This new campaign is born with the intention of to continue the work begun during the First mission, Strengthen ties with professionals and local communities and advance community health projects that require long-term follow-up and support. The goal is not to develop isolated health initiatives, but to working alongside local teams, sharing knowledge and following up on projects and patients over time.
During the stay, the team will work alongside local healthcare professionals and agents, with interventions organized in different areas: arterial hypertension, pediatrics and infant nutrition, physiotherapy, care, and the prevention of neural tube defects through the distribution and promotion of folic acid, as well as collecting clinical data and logistics on the ground.
Continuity in the care of hypertension
One of the priority axes will be the detection, treatment and monitoring of arterial hypertension. The mission aims to reestablish contact with patients identified during the 2025 campaign, treat new ones and facilitate pharmaceutical treatment for one year for an estimated population of between 200 and 250 patients.
The intervention will combine medical care with training sessions and workshops for patients on the risk factors associated with arterial hypertension, the importance of adherence to treatment, and healthy lifestyle habits.
The monitoring is planned in coordination with the clinical officers, the nursing staff and the HSA (Health Surveillance Assistants), the health surveillance agents of each community.
In addition, work will be carried out jointly with the organization. ANAMED Malawi, who will travel to Benga to identify aromatic plants and native species that can be incorporated into local food. This initiative seeks to offer healthy alternatives to add flavor to food and contribute to reducing the excessive consumption of salt, one of the factors associated with the development and worsening of arterial hypertension.
Pediatrics and infant nutrition
Child health will once again be a central focus. The team has previously worked with professionals from the Alinafe hospital on protocols related to infant nutrition, bottle preparation, and pediatric care. It is also planned to assess the nutritional status of infants using graduated color-coded tape that allows for differentiation between a good nutritional status and situations of mild or severe malnutrition.
This action continues the preparatory work on treatment guidelines for children aged zero to five years, the assessment of malnutrition, the appropriate use of antibiotics, and the treatment of some of the most common childhood diseases in the area.
Physiotherapy, care and training for families
In the field of physiotherapy, it is planned to work with graphic materials to teach exercises intended for people with chronic spine problems and motor deficits resulting from a stroke. Workshops are planned in small groups and home visits in which it is also Families will be formed so that they can continue with the exercises.
The mission will also include the care and handling of care, based on the knowledge and practices already used by local caregivers in the Benga area. The goal is to work with useful, sustainable, and context-appropriate resources.
A new tool to register and follow up patients
One of the novelties of this second mission will be the use of an MRS (Medical Record System) to introduce clinical data in a simpler and more agile way. The information can be coordinated online when there is network connection, and it will allow recording, among other variables, the population of origin, age, reason for consultation, diagnosis, and the medical action taken.
A team of 13 volunteers
The second mission of CooperaMalawi has a multidisciplinary team made up of healthcare professionals and other profiles necessary to develop the project:
- Alba Subinyà Albrich (Family and Community Nurse)
- Anna Vilaplana Casaponsa (Social photographer)
- Aurora Garriga Badia (Family and Community Health Worker)
- Lídia Colombo Gascó (Family and Community Health Worker)
- Marc Vilà Serena (Technical Engineer at OP)
- Maria Teresa Raga Casellas (Family and Community Nurse)
- Marta Albiol Serra (Family and Community Physician)
- Montserrat Garriga Badia (Pediatrician)
- Núria Busquet Solé (Family and Community Health Worker)
- Raquel Muñoz Miralles (Family and Community Nurse)
- Ricard Badia Hernandez (Physiotherapist)
- Tatiana Conde Fernández (Nurse)
- Xavier Castells Jorba (Technical Superior in Electronic Installations)
A mission that begins before the journey
The campaign is the result of months of preparation by the different committees of CooperaMalawi and the support of volunteer individuals, organizations, and institutions. The solidarity activities carried out throughout the year in Igualada also contributed to this success.
The mission builds on the work carried out in Benga in 2025 and aims to move towards a model in which each new intervention allows for Consolidate monitoring, strengthen local capacities and build health projects with continuity.
Over the next two weeks, CooperaMalawi will explain through its channels the evolution of the mission, the activities carried out and the experiences on the ground.