My son

I did make it to 2012 and so did my son.

Also Born prematurely like her sister Tapiwa, my son Yewo arrived on 14^th January 2012 right in Blantyre Malawi at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital.

I gues I can confidently say I now have a complete family; with neither myself nor my wife willing to go through what we have been through again.

Tapiwa means “we have been given”-by God and Yewo means “thank you”.

Tapiwa is very happy to have a baby brother (someone to harass).

So less sleep for the next few months.

You want to say something?

Email me at director@bicomalawi.org

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Hasn’t she grown up?

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That is my daughter Tapiwa?

Hasnt she grown up?

Started tough in life, but she is getting tougher.Like father like daughter.

Born at 7 months weighing only 900 grammes, who can believe who she is today.

If you don’t believe in miracles, Tapiwa is definitely one.

She wants to be an eye doctor.

Got to pick her from school now.

Do you want to comment?

Contact me at : director@bicomalawi.org

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Happy 4th birthday Tapiwa my Daughter

Tapiwa my daughter is turning 4 on Wednesday 2nd June, and praise the almighty lord for that. Remember her story, born at 7 months premature, weighing like a loaf of bread (<1 Kg) and in intensive care (neonatal ) unit for 3 months Tapiwa at Birth
Well see where she is today!!!!.Who said miracles don’t happen? And see her ; no wonder mum (middle in a hut) can afford to smile ! Does Tapiwa look like she is from Ezondweni,Mtwalo, Mzimba,Malawi?

Unfortunately I cannot be with her on that day; because I am on my way from London to Berlin, Germany to attend World Opthalmological congress Berlin World Congress of ophthalmology from 2nd -9th June. While there I intend to visit an old friend and classmate Martin Mkandawire, a resident of Dresden for many years and also catch up with Chihana , who is at the Malawi embassy in Berlin. Here in London everyone is asking me about the sentencing of the Malawian gay lovers to 14 years improvement with hard labour BBC news Malawian gays and I do not know what to say : expect that I am not gay.
Back to her birthday, obviously my daughter is upset that dad cannot be there on her special day which only happens once a year; and she has requested that her birthday party should therefore happen at the school with her friends. So imagine both mum and me will not be celebrating with her , a sign of growing up and being independent.
The problem with me is that it’s always work with blind persons, work and work; and always on the road. I will be giving two lecturers about blindness in Malawi; and the human resource crisis that we have at present. That is what being an eye doctor and researcher is all about.

Happy Birthday Tapiwa.

Would I have cancelled this trip for my daughter? Or done something different
What do you say?

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Time does fly.

Imagine seeing the younger sister that you’ve been sending to school all this time now getting married and the little daughter that has been in the children’s intensive care unit now with a big smile and also going to school. It just shows that time indeed does fly.
I remember it’s not long ago when my sister Alice was asking for pocket money for her upkeep in secondary school ,and also the day she was saying she had been selected to University of Malawi ,the Polytechnic, to pursue a degree in Electronic Engineering and me saying you better work hard because it wasn’t going to be easy in a male dominated profession .Imagine today she is not only a qualified Engineer who is working ,but she is also married (see her wedding photo) .And if you see my daughter Tapiwa in my early blogs and how bad she started her life in the intensive care Unit in Manchester, being born only at 7 months,you wouldn’t believe she is the same girl today.She is our Miracle and Glory be to God the almighty.
Well I have been busy traveling up and down in the communities focusing on finding blind children and helping them ; only to realize that I have missed my daughter growing up –and can't even recall seeing her crawling or starting walking,and didnt take pictures .What a pitty!!!!!. If only she didn’t have such a good mum, what could have become of her with a father who is constantly away from home? God bless the mum (who happens to be my lovely wife).
Today I am in transit, but when I get home will try to spend a whole day with Tapiwa and also visit my young inlaw who has married my sister .Then I am off again for the eye survey in the community.

Maybe I should try to create more time to spend with my family?
But where can I get time from?

Recently I have been advised that I need to go to a rehabilitation centre and be treated for being alcoholic (am told I am a work alcoholic ,but when you are the sufferer ,you don’t know).
Am sure my wife Victoria will agree with the diagnosis when I tell her.

What do you say?

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My Birthday

For my birth day , my family took me out for dinner at Greens restaurant in Blantyre.
Its nice to have food without knowing how much it costs.
And to have good food for once. I have during the past few days been spending so much time in the field in Zomba .Its good I do not have any major trips planned for most of this year ; so I can spend sometime with my daughter .I cant believe she has grown so big ; and its almost time for her to start preschool .Look at her .she was weighing less than a Kilogramee not long ago.She is indeed a miracle
Gotta go, not much time to blog anymore .And the internet is so slow today ,I am unable to attach any pictures so i will attach her pictures another time.

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Tapiwa my daughter 2 years later

While away from Malawi I am thinking of my daughter and how I am missing her . Because of my constant work related trips I do not get to see much of her ; I wish I could spend more time with her. I remember it was only 2 years ago when she was weighing like a loaf of bread but now you cant say anything to her; she grown to be a bubbly girl.
And he behaves like me in a lot of ways ; but smiles like the mother .Here she is ;at our rented house in Blantyre , Malawi

What do think of her ?Does she look like she is from Mtwalo,Ezondweni,Mzimba,Malawi ?
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Defining all odds

My daughter Tapiwa was born only after my wife carried her in the tummy for only 6 months and the decision to operate on the mother was based on the fact it was important to save life of the mother; initially there was doubt as to whether the baby would survive –and I remember crying in that ward while my sick wife was trying to comfort me. She was only weighing slightly more than a loaf of bread (950grammes) when she was wheeled to that intensive care unit at Saint Mary’s in Manchester where she spent the last 3 months of her growth in the incubator. The doctors cancelled my wife and I about the poor prognosis expected for her if she survived (maybe would end up in a wheel chair in all her life) and I did understand the situation (being a doctor and having read about the problems of very very premature babies ) but never understood why. Fortunately Tapiwa did not accept all this easy; and she decided to define the odds and change the way we think. She hardly gained any weight for the 3 months she was in the incubator and was discharged home at only 2 KG.
Today Tapiwa despite being still smallish is a bubbling girl who is walking when she is in the company of people she knows, but alas she doesn’t like strangers who were busy discussing her fate.
Miracles like this happen for a reason.
Tapiwa is now 23 months old; and so far everything has been well. Any complications initially thought of have not risen.
There is a God out there who has been keeping her live and we do not know the reasons.
She now gives me more reason to help the less privileged.
Have you experienced a miracle like this?
Let me know about it.
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Tapiwa My Miracle Daughter

This is Tapiwa Kalua,My lovely daughter.
Tapiwa is a Tumbuka name(her tribe) meaning God Given.
She is a miracle in many ways;
Born before the mother reached 7 months of her pregnancy ;Tapiwa only weighed 1 Kg at Birth.
She had to stay in hospital (special intensive care unit)alone for 3 months but still only managed to gain an additional 1.5 kg.
She was discharged home (Manchester UK)at 3 months just weighing 2.5 Kg

Despite all she has now picked up weighing a whoooping 11 Kg and has become a very chearful girl;forgetting what she went through.

Medical miracles are a reality;my family have experienced one.

My family would like to thank all the medical staff in Manchester UK that worked hard to save my daughter;she visited 3 hospitals within one week of her birth.
But now she can eat porridge(Nsima).

And who is the mum?
Ofcourse she is my lovely wife.
I will write about her later.
Check about her on my other blog site:
Ng'anga