A former MaZ student brings physiotherapy to Malawi – March 2025

Larissa Neumann has big plans. The 34-year-old is going to Malawi for three years from June. There she wants to set up a physiotherapy ward at the Madisi Mission Hospital.  The Franciscan Sisters of Salzkotten are her partners in this endeavor. They ran the hospital from 1987 to 2002 before it was handed over to the diocese of Lilongwe. Another partner is the association AGIAMONDO e.V., which for more than 60 years has primarily placed skilled workers with church and civil society organizations worldwide on the basis of the Development Workers Act.

This is a dream come true for Larissa Neumann. From 2010 to 2011, she spent a year in Malawi as a volunteer on the “Missionary on Time” (MaZ) program. She also helped in a hospital there. Since then, she has been fascinated by the country and its people. She has traveled to the “warm heart of Africa”, as the locals like to call Malawi, eight times in the past few years alone. In Germany, Larissa Neumann gained experience in physiotherapy practices as well as in inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation clinics. She also completed a bachelor’s degree in physiotherapy and was a lecturer at a physiotherapy school.

In February, she resigned from her position in a practice to devote herself fully to her new tasks. Her motto is “With heart and hand – physiotherapy that gives quality of life”. Her aim is to use her knowledge and skills to improve the quality of life of people in the very poor country of Malawi. Her aim is also to recruit, train and educate local physiotherapy specialists.

There is an urgent and growing need for physiotherapy care in the catchment area of the Madisi Mission Hospital. “Despite increasing demand, care has never been available and the nearest hospital or physiotherapy practice is 85 kilometers away in the capital Lilongwe, which is an insurmountable hurdle for the villagers,” explains Larissa Neumann. She would like to offer a wide range of physiotherapy treatments there, including visits to villages and training for family members.

Before that happens, however, Larissa Neumann still has a lot to do. This includes not only the travel formalities, including obtaining a work permit, but also collecting donations of money and goods for the construction of the physiotherapy station. For this purpose, she has created her own website at www.malawi-physio.de, which presents her project in more detail and contains a long list of items that Larissa Neumann would like to take with her to Malawi for her work. The list ranges from therapy bands, exercise mats, and balls to wheelchairs, braces, and orthotics, as well as soccer jerseys and soccer boots for children and adults. The latter is due to her other passion, soccer. As a women’s soccer player, she also wants to take her sport with her to Malawi and introduce it to the people there.

Since all of these items will no longer fit in her airline luggage, Larissa Neumann plans to fill a shipping container and send it on its journey. She is currently in discussions with institutions that could support her with the complex logistics of such a project, as well as with others who could provide space for the container to be set up by the summer. At the same time, she is asking medical supply stores and other companies for donations of goods and discarded materials.

Written by Michael Bodin