By Linda Kwanjana
The Saulos Klaus Chilima (SKC) Foundation on Tuesday donated medical items worth K16.7 million to Ntcheu District Hospital on the first death anniversary of the fallen Vice President Saulos Chilima.
The donation included hospital beds, suction machines, and other medical equipment and were donated as part of the activities to honour Chilima, who died along with eight others in a plane crash at Nthungwa forest in Nkhata-Bay on 10 June 2024.
Chairperson of the Foundation, Mary Chilima, said the gesture was part of honouring her late husband, who believed in helping others.
“The SKC Foundation is aimed at perpetrating Chilima’s legacy, so this is part of continuing this. As we commemorate 365 days since his death, we thought of not only mourning him but donating to this hospital, which is close to where we buried him.”
“We have started with the health sector, but we will extend the gesture to other areas like education and mindset change and skills development especially for the youths,” said Chilima who was accompanied to the event by her first-born son Sean and a family member Anna Sasuze, an aunt to the late Chilima.
Chilima also indicated that the SKC Foundation raises funds for such charity activities through contributions from the general public.
In his remarks after receiving the donated items, Ntcheu District Council Director of Health and Social Services, Innocent Mhango, commended the Foundation for the items, which he said will be used in the high dependency units at the facility.
“We are grateful because this has come at the right time. As a council, we made a decision to open a high dependency unit, so these items will play a crucial role in this. As you know, Ntcheu Hospital is along the M1 road; therefore, we don’t just serve people from the district, we also handle a lot of accident-related cases before they are referred to Kamuzu Central Hospital,” he said.
Before the donation, the Chilima family attended a requiem mass in memory of the late Chilima and others at Nsipe Catholic Church.
