Retirement Villages - from Rugby to Malawi with love
A medical centre in a remote district in Malawi is set to undergo an ambitious extension – thanks to the tireless efforts of a Rugby couple.
Over the past five years, Tony and Sue Melia have been instrumental in transforming the lives of the residents of Bwengu, a tiny Malawian village tucked away in the African bush.
The next phase of their incredible project is the extensive expansion of the district’s medical centre including the building of a 10 bed maternity ward, a six bed birthing ward, a midwife’s office, a vaccine storeroom complete with refrigeration facilities, three medical clinics for HIV, TB and malaria and three nurses homes.
In order to convince the headmen and chiefs of Bwengu’s 51 neighbouring communities to help with the building work, the Melias have enlisted the help of technology, the likes of which the people they’ll be helping won’t have seen before.
The couple, both in their 60s, will be travelling to Malawi in the summer with a DVD featuring not only impressive colour plans of the new building but images of a 3D computer model, put together by Tetlow King Architects and funded by Retirement Villages Ltd – developers of Lime Tree Village, the retirement village near Rugby where Tony and Sue live.
“Imagine a people, deep in the mountains of central Africa, who have never seen a TV, being shown a 3D colour plan of their new medical centre projected through a laptop onto a projector – it will just blow them away,” said Tony. “This is a very generous gesture by Retirement Villages and Tetlow King Architects.”
Since 2006, the couple have spent months each summer working in Bwengu, project-managing its wholsesale transformation – including rebuilding schools, developing a women’s centre, renovating churches, organising a food programme for orphans, community food projects, educating the villagers in self sufficiency and drafting in much needed transportation. With such impressive facilities, Bwengu has become a hub for other rural communities which has left the medical centre – one of the first buildings they renovated – struggling to cope.
“We were more than happy to take on the extension of the medical centre but, for the project to be a success, we needed to engage with a much wider group of village chiefs and headmen – people who can view outsiders with suspicion,” said Tony.
Without their buy-in the project would never get off the ground.
“We need the village chiefs to understand what we want to achieve,” said Tony. “It is them who will give their people the instructions to make bricks, dig for sand and build the extension.”
Using the principle ‘a picture speaks a thousand words’, Tony and Sue decided to utilise the laptops used by the four student teachers currently working in Bwengu.
That’s when Retirement Villages Ltd and Tetlow King Architects stepped in, funding the production of the high tech plans which they hope will win over the village chiefs.
“The Melias achievements and the difference they have made to life in Bwengu is incredible,” said Retirement Villages Development Director Jami Puckering. “This is just a small gesture to help them achieve their next goal which, we hope, will make life in the village that little bit better.”
Once built, RV’s contribution will be marked at the hospital by the company having a ward named after it.
FACT FILE:
- The medical centre will become a facility serving at least 51 villages – in excess of 16,000 people.
- There are currently just two maternity beds plus two mattresses on the floor
- All new buildings will have electricity and fans
- Bwengu’s neighbouring village of Muchini has 130 orphans
- Having proper nurses’ homes will be the draw needed to be able to staff the centre
- The new refrigeration facilities will allow for better control of drugs and vaccines
- HIV, TB and malaria are the major killers in Malawi
Find out more about the Melias work at: bwenguprojects.co.uk/