In the quiet village of Kunthembwe, in southern Malawi, Malita Charles begins her mornings before sunrise, preparing food, tending to chores, and planning how to make ends meet through farming and piecework alongside her husband. But until recently, one task loomed large over her day: accessing health care.
“I used to leave home at 6 a.m. and arrive at the hospital around 9:30,” Malita recalls. “The lines were long. I would wait the whole day just to be helped. And when I was too tired or sick to walk, I had to hire a bicycle taxi, which cost too much.”
With the nearest health facility over two hours away on foot, every visit meant a difficult trade-off between seeking care and securing food for her family.
That changed in April 2025. Through the Saving Lives and Livelihoods (SLL) project, led by Amref Health Africa with support from the Africa CDC and the Mastercard Foundation, outreach clinics began operating in her community, bringing essential health services directly to rural doorsteps.
In its second phase in Malawi, the SLL project integrates COVID-19 vaccinations with a range of critical services, including reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health, HIV/AIDS care, TB, non-communicable diseases, malaria, and nutrition. The model promotes life-course immunisation, emphasising that vaccines are not just for children but are vital at every stage of life.
The goal: to reach over 1 million people across Malawi, with at least 96,000 adults vaccinated, while strengthening the health system for the long term.
For Malita, this has been transformative.
“I don’t have to choose between going to the clinic and working to feed my children,” she says. “Now the clinic comes here. We get the services we need, and I can still go to work.”
Led by Nurse Chimwemwe Pakhale from Chabvala Health Centre, the outreach team now serves more than 3,000 people in Kunthembwe and surrounding areas. During a single recent clinic, 34 women received tetanus shots, 58accessed family planning services, five began antenatal care, and over 200 children were vaccinated, monitored, and treated for common illnesses. 89 people were tested for HIV, and 170 adults received treatment.
“Before, it was hard to travel and we missed vaccine doses,” says Enelesi Lusaka, another mother. “Now, I know my child and I will get vaccinated on time. It gives me peace of mind.”
The outreach clinics have become lifelines, reducing travel time, easing financial pressure, and enabling timely, dignified care. Children are healthier. Mothers are more supported. And families feel recognised.
“We feel seen,” Malita says, smiling. “Before, it felt like we were forgotten. Now, the health workers come to us.”
Each morning in Kunthembwe now begins with a little less worry, and a lot more hope.
