AWEC Alumna Success Story: Cheswa Vwalika

Dr. Cheswa Vwalika founded Mobile Medical Services in 2018 to redefine traditional healthcare in Zambia. Her clinic offers affordable home-based care solutions which include specialized nursing services, ante and postnatal care, physiotherapy, and health screenings.

Dr. Cheswa's homebased approach to patient recovery is innovative and unique in Zambia and allows her team to build relationships with their patients - all of which lead to better outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic, which struck Africa toward the end of her AWEC year, created both challenges and opportunities for Dr. Cheswa, who relayed, “We initially lost contracts with big clients and for a few weeks had no idea how we were going to survive.”

But a turning point came when national hospitals needed to re-strategize care for patients who were not fully recovered, but needed to be discharged in order to protect them from contracting the virus. They contacted Dr. Cheswa, who ultimately experienced such strong demand that she hired more staff. As she describes it, "We didn’t plan for this but what I learnt at AWEC gave me the courage to face what was coming.”

Dr. Cheswa Vwalika and her team of staff

Dr. Cheswa characterizes her time at AWEC as “awakening and empowering” and credits lessons learned about market segmentation, creating new revenue streams, and the art of pitching, as the most eye-opening parts of the program.

She looks forward to continuing to be an active member of her AWEC “sisterhood.” She says, “With the network that we have, I can call my fellow sisters in Uganda, Malawi or even Nigeria if I need information about healthcare training or equipment that is available in those countries. Where else would I get that? AWEC made me come alive. It has taught me to be bold and fearless and I’m no longer afraid to ask.”