Jan Bell, a trained nurse practitioner, is preparing to go to Malawi to assess the health care situation in a village in the south west of the country.

The 53-year-old, who is also a novelist, will embark on a three-week trip to the village of Mbulukuti to speak to residents and try to push through advances in the area's health care provision.

She could be one of the first health care professionals to step foot in the village when she arrives at the end of July - a dispensary built in the village with the help of funds raised in Driffield is not yet open.

Mrs Bell, who lives at Beachlands, Driffield, said: "It's a thrilling opportunity and totally new to me. My biggest fear is that I am going to come away and not know what I can do for them. I have always wanted to be involved in something like this.

"I will be a pair of eyes. There is a meeting arranged with local officials and we are going to work hard to get this dispensary open."

Driffield's ties with the Malawian village were forged in the late 1990s by Driffield School and Driffield churches who have helped set up various projects to improve the quality of life for villagers in the region.

The head of the music department at Driffield School, Julian Watson, is one of the orchestrators of the fundraising and relief effort being carried out in Driffield.

Among the goals of the projects are the eradication of extreme poverty, to install an effective irrigation system and improve accessibility to education.

He said because the health care centre built in Mbulukuti is not yet open, those living in the village must either walk the seven miles to the nearest hospital, which has only basic facilities, or go without treatment.

Mrs Bell has analysed the responses collected from a questionnaire filled in by more than 100 households in the village.
She said the results show almost half of the village population have never seen a doctor.

"It's not surprising it's in a sinkhole," she said.

"Life's a struggle, there is no doubt."

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