| We are blown away by the generosity of our supporters – our total is now £21,338 including gift aid. ‘Thank you’ very much to all our donors so far. We want to raise as much as possible to be able to keep providing compassionate and exceptional patient care during the next year, so please continue to donate and/or share this newsletter via email or social media with your family & friends. |
| Remember … donations between now and noon on 7th December will be DOUBLED!! |
| A reminder of how hearing a man die gave Lucy Finch a mission … |
 In March 1998, nurse Lucy Finch had visited her native Malawi to care for her sister who was dying of Aids, when hearing a young man’s agonising death made her decide to come back and set up Malawi’s first and only hospice. |
Fast forward to 2021 Salima, Malawi where Ndi Moyo is now a centre of excellence in the provision of palliative care in Africa! However, all this has only been made possible by donations over the years … but the work still continues and Ndi Moyo remains a charity supported ENTIRELY by the generosity of donors from around the world. |
| Ida’s Story |
| Ida is a 50 year old lady divorced with 4 children and she is one of the patients that has been on the Ndi Moyo program for a long time. Ida was experiencing swelling of her right leg in 2009 and following a visit to the nearest health facility at Chipoka Health Centre, she was tested for HIV and results were positive. She was initiated on Anti-retroviral therapy and referred to Salima District Hospital for Chemotherapy as a presumptive diagnosis of Kaposis Sarcoma was made. She got 2 cycles of chemotherapy of vincristine at Salima District Hospital then a neighbor told her about Ndi Moyo Palliative Care. |
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| The first time Ida visited Ndi Moyo Palliative Care she was in severe pain due to the swelling of her leg and was given Codeine, an opioid to control her pain, and chemotherapy to manage her Kaposis Sarcoma which was confirmed after examination. After enrolling on the programme she got all her 18 doses and was doing so well her chemotherapy was stopped as she was in remission. Ida was physically stable from 2010 to 2019 and was seen monthly during our outreach clinic visits at Mchoka Health Centre. She received step 1 analgesics to control her mild intermittent pain and was given nutrition supplements to keep her healthy.In 2018 the Ndi Moyo team received training on cervical cancer screening by Doctor Sue Makin, the visiting Gynecologist. During the patient’s party January 2019 a motivational talk on the importance of cervical cancer screening was made to encourage the female patients to get screened for cervical cancer, as they were at risk due to their low immunity. It was following this talk that Ida made the decision to come for the screening. At this point she had no signs or symptoms of cervical cancer. |
 She got screened in February 2019 and her resulst showed suspected cervical cancer. Counselling took place and she was seen by the visiting oncologist who referred her to Kamuzu Central Hospital for a biopsy. She was assisted with transport from the Ndi Moyo comfort fund and travelled to the Central Hospital where a biopsy was taken with the results confirming she had early stage cervical cancer. |
| The oncologist prescribed 6 cycles of chemotherapy to reduce the tumor prior to her operation following which she returned to the gynecologist for reassessment. She was confirmed to be fit for the operation so a total abdominal hysterectomy was successfully performed to cure her cervical cancer. After the operation pain relieving medication was prescribed and her incision site completely healed with no complications and she managed to go back to her normal life. She is a small scale business owner were by she sells dried fish to support her financial needs. Ndi Moyo palliative care managed to save her life by early diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer which is the most common cause of death among Malawian women. Ida had 9 seperate roundtrips of 230km to hospital in Lilongwe in order to have a biopsy, chemotherapy, her operation and the follow up for her discharge after the operation. We controled her physical pain with medication, psychological pain through counselling, and also the social pain she would have encountered without financial assistance from Ndimoyo as she had no money available for her treatment. Her children are enrolled on NdiMoyo’s vulnerable children programme which covers their education expenses. She is, in addition on NdiMoyo’s food supplements programme. Ida is so happy and appreciates what Ndimoyo is doing to her and her entire family. September 2021 by Anastasia Munthali Gasten (a fully qualified Palliative Care nurse who is a member of NdiMoyo’s Clinical Team). |
| Don’t forget … donate between now and noon on 7th December and your donation will be DOUBLED!! |
| You can also donate directly to Ndi Moyo via AmazonSmile, Ebay for Charity, PayPal Giving Fund & Easyfundraising! |