“Cultivate a sympathetic heart humility in dealings and selflessness in action. If these are practised in earnestness and sincerity then you will win the race of life” – Baba Hari Dass
Anne and Gary Homewood have been at Maliba Lodge for two months now and whilst Gary has been devoting his time to upgrading the I.T facilities at the lodge, Anne has been engaging in various charitable acts by helping the local schools in the district. She has been monitoring the reading programme with the kids aswell as kick starting an art competition in conjunction with Maliba Lodge.
Anne has over twenty years of experience in health care. Using this knowledge and expertise, she has been travelling to the villages with the mobile clinic. Her days with the clinic comprise of providing basic health checks, assisting the St Denis nursing staff where needed and occasionally helping with the dispensing of prescribed medications.
“I leave the immunizations to the St Denis nurses as they are far more experienced than me!”
We recently caught up with Anne to see how she was doing :
- How has your stay at Maliba Lodge been?
“What can i say? Maliba is astoundingly beautiful. The lodge is beautiful. It is surrounded by the most majestic mountains which received their first snowfall a couple of weeks ago. Sadly it has now melted but I’m sure there will be more!”
- What prompted you to start helping the locals?
“Gary and I were lucky enough to have been given this opportunity. It’s a once in a lifetime experience. We felt that there were opportunities for us to assist the local communities, but also for us to learn about their culture and the challenges they face.”
- What challenges did you face?
“Well obviously the language and the poor condition of the roads! For me however, accepting that not everyone has the luxuries that I take for granted. It’s easy to go to my home in Australia, flick a switch and I’ve got power, television, internet, running water. Things that we take for granted that the people here in the valley live without.”
- How did you overcome the challenges?
“I’m still learning! But seeing the faces of the children teaches me that I need to “toughen up””.
- Are the children and teachers receptive and helpful in any way?
“The kids love having visitors! You can never take enough photos (and of course then show them). The teachers are always grateful of any help that is given to them. They operate on very small staff numbers so the work they do is highly commendable.”
For more information about the Maliba Community Development Trust, visit https://www.maliba-lodge.com or https://www.facebook.com/MalibaCommunityDevelopmentTrust
If you want to connect with us to lend a helping hand, kindly send an email to marketing@maliba-lodge.com
Mahoudi (Esiah) the new Trust Field Officer meeting patients attending the mobile clinic.
St Peter’s Primary.
Grade 1 & 2 students at St Peter’s Primary School (English Class).
Supplies being distributed at St Denis clinic.
Crowds gathering for the mobile clinic at Hamali.
This is Annes favourite photo. A child waiting for immunization from the mobile clinic at Maliba-Matso.