HAVE A MERRY XMAS
Monday 15 December 2014
Friday 24 October 2014
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Thursday 25 September 2014
Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg
Well this is a good hospital, where I spent a month with my burns.
The staff at the Wound Clinic well excellent!!!
Guess what, the late Nelson Mandela was admitted here at the same
hospital a few times.
This is why I am much better today, recovering from my burns.
By the way I am still on sick leave till my wounds heal properly.
I am continuing with daily dressing on the donor site, as of today
25th September 2014.
My wife is a hero, she does all the dressing alone at home.
I am told I have a long way to go to full recovery, but I am
optimistic.
God is faithful
Want to wish me well, or to pray for me?
Contact me at :
director@bicomalawi.org
<a href="mailto:director@bicomalawi.org">Email me!
</a><strong></strong><em></em>
Alarming burglary increase in Malawi
As a result, I have Lost a Good Friend. Rest in Peace Richard
Just a few weeks ago (September 2014) a good long-time friend Richard Suzgo Chinula was
attacked at his house in area 47 in Lilongwe by thieves at around 1.00am while
sleeping. He was badly assaulted and
suffered head injury with scar fracture. He died a few days later at Kamuzu
Central Hospital. I have been very divested as this was the only friend I could
count on in Lilongwe. He gave me a lot of
advice regarding BICO, and indeed he contributed to the success of BICO. I had
known Richard since 1996 , and we have been friend since then.
Richard was an Engineer trained in Malawi and Canada, and at the
time of his death he was the owner of First Net ICT systems, a prominent IT company
in Lilongwe with branches in Blantyre. At the age of 49, he has left behind 3 children and a wife.
What a loss!!!!
The issue of security in Malawi is very frightening. Just a few
weeks ago, the Vice Presidents house was also entered by robbers. In 2012,
thieves also robbed our house and stole a lot of things.
Police, can you do something about this? Malawi is supposed to be
a peaceful country
RIP Richard!!!!!
RIP Richard!!!!!
Contact me at :
director@bicomalawi.org
<a href="mailto:director@bicomalawi.org">Email me!
</a><strong></strong><em></em>
Any solution for Burns scar itching?
Since my burns on 13th
June, my body is not the same.
I have constant itching wherever
there is a scar that is up to 32% of my body.
I have to wear pressure garments all
the time but they don’t help much (apart from being very hot).I am using E45
and Dermastix for the scarring. I have bandages everywhere. above picture was for my fracture in 2013
.
Does someone know what I can do to
ease this t? How I can be linked up?
I need to be better, for BICO to
continue ticking
Contact me at :
director@bicomalawi.org
<a href="mailto:director@bicomalawi.org">Email me!
</a><strong></strong><em></em>
Motivational Speaker/Blogger
With so much happening in my life
(BICO, Burns) I feel I could become a good motivational speaker/blogger.
Does someone know how I can be
linked up? (I could pay for my own expenses)
My wife here could accompany me
If so
Contact me at :
director@bicomalawi.org
<a href="mailto:director@bicomalawi.org">Email me!
</a><strong></strong><em></em>
Not all is bad after all
Not all is bad after
all
Blantyre Institute for Community Ophthalmology (BICO), Malawi
An amazing story for prevention of Blindness Programs
Dr Khumbo Kalua, Public Health Ophthalmologist, Malawi
A fractured Right arm
in 2013, and a survivor to a devastating burn covering a large part of the body
in 2014!!!! One wound think well this is really bad. Below is a story that may
make you believe God has a reason for my survivals.
In 2007, British Council for
Prevention of Blindness (BCPB) awarded Dr Khumbo Kalua from Malawi a PhD
Fellowship based at the London School of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, with field work on childhood blindness to be conducted
in Malawi. With this funding, Dr Kalua registered a local eye NGO named
Blantyre Institute for community Ophthalmology (BICO) in 2008 in Malawi and
employed one Research Project Assistant (Ruby). Between 2008 and 2011, Dr Kalua
worked very hard to see BICO grow.
7 years later (in 2014), BICO has become a prominent Eye NGO in Malawi, employing
6 graduate full time staff, and leading Research work on Trachoma. Currently BICO has collaborations
with several Eye-heath researches and program institutions in Europe, USA, Asia
and Africa, and has grants guaranteed until 2018. Some of the organisations collaborating and funding BICO include
the Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmology, the London school of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the NTD support Centre (USA), International
Trachoma Initiative, Sightsavers, Wilde Ganzen (Netherlands), International Eye
Foundation, Bernhard Institute for Tropical Medicine (Germany), European Foundation for Neglected Tropical Diseases,
and the International Coalition for Trachoma Control(ICTC) .
In 2013, BICO spent thousands of dollars on research and programs alone.
