The Saulos Klaus Chilima (SKC) Foundation has supported St John’s Mission Hospital with K7.2 million to be used to rehabilitate one of its ambulances which has frequently been breaking down.
Speaking after the donation Joshua Varela, a Trustee for SKC Foundation, said the hospital, one of the oldest in Mzuzu, is facing numerous challenges, and the Foundation felt compelled to contribute towards addressing some of them.
Varela said they considered the importance of the hospital to Mzuzu and the Northern Region in general hence the support.
He said the foundation is also focused on supporting communities in areas such as health, education, environment among others.
“They have a list of challenges and we chose to fix the ambulance because we felt it will serve a lot of people. Our board in March this year passed a resolution to fix the ambulance,” he said.
In her remarks, St John’s Mission Hospital Director Jessie Chihana commended the Foundation for the gesture which came about after the hospital sounded an SoS in February this year during its Open Day.
Chihana said there have been instances where the ambulance broke down en-route to a referral hospital while transporting patients, posing serious risks.
“Currently we do not have a washing machine, our staff manually wash patients’ clothes using sticks, which is tiresome. But we thank God for organisation’s like SKC Foundation for remembering us in our challenges. The support will go a long way to improve service delivery at this hospital,” she said.
Also present at the event were Wales Singini, Chairperson of the hospital’s Finance and Audit Committee, Father Tony Mfune and members of the hospital staff.
The SKC Foundation is a non-partisan and non-political organisation aiming at fulfilling the vision and goals of the late Vice President Saulos Chilima was launched on 12 February 2025.
Among some of its objectives the Foundation supports education for underprivileged students in Malawi, providing aid to those in need during unforeseen crises, encouraging self-sufficiency among Malawians, promoting youth leadership development and also promoting collective mindset change.
“They have a list of challenges and we chose to fix the ambulance because we felt it will serve a lot of people.”
Joshua Varela
Trustee for SKC Foundation
