding achievements for the college has been the LifeCare College’s ability to attract employment opportunities for its graduates. Since inception, 132 LCCHS graduates have secured jobs abroad. Another plus for the college is its partnership with the Ministry of Gender, Community Development, and Social Welfare. This is exemplified by Friday’s commencement ceremony guest of honor being Mr. Justin Hamela. He is the Deputy Director of Child Affairs in the Ministry of Gender.
The President of the college told me that among the challenges it faces is support in the infrastructure for classrooms, citing that one classroom costs above US$3,000. He said apart from increasing classroom space, the college is also continually scouting for training materials.
During Friday’s graduation ceremony, hooding and handing out certificates will be Mr. Halema and the college President, Dr. Matipwiri. The graduation event has 128 graduates and will be taking their Hippocratic Oath.
Educational entities such as the LCCHS give hope for the health and wellbeing of the elderly and other vulnerable people such as those living with disabilities that need help at home to live comfortably in their homes. It gives relatives peace of mind to have trained caregivers care for their elderly family members.
