The Journey to Healthcare for Chaone Village
It is 5:30 p.m. and the heat of the day is diminishing. The atmosphere is suddenly cooler and the day slowly gives way to the night as the sun sets in the horizon. This doesn’t stop me and my three colleagues from embarking on a journey only one of us has ever been on. Before us are beautiful hills arrayed in brick orange and various shades of green from trees newly blossoming in anticipation of the season to come. Our mission is to climb those hills and get to Chaone village, for tomorrow is a very special day.
With our backpacks cleverly packed with the most minimal of items, we begin our ascent. For the first twenty minutes of our journey, we are full of vigor and enthusiasm, chatting, joking, and laughing. But as we go further up to a steep slope, we all become silent as we struggle to cope with the arduous task of climbing the slope. My heart beats furiously as my body feels the strain of pulling my mass up the hill. As if in non-verbal agreement, we all get to one point and throw ourselves on the ground as we catch our breath. Louis, the only man on the team, then asks Mary L. (the only one who’s been here before), “Have we covered much ground?” The response is a disappointing “No. We have only just begun.”
As we soldier on, a dark cloud covers the sky. In the distance, we see that it’s raining. We can only hope and wish that the rain doesn’t come this way or this far. Minutes later, our hopes are dashed as the rain pours mercilessly on us. Now it’s 6:30p.m. and the sun has long gone to sleep. The only light we rely on is the lightning flash that brightens the dark sky. By this time we have gone far. We cannot turn back. The rain stops and as we go on, we feel a sense of relief that we can continue without getting too wet. In fact, our clothes dry from the fresh breeze that came with the rains and possibly the heat from our bodies as we continue on this steep journey.
Our joy is quickly dashed as the rain pours down more than it did before. At this point, we quickly resign to the fact that it will be a rainy night. Three more times the rain pours and stops and we get wet and dry again. Now it’s 7:00pm. Throughout the journey uphill, we pass no one else going up or down. There are no villages in sight where you can ask for directions or help. At this point, Mary L. says some haunting words: “We are lost.” She cannot locate any of the landmarks that she has become accustomed to in the two times she has been up the hill. Though the air is filled with a sense of panic at the dire situation we are in, we all remain calm, continuing on in hopes that we find someone or a village to stop by and ask for directions.
Thirty minutes later we hear a sound. I think it’s a woman’s voice and I secretly begin to rejoice. Mary C., another colleague, says, “It’s probably just a monkey. The hill is rumored to have a lot of monkeys.” But as we walk on in silence and hear the sound again, it becomes apparent that it is a woman’s voice. At least now we walk with a lot more vigor even though our legs could crack underneath us from fatigue. No sooner do we hear the sound again than lightning flashes, enabling us to see a small village. I cannot express just how big a relief it is to see a sign of life. We are tired, soaking wet, and simply looking forward to sleep.
We get to the one house that has light. An old lady welcomes us and says, “You are very near to where you’re going. Just go straight down this road and don’t turn anywhere. You will see bright lights and that is Chaone village.” Forty minutes later we are still on the road. We arrive at Chaone at 8:30 p.m. and cannot help but sit down, and stay down. By then, my feet are aching madly, my shoes and clothes are soaking wet, and my back feels like I carried a ton of bricks. After a quick meal, we soon fall asleep.
This is the journey that the people of Chaone community make everyday. The six kilometer trek from the base of the hill to the top is the only way they can get to their homes. The biggest problem in the community is the absence of roads that vehicles can use to get uphill. All their needs are met downhill. If someone falls sick they are carried downhill, nine kilometers away from the base of the hill to Malosa Health Centre in Zomba district, to access medical care. As a result, there is heavy reliance on traditional medicine as a way of treating sickness. Quite often, women give birth on the way downhill and people have become accustomed to such occurrences. Anything they need is carried on their heads all the way uphill because there is no road for vehicles to get to the area. There is no electricity, no water supply, and until recently, there was no health facility.
In 1978, Father Pier Giorgio Gamba of the Parish of St. Louis de Montfort in Balaka first stepped on the hill. He was taking a casual hike to see the beauty and magnificence of the landscape, the rise and fall of the hills adorned with beautiful lush trees. Over the years as he climbed the hills more frequently, he interacted with the inhabitants of Chaone, 90 percent of whom are Muslim, one percent of whom are Catholic, and about nine percent of whom belong to a smattering of various denominations of the Christian religion.
Father Gamba’s heart was heavy because of the suffering he observed in the community. He initiated discussions with the Parish of St. Louis de Montfort in Balaka and others in Italy to have a health centre built in the area. In 2012, ground work for the health centre began. It took the help of the community to carry on their heads each and every item needed for building from the base of the hill to the top. Materials such as sand, cement, iron sheets, steel reinforcements, paint, beds, equipment, and linens were carried on people’s heads.
Chaone Health Centre was officially opened on November 3, 2016, and my colleagues and I were fortunate to be in attendance for the launch. This day will forever be marked in the hearts and minds of the people of Chaone. With a maternity wing, pharmacy, and outpatient department, the health centre is a source of hope and mitigates the troubles that residents have faced for so long in accessing health services. The Catholic Parish honored the people of Chaone with a gift so profound they will cherish it for the rest of their lives.
Annabelle Gadabu is a Global Health Corps fellow with the Christian Health Association of Malawi (CHAM). Her title is Communications and Advocacy Officer.
