Lifeline Malawi established its first medical outreach in the lakeshore community of Ngodzi, where there were no medical facilities, clean water or sufficient food. Ngodzi is a rural community of 40,000 people, approximately 100km southeast of the capital city of Lilongwe. Although there were other established mission groups in the area, health conditions and medical needs of the local Yao tribes people were desperate, as there were no trained medical personnel and no access to medicines. In 1998, Dr. Brooks worked with a small staff to provide a part-time medical presence in the community. In September 2001, he opened an eight room medical clinic on land donated by the community. Since then, the Ngodzi property has been developed through donations raised in Canada, the US, France and the UK, into a medical complex offering full-time medical and health-related services to Ngodzi and the surrounding communities. In November 2003, two full time nurses began working in the clinic & living in two newly built homes locate within the complex. In 2005, with granting from the National Aids Commission, Lifeline Malawi became an approved Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) center with the ability to provide anti-retroviral (ARVs) to HIV positive persons. Thanks to the generous support of Samaritan's Purse, the primary medical clinic was significantly expanded to include space for the HIV/AIDS related programs. In May 2006, funding was received from the ECLT Foundation which brought Lifeline Malawi into partnership with TECS & CRECOM, expanding our services into a second location in rural Dowa and Kasungu. This resulted in the construction of a "Centre of Excellence" at Kasese, which was completed in early 2007. In 2008, we entered into partnership with Family Health International for the expansion of our outreach services into more remote rural villages within the Ngodzi region. Thanks to generous donations from other individuals and foundations, we acquired funding for two maternity wings. The Rosetree Maternity Clinic (Ngodzi) began delivering babies in May 2009. The AMOR Maternity Clinic (Kasese) began delivering babies in August 2009. In April 2012, changes in funding resulting in the operation of the Kasese Clinic being taken over by the Government of Malawi, Ministry of Health. By October of 2012, having to downsize the staff and services at the Ngodzi Health Center, we entered into a new partnership with the Ministry of Health where we now share in the costs of operating the clinic, combining our efforts and staff to meet the needs of the community. In April 2013 a ceremony was held at Ngodzi Health Center, attended by Government leaders and local chiefs, staff and Dr. Chris Brooks, to mark the beginning of our new relationship and partnership with the Ministry of Health. Today we are seeing about 200 patients each day and delivering lovely 3 babies at the RoseTree Maternity Clinic.
