Our Origin Story

While working for Baylor College of Medicine, Tingathe Outreach Program, Mwelura Fortune Harawa met “Chanzako” (not his real name), an 11-year-old boy who had defaulted from HIV care. At this time the boy also had Tuberculosis and was severely malnourished.

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His biological parents, who were both HIV negative, abandoned him in their house at night, fearing that the boy would infect them with HIV. They simply wanted the boy to die so they could be relieved of caring responsibilities.

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The boy’s rights to education and healthcare were violated, and no one in the community—including community leaders—seemed to care.

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Chanzako was then picked by an 80-year-old grandmother who was living in deep poverty. Although HIV treatment was free at this time, the old granny could not afford transport to take the boy to an HIV clinic.

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Chanzako eventually died. The medics at the hospital where he died wrote in his health passport that he succumbed to tuberculosis. It was clear to Mwelura that the real cause of death here was poor access to healthcare which was propelled by poverty.

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Mwelura founded Tigwirane Manja Foundation with a mission to improve access to healthcare services in rural and hard to reach communities so all the Chanzako’s of Malawi can have access to healthcare as their birthright.