Success from Strength & Perseverance

Benadeta Singini was an orphan, like so many young people in Malawi today. She attended a rural primary school and was then selected to Ekwendeni Girls’ Secondary School. Her pastor brought her situation to the attention of the school. She had no-one to support her at secondary school. She was nominated by the school for Mamie Martin Fund (MMF) support which continued until she completed her secondary schooling – 2004-2008. Her story is one of strength and perseverance and serves as inspiration and role-modelling for girls currently at school and worried about their futures.

In her final year at school, Benadeta was encouraged to apply for a vacancy advertised by 500 miles, an NGO and fellow Scotland Malawi Partnership member which provides prosthetic and orthotic devices at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe. She got that job and was supported by 500 miles to gain her qualifications. She got her Diploma in Prosthetics and Orthotics in Tanzania in 2013 and then a Degree in Prosthetics and Orthotics with Human Study E.V. (based in Germany), graduating from Mahidol University in Thailand in 2019.

Benadeta is currently the Head of Prosthetics and Orthotics at Lilongwe Institute of Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery (LION). This is a new, purpose built, state-of-the-art building where the 500 miles service is now part of a comprehensive, integrated multi-disciplinary orthopaedic service provided by the Ministry of Health. 500 miles' inspirational CEO, Olivia Giles recently wrote of the official handover of LION on 31st March 2025, 16 years after it first opened.

On the way to meet Benadeta a few years ago, the taxi driver told us that he remembered her as the clinician who saw one of his family. He recounted how her warm and open personality made all the difference to their experience at those hospital appointments. This was backed up by her manager: “her personality is an absolute joy to have in the clinic”.

The manager went on to say,

"Benadeta is the first for us to select to study by correspondence in Human Study, upgrading to a degree in Prosthetics and Orthotics. She is top of the class in some subjects and is an outstanding representative and is one of our best clinicians. Her intellect brings everyone’s level up".

Benadeta is now married with three children and so her day-to-day life shows girls and young women that they can combine professional success with motherhood and family life.

Moira Dunworth
The Mamie Martin Fund