June 2025

Greetings in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ from Lutheran Mobile Clinic as we faithfully serve the communities of Msambo, Suzi, Mwalaulomwe, and Thunga through our mobile clinic operations. This month has been marked by God’s continued provision as we maintain our weekly schedule: Tuesday visits to Msambo, Wednesday outreach to Suzi, Thursday services at Mwalaulomwe, and bi-weekly Friday visits to Thunga. Through these consistent efforts, we’ve provided essential outpatient care, nutrition support, HIV testing and counselling, antenatal care, and child growth monitoring to thousands of community members who might otherwise lack access to quality healthcare.

It is June 2025 means we are halfway through the year, oh! It’s really halfway through the year 2025, it feels like yesterday when we were celebrating the New Year. We are so grateful for God’s love through all these months. As we are halfway through the year, we are also at the end of CAMM’s fiscal year, and it’s time we reflected on the challenges and opportunities at personal, organizational, national, and global levels. We need to rethink development and global issues. Let us begin by reflecting on recent reductions to US foreign aid, as well as aid from the UK, and the EU. This has affected many local and international NGOs and has led to aid programs being cut often leaving little to no assistance for those in need.

At Lutheran Mobile Clinic we used to benefit from the U.S President’s Malaria Initiative, from which we could receive Malaria control, diagnosis and treatment supplies. Most years we treat around 16,000 cases of malaria. Malaria can be particularly life threatening or disabling in children. Prior to the cuts to USAID we received a good supply of malaria testing kits and the malaria drug we call LA. As the cuts to USAID went into effect, we saw the district hospital requests to rationalize supplies with other public hospitals who did not have malaria treatment supplies. We had plenty of supplies and were happy to share them with facilities who had little. To date we have not seen a sustainable plan from the Malawi government to provide malaria treatment supplies and fear we may have to purchase them from local pharmacies. We have also noted an increase in the number of patients at our clinics. The ability of public hospitals and clinics to provide medications has worsened, with little or no medication available and high prices for consultation and medications at private clinics. People prefer to wait for the Lutheran Mobile Clinic to provide care and medication that is affordable and available.

As if this is not enough, Malawi’s poor credit facility has spiked the rate of inflation which was already around 15% before the credit troubles. The prices of goods and commodities are through the roof, including medications, which makes life very tough for people
earning maybe $50 to $100 per month.

In as much as things are not good, we are grateful for how we have managed our expenses at the mobile clinic, and we expect to come in just under budget when our fiscal year ends in late June.

As a country, we need to develop strategies and thoughts on the aid structure and how we are going to reduce dependency. We need serious social and economic independence and not just political independence. This makes us value the Lutheran Mobile Clinic’s social and economic efforts and the support that we have from you all in the States.

Back to Lutheran Mobile Clinic operations, our HIV testing and counseling services have shown remarkable progress across all four clinic sites, reflecting broader national trends as Malawi advances toward achieving the 95-95-95 HIV targets. The reduced stigma we’ve witnessed demonstrates God’s healing power working through dedicated service. These achievements embody Christ’s command in Matthew 10:8: “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” Our child growth monitoring and antenatal care programs have revealed both challenges and victories during this dry season, made possible through the generous support of our faithful donors. The funds you’ve provided have enabled us to purchase essential medical and nutrition supplies and maintain our vehicles for reliable community access, while your clothing donations have brought dignity and warmth to families facing economic hardship. Your donated pill bottles have proven invaluable for organizing medications and ensuring proper dosing for various conditions across all four clinic sites. As Proverbs 31:20 teaches us, “She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy,” – your contributions have become instruments of His healing grace,
enabling us to nurture life from conception through childhood and honor His precious gift at every stage.

May God bless you all for supporting CAMM.

Your sister in Christ,

Lusungu Mwambeye.
Clinic Administrator.