BICO has published over 15 articles in peer reviewed journals over the last 4
years, and now Dr Kalua has been confirmed as an associate Professor at the College
of Medicine, University of Malawi. Dr Kalua also sits at the WHO Regional
(Afro) Committee as a technical advisor on Trachoma, and he is the external
Examiner for the Ophthalmology course in Botswana.
And have you heard that BICO is a Trachoma implementing partner in
Malawi for the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust Fund, managed by
Sightsavers? Well BICO is a member of the International Coalition for Trachoma
Control (ICTC).Actually I am in Paris attending the ICTC meeting, discussing about Trachoma in My country as see on the picture.
Who would have
imagined that a seed-corn funding from BCPB would lead to such an amazing story
within a short period of time?
Dr Khumbo Kalua
Director
BICO
Malawi.
God has been good to me. He makes me
want to serve him more.
Contact me at : director@bicomalawi.org
<a
href="mailto:director@bicomalawi.org">Email me!
</a><strong></strong><em></em>
Tough Times 2014
Tough Times 2014
If I wasn’t a Christian believer, I
am not sure where I could have looked for solutions for what happened to me on
13th June 2014 9when my whole body was burnt).
And 4th January 2013(when I broke my
Right arm).
Been a medical doctor for 18 years
(an eye specialist for 12 years), but on that fateful day (13rd June) , my
career and my friend fell into pieces.
A lot has been said about witch-craft
(not uncommon in Africa).In-fact there are claims that the one who did his is
known. Yes even doctors believe in
witchcraft and seek traditional healers.
But my God is greater than theirs,
this is why my wife prayed for my condition, and the heavens opened up.
Never disclosed this (while in
Intensive care unit I lost hope, but my wife never did).
Frustrations:
Believe me, I had had no shower/
proper bath for over 30 days while I was bed ridden.
I was also pooing and weeing right
there in the bed.
And I was stinking.
I was in excruciating agonising pain
all the time.
How then could I have wanted to
carry on?
Pethidine/Morphine didn’t work
on me.
They wanted a Psychiatrist to asses
me .
But my wife was fasting, prayed to
her God to make me better. And he just did that.
Today 25th September,
still in Pain, but I am able to blog.
Infact I am in Paris, France- standing infront of Effel Towel;trying
to dress my wounds. (and attending a Trachoma meeting)
I have several blisters-wow these
are painful.
I could write a novel about the
pain.
Maybe I should become a motivational speaker.
But in all situations, praise the
Lord.
God has been good to me. He makes me want to serve him more.
Contact me at :
director@bicomalawi.org
<a href="mailto:director@bicomalawi.org">Email me!
</a><strong></strong><em></em>
Injury with 3rd degree burns
Injury with 3rd degree burns -in Intensive Care Unit
Yes this is Dr Khumbo Kalua as a burns patient
Yes in it was on Friday the 13th
June, and of-course at the Lake Malawi –a well-known 4 Start Hotel. A simple
buffet turned into disaster.
Medicine and Medical Colleagues failed
me, and if it wasn’t for him –it was RIP.
After the injury I was on my way
heading 6 feet deep but while in ICU parking my last remains, God returned me
on the way saying I was not well prepared, and I needed to complete the work I
had started (For as long as heavens are higher than the earth, neither his ways
nor his thoughts are unknown to us –Isaiah 55 versus 8-9)..
Instead I found myself in a hospital
bed in South Africa, as attached.
How can I be blogging when i have scars
all over my body?
How can I be helping eye patients when
I am a patient myself?
I suppose it is time to retire, to give
chance to some young stars!
Did you know that in 2013 I broke my
Right Hand (compound fracture)
God has been good to me. He makes me
want to serve him more.
Contact me at : director@bicomalawi.org
<a
href="mailto:director@bicomalawi.org">Email me!
</a><strong></strong><em></em>
BICO 2013 Annual Report Summary
BICO 2013 Annual Report Summary
Some of the activities in 2013 included the following:
January 2013
January 2013
Training in Epidata (data management software).Menard Phiri, BICO projects coordinator trained doctors at College of Medicine undertaking the M.Med Ophthalmology postgraduate training and also trained staff of KCCO in Moshi, Tanzania in Epidata. Epidata is a free software that can be used to enter data and then the data can be imported into various statistical packages (Stata,SPSS, Acess, Excel etc).
Visit to BICO by Prof Robin Bailey from London School of Hygiene to discuss the new Trachoma Project in Mangochi.
February 2013
BICO annual board meeting was heard in the first week at Chez Mackey Restaurant in Blantyre and progress towards Projects were discussed. A new board chairman was appointed and it was agreed that he facilitates the registration of BICO with bodies responsible for overseeing NGO work in Malawi.
Dr Kalua travelled to Ethiopia for certification as the Trainer of Trainer for Malawi in Trachoma for the Global Trachoma Mapping Project. Dr Anthony Solomon certified the training in Wolkite outside Addis Ababa, a Trachoma endemic area supported by ORBIS.
