Loma Linda University Opens New Grade School in Malawi

September 18, 2019, marked the first day of school for six children of medical missionaries and local health-care professionals serving at Malamulo Adventist Hospital, a Loma Linda University Global Campus in the southeastern African nation of Malawi.

The newly constructed Malamulo Adventist International Mission School is a 1,774-square-foot (165-square-meter) concrete-block building housing kindergarten through sixth grade.

Danika Thomas, an Adventist Health International volunteer, specializes in multi-grade teaching and is serving as administrator and teaching principal. She is the wife of pediatrician and medical director of Malamulo Adventist Hospital, Wilson Thomas, a Loma Linda University School of Medicine alumnus and Deferred Mission Appointee.

“Through generous donations from Loma Linda University Medical Auxiliary and Adventist Health International, we were able to build a much-needed American-education-style school for the children of our dedicated volunteers and staff,” Thomas said.

“Schooling for children is a basic need among parents, whether serving abroad or living at home,” said Alice Yeo, Loma Linda University Medical Auxiliary president. “We are happy to support learning during this important stage of life.”

Thomas said textbooks and supplies were donated by Seventh-day Adventist elementary schools and academies from across southern California, where Loma Linda University, a Seventh-day Adventist institution, is located. The Auxiliary sponsored the shipment of more than 1,200 pounds (544 kg) of school supplies and books to Malamulo Adventist Hospital.

Malamulo was founded in 1902 as a mission outreach of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

In 1915, Malamulo Mission opened its first clinic, which was later named Malamulo Adventist Hospital. Today it is recognized as one of the leading training hospitals for Malawi and the region — providing high-quality, Christ-centered health care to Malawi’s underserved rural population. The 200-bed facility provides preventative health-care services and specialized services in women’s and children’s health, infectious diseases, chronic disease, and general surgery. Typical cases include pneumonia, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV complications, dehydration, and meningitis.

Malamulo Adventist Hospital is supported by Loma Linda University Health’s Global Health Institute and managed by Adventist Health International. It was established as a Loma Linda University Global Campus in 2011 — giving residents and students of Loma Linda University and elsewhere the opportunity to rotate outside the United States and earn accreditation for the international rotation.

Over the next five years, leaders report, Loma Linda University is planning to establish a second Global Campus in the Americas, at Haiti Adventist Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and a third in Asia, at Scheer Memorial Adventist Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal.

The original version of this story was posted on the Loma Linda University Health news site.