The first Presbyterian Mission in Malawi was founded in Blantyre, Malawi by Church of Scotland missionaries in 1876. Medical work was done from the start but Blantyre Mission Hospital was only opened in 1896. It was modified into a maternity hospital in 1943 when the government opened a male hospital. Blantyre Mission Hospital closed when Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital was opened in 1958 and all health services of Blantyre Synod were concentrated at Mulanje.

The first location of Mulanje Mission was on the slopes of Mulanje Mountain, in order to avoid the attention of slave traders. In 1928, after the abolition of the slave trade, the mission was moved about ten kilometres to its present location. A small hospital was built as well as a primary school, also used as a church, a teacher training block and five staff houses. The initial clinic was a maternity facility. In 1950 a dormitory for trainee midwives was built, followed by an operating theatre in 1958.

A large new maternity block was added in 1972. In 1980, a paediatric ward was erected along with many staff houses. The hospital finally changed from maternity clinic to a full fledged hospital in 1999, when the male ward was opened.

 

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Memorial History of Mulanje Mission by Armstrong Khosa African Books Collective

A study of the history of the establishment of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian in Mulanje – the Mulanje Mission – under the Blantyre Synod. It covers the exploration voyages to Nyasaland by David Livingstone from 1859 to 1863; the institution of Blantyre Synod by the Church of Scotland; the sister synods of Nkoma, Livingstonia, Zambia and Zimbabwe; and the Zomba and Domasi Presbyteries by Blantyre Synod. It takes account of all those who created the mission – the foreign missionaries and their Malawian counterparts; and assesses their contribution to the political and economic development of Mulanje.