BICO fully accepted as a member of the Council for Non- Governmental Organisation (CONGOMA) in Malawi.
Dr Susan Lewallen visited BICO Lions Sight first Hospital and conducted training for the Global Trachoma Project. Four trainers of trainers were identified and trained.
BICO participated in a Trachoma Planning workshop in Mangochi at Sand N Sand Hotel organised by the Ministry of Health in which BICO was required to justify its capacity as the preferred NGO to implement the Trachoma mapping in Malawi
BICO Visits to the Low vision Centres in Ekwendeni (northern Malawi), Nsialuzu( Central Malawi) and Montfort (Southern Malawi) and correcting visual impairment in children under the Project funded by the Lions of Wide Ganzen (Netherlands) and Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmogy (KCCO ).
Dr Kalua’s visit to London School of Hygiene and Tropical medicine for new project on Trachoma in conjunction with the University of California San Francisco,USA .
Visit to the Global Elimination of Blinding Trachoma meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.
BICO moved offices to its new premises at Hetherwick Building complex, Henry Henderson Institute (HHI) in Blantyre in readiness for the Global Trachoma Mapping project.
Prof Russell Stothard from Liverpool visited BICO on a two week field work in Nsanje District involving Trachoma and Schistosomiasis Research.
BICO registered and fully accepted by the NGO board as a Health NGO in Malawi.
Visit by Karin Van Dijk (CBM low vision Consultant) from Netherlands to assess progress of low vision project in Malawi. Kari was in Malawi for three weeks and visited all the resource centres that the project was targeting.
During the visit a low vision workshop was organised in Lilongwe at Kalikuti Hotel, facilitated by Karin Van Dijk and Paul Courtright. DR Paul Court right travelled from Capetown to Malawi to be part of the phase 1 low vision evaluation. The workshop attracted staff from Ministries of Health, education, Montfort resource centre and the three low vision centres involved in the project.
BICO funded eye camps in Machinga and Mangochi district hospitals and over 250 persons ha free cataract surgery and regained sight. BICO had secured a grant from the Gift of Givers foundation.
BICO signed an agreement with Sightsavers to implement the DFID funded Global Trachoma Mapping Project in Malawi. BICO was elected as both the coordinating and implementing NGO for Malawi.
Dr Caleb Mpyet from Jos University in Nigeria visited BICO to conduct certification of grader trainers under the Global Trachoma Mapping Project. Dr Caleb spent time in Nsanje with the field teams and certified four trainers in Malawi.
A team of workers in Malawi competed the mapping of Trachoma in 16 evaluation units (12 districts) under the GTMP. The survey attracted offer 60 participants, including senior officials from Ministry of Health.
A team of Optometry students from University of Canada , Waterloo visited BICO and attended a six week internship, which included visits to the different eye hospital in Malawi and also participation in the Trachoma survey.
A memorable month for BICO. The announcement in Brighton UK at the International Coalition for Trachoma Control (ICTC) annual meeting that BICO was accepted as a full member of ICTC. This meant that BICO can expend its role in Trachoma Control in Malawi.
Dr Kalua visited Hannover Germany and displayed BICO work on Trachoma under the European foundation for Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Dr Sarah Burr from London school visited BICO and College of Medicine, to discuss new Trachoma Project
November 2013
BICO staff monitored the Mass drug Administration in Malawi and conducted a post MDA exercise in Nsanje district, which included visiting over 400 households in several villages to verify the coverage.
Dr Kalua participated in the annual meeting of the American Society for Tropical Medicine (ASTM) in Washington DC, USA.
Professor Robin Bailey and Dr John Hart visited BICO and College of Medicine to discuss the new Trachoma project.
Visit to Kenya to discuss the African Health Systems Initiative (AHSI) funded by IDRC.
Staff from BICO contributed to over 11 peer reviewed articles 8 of which were accepted and approved in different journal. Five articles have already come in 2013 out and 3 will come out in early 2014. Check out publication in 2014.
Check us on
Welcome back to my blogs Dr Khumbo Kalua
Hie,
Glad to be back after a long time
BICO is striving
BICO stands for Blantyre Institute for Community Ophthalmology.
we are in Blantyre Malawi
We are an Eye NGO, we focus on Trachoma and Low Vision in Malawi
My name is Dr Khumbo Kalua, Eye Specialist and Director
my other blog was khumbokalua@blogspot.com but it was blocked.
Glad to be back after a long time
BICO is striving
BICO stands for Blantyre Institute for Community Ophthalmology.
we are in Blantyre Malawi
We are an Eye NGO, we focus on Trachoma and Low Vision in Malawi
My name is Dr Khumbo Kalua, Eye Specialist and Director
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