The original Billy Riordan Memorial Clinic was opened in 2004 to provide primary care medical services to the people of Chembe and Cape Maclear in Malawi in Central Africa.
At the time there was no medical treatment available in the community of approximately 16,000 people. Men, women and children died on a daily basis from largely preventable and treatable diseases. The nearest district hospital is a one and a half hour difficult journey away and was out of reach for most villagers. Today The Billy Clinic remains the only medical care available in the area.
In 2007 a small in-patient unit was added and the clinic now provides 24 hour medical care on an in-patient and out-patient basis to the largely subsistence farming population.
During the dry season an average of 80 patients attend the clinic every day but this can rise to 120 during the wet season.
The conditions most frequently seen are HIV/Aids and Malaria and associated diseases such as asthma, dysentery and malnutrition.
The Clinic is staffed mainly on a volunteer basis and is constantly seeking new volunteers.
To support Billy’s Clinic we contact them prior to each trip to Malawi to get an up to date list of the most needed medical supplies that the clinic needs. We use our contacts within the UK to get as many of the resources as possible and fill our suitcases with them to get it out to Cape Maclear as quickly as possible.
We keep a close eye on all the children we sponsor and if necessary we will assist these children to attend Billy’s Clinic to help them recover from any illness they may get.
Sadly, the most frequent conditions seen at Billy’s Clinic are HIV/Aids and malaria with the associated diseases such as asthma, dysentery and malnutrition.
During the dry season an average of 80 patients attend the clinic every day but this can rise to 120 during the wet season.
In October 2022 there was an outbreak of cholera and the clinic were quickly running out of saline drips. Charlie was asked if the charity could donate the money to pay for more. He was able to drive a 10 hours round trip to buy and collect the drips which were desperately needed. The Doctors at the clinic said this undoubtably saved lives that day.
Whilst we are primarily an educational charity we will respond to emergencies if we can to save lives.
The clinic gets incredibly busy and relies solely on donations so whilst we cannot support them with funds, we do supply as many supplies that help enable them to do their jobs.
If you yourself, or a contact you may know, have access to surplus medical supplies here in the UK, please do not hesitate to get in contact. We will get the supplies out to Malawi in either a suitcase on one of our trips or through the shipping container we have access to also.
Equally, if you are a doctor or training doctor that wants to volunteer then please get in touch and we can help arrange some time out in Malawi for you to help out.
If you would like to sponsor a child then please check out our shop section where you can choose to sponsor a child’s education for the year.
