Margate Emedi (21 years) from Gobedi village in Chigalu, Malawi talked to Aspire field supervisor Berndetta Payesa at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) about how her 21 month daughter Elena, who is her only child, became sick with meningitis.
Elena has been sick on and off since she was two weeks old and we have been in and out of hospital but she was always diagnosed with malaria.
At the beginning of May she was sick again so the first thing that came to my mind was that she had malaria again. I waited for a day before I went to get medical help because I was waiting for my husband to come back from visiting his parents. By this time Elena’s temperature was so high, she had diarrhoea,was failing to stand and walk and also had a headache.
When my husband got home we walked to Mdeka Health facility to seek medical help and the clinician told me that Elena had malaria and I was given liquid drugs which she drunk for some days.
After finishing the drugs there was no change so I took her back to Mdeka facility again and she was still diagnosed with malaria, but they admitted her for the day in order for the clinicians to observe her condition.
The following day Elena was referred to QECH and we used public transport because we could not wait for the ambulance since it takes such a long time to come to the facility.
When we got to QECH the doctors there also said she had malaria but she was admitted for 3 days and then discharged.