By Martin Chiwanda

Machinga, April 23, Mana: In 1995, baby Patuma was born at Lifani Bridge in Machinga while her mother, Edna Saizi, was waiting for water in Lifani River to recede on her way to seek medical attention at Machinjiri Health Centre in Zomba.

Saizi says the river has a great history to her family as she delivered her first born right at the bank of the river, as the make shift bridge, she recalls, was washed away in 1994.

“Lifani Bridge has a great history to our family. I delivered my first born child right at the bridge when we failed to cross to access health services. If it was a boy, I could have named my baby ‘Lifani’ so that it remains in our family history,” says Saizi from Matache Village in Traditional Authority (T/A) Mposa in Machinga.

It is not only Saizi who tells about the unforgettable challenges encountered for not having a good constructed bridge across the Lifani River. The communities too, from T/As Mposa and Machinjiri in the district, were the worst affected.

The communities could hardly connect and seek different social services from each other.

“Whenever it rained, we were disconnected. On top of failure to seek medical attention, children were failing to go to school and, of course, some lives were lost in the river on attempt to cross the high speeding waters,” Saizi adds.

However, all this is now history, following the construction of a new Lifani Bridge that connects the two T/As, thanks to Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) project.

Saizi applauds government for constructing the bridge, saying it will save lives and enhance socio-economic activities in the area.

Aubrey Jaya, also from Matache Village in the same area of T/A Mposa, says people had difficulties to cross the river from either side during rainy season.

Jaya says children have been failing to attend classes during the rainy season, as they could not cross the river due to huge volumes of water.

“Apart from children failing to attend classes, we also as adults fail to do business, as we could not cross the river due to unavailability of a bridge.

“You may wish to know that the only nearby health facility in this area accessible by the community is that of Machinjiri. So, it means that when Lifani River is swollen, no one hardly accesses health services, denying us our right to good health.

“Therefore, the construction of the Lifani Bridge by GESD Project will address mobility challenges we have been facing in this area,” says Jaya.

Happiness Dinesi of Mposa concurred with Jaya, saying safe motherhood has always been compromised as most of the pregnant women have been delivering on their way to the hospital while awaiting waters in Lifani River to recede in order to cross safely.

Dinesi says women are now happy as the construction of the bridge across the Lifani River is at an advanced stage.

“We must commend government through GESD for the construction of the Lifani Bridge. As women, we have had more challenges. Most of us have delivered on our way to the hospital during rainy season as we had to wait for the river to recede and cross it.

“Even our colleagues with disabilities have been finding it hard to cross the river. To that extent, some children of that status have failed to go to school and, subsequently, dropped out.

“We are very thankful for the bridge construction. The bridge will be looked after so that it lives longer serving us,” Dinesi said.

T/A Mposa says construction of the bridge has addressed the main challenge his subjects have been encountering over the years.

Lifani Bridge lies between Lake Chilwa area at Mposa in Machinga and Songani in Zomba, connecting the two districts, following the construction of a 35-metre long bridge across the river.

GESD aims to strengthen core national and local governance institutions to improve efficiency, equity and accountability of the public resources for devolved services.