Malawi’s Florence Nightingale
Commonwealth Point of Light 102. Charity Salima
Charity Salima, representing Malawi, has been described as Malawi's Florence Nightingale after establishing the "Achikondi Women's Clinic" in Lilongwe which delivers, free of charge, around 60 babies and attends to a further 1,500 patients a month.
Drawing on her 20 year career as a nurse, Charity has single-handedly delivered more than 8,000 babies, with no recorded deaths since she opened her clinic, and she has most recently been caring for a little boy who was found abandoned in a toilet and taken to Charity by local police. Established in 2008, the clinic is reported to be the cleanest in Malawi, despite working with limited resources.
Charity’s award was presented by the Acting British High Commissioner in Malawi, Gary Leslie, on a visit to the Achikondi Women’s Clinic in Lilongwe (pictured).
Gary Leslie, Acting British High Commissioner in Malawi, said:
“Maternal and newborn health remains a big challenge in Malawi and some parts of the Commonwealth due to the slow pace of scaling up community-based care and human resource shortages. I hope Charity’s life of service and this award help inspire others to make their own contribution to tackling some of the greatest social challenges of time.”
Watch more about Charity’s inspirational work:
Today's #Commonwealth Points of Light Award recipient, Charity Salima, is described as #Malawi 's Florence Nightingale!
Drawing on her 20 year career as a nurse, she established a clinic to serve her community in 2008 & has delivered >8000 babies with no record of death. pic.twitter.com/fdNxUTQmum— UK in Malawi (@UKinMalawi) July 9, 2019