History
Lifeline Malawi established its first medical outreach in the lakeshore community of Ngodzi, where there were no medical facilities, clean water or even 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 there was no access to medicines.
Dr. Brooks initially (1998) worked with a small staff to provide a part-time medical presence in the community. In September 2001, he opened a new eight room medical clinic on property donated by the community. Since then, the property has been developed, through donations raised in Canada, the United States, France and the U.K, into a medical complex offering full-time medical and health-related services to Ngodzi and the surrounding communities. In November 2003, two (2) full time nurses began working in the clinic & living in two (2) newly built homes, located within the complex. In August 2004, Andrew Boettcher, from Calgary, Alberta, relocated with his family to Malawi, where he assumed the role of President & Executive Field Director. In 2005, with the granting of National Aids Commission funding, Lifeline Malawi became an approved Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) centre 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 September 2006, a new Field Managing Director, Pat Laforet, assumed the leadership role vacated by Mr. Boettcher’s return to Canada.
In May 2006, funding was received from the ECLT Foundation which brought Lifeline Malawi into partnership with TECS & CRECOM and the expansion of our services into a second location - the rural districts of Dowa and Kasungu. The construction of another 800 Sq. meter “Centre of Excellence” at Kasese was completed in early 2007.
