Craftsmen in Malawi make equipment for their hospitals

The Care Collection is a low-cost hospital equipment alternative manufactured by Malawian craftsmen.
1
2
3
4
5
The Care Collection is a low-cost hospital equipment alternative manufactured by Malawian craftsmen.
A delivery room in a Malawian hospital. Image: Super Local
The Care Collection is a low-cost hospital equipment alternative manufactured by Malawian craftsmen.
An overcrowded hospital room in Malawi. Image: Super Local
The Care Collection is a low-cost hospital equipment alternative manufactured by Malawian craftsmen.
Craftsmen working on the Care Collection on the Sakaramenta workshop floor. Image: Super Local
The Care Collection is a low-cost hospital equipment alternative manufactured by Malawian craftsmen.
A craftsman building an over-bed table at Sakaramenta in Malawi. Image: Super Local
The Care Collection is a low-cost hospital equipment alternative manufactured by Malawian craftsmen.
The complete Care Collection. Image: Super Local
Previous Pause Next

From the Series

Super Local, a design studio that finds sustainable solutions for social and cultural problems, is using their design acumen to affect change in Malawian healthcare.

The latest design initiative from Super Local is a set of hospital products made in Malawi called the Care Collection. Malawi, nicknamed “the warm heart of Africa”, is home to a slow manufacturing industry, so businesses and institutions such as hospitals rely on costly imports for the equipment they need.

Because the imports are expensive, hospitals often have to work with dilapidated equipment or just do without. Now, Super Local in collaboration with the craftsmen at Sakaramenta, have developed a collection of hospital products. In Sakaramenta, a fully equipped operating factory in Blantyre, over 20 qualified Malawian employees manufacture high-quality products.

The Care Collection includes products such as hospital beds, theatre stools, surgical tables and trolleys, room dividers, drip stands, over-bed tables and laundry trolleys.

The products are made locally using readily available materials and techniques. This production method decreases the cost of equipment on Malawian hospitals, giving them the opportunity to purchase reliable, low-cost equipment. The Care Collection also boosts employment.

All images courtesy of Super Local.