Mpoto awards honor Doctor Judith Mkwaila

The organizers of the Mpoto Awards have bestowed the Lifetime Achievement Award on Doctor Judith Mkwaila from Mzuzu Central Hospital for her exceptional work in the healthcare sector.

Mkwaila was recognized on Friday during the third edition of the Mpoto Awards, an annual ceremony that honors exceptional individuals and organizations from the northern region.

It serves as a stage where remarkable talents and initiatives are celebrated, thus inspiring others to pursue excellence and contribute to regional growth.

Speaking to Capital FM following the recognition, Mkwaila said being recognized for her work and contribution to the healthcare field is an honor.

“For me, it is an excitement, more so that such a recognition is coming from the people that we serve. It has a different meaning to get gratitude from the community that you serve. I never saw it coming at my age, so, I am very excited and I feel so honored,” Mkwaila said.

Mkwaila dedicated the award to Mzuzu Central Hospital as she views the recognition as a reflection of a shared commitment.

“You know, this recognition is not just for me when I look at this, I look at it as a reflection of our work at Mzuzu Central Hospital, it is a reflection of a shared commitment that the hospital has as we work towards improving our patient’s care and the service that we give to the community,” she said.

She added; “So, it is giving us a strength as a hospital and the zeal to continue to strive for excellence in our daily work amidst all the challenges that we face when we are executing our work. A heart of gratitude from the community gives that zeal to say despite all the challenges that we have let us continue striving to do what is the best in the circumstances that we have.”

“So, we shall continue doing that, I am saying we shall because this is not just me, my work involves a team of people and me getting recognized means the hospital is being recognized as such. So, this will give us that zeal to continue to strive to give the best that we can amidst all the challenges that we face,” Mkwaila said.

She then offered a word of advice to young medical professionals to work hard and serve the community with dedication.

“My advice as I always say to all the medical professionals that I mentor is that our work is a service, we just have to do the best that we can in every circumstance that we are in. Excellence is something that doesn’t come with all the resources that you have, whatever job or responsibility that you have been entrusted to do, try to do it to the best of your ability,” Mkwaila said.

Burnet Mulungu, Mpoto Awards Events Coordinator said they decided to honor Mkwaila because she has been exceptional in her work.

“Doctor Mkwaila is someone who has been working hard over the years and we felt that her contribution has been very important and remarkable. She has been in the field for over 16 years, so we felt like her contribution is very enormous in the industry and she deserves special recognition,” Mulungu said.

He added; “She has been very professional in attending to patients, mentoring the young healthcare workers, and all sorts of achievements that she has done all along. She is someone who works behind the curtains. I am saying that because it is not always that these people are publicized or their work is put out most of the time. Several people were suggested for the award but we felt that she deserves the award this year.”

Commenting on the awards ceremony, Mulungu said having successfully held the third edition of the awards, people should expect more in the fourth edition, which will be held next year.

“The third edition has given us a picture of how to move forward. We have been measuring the outcome of our whole awards, the feedback that we have been getting from the people, and today the feedback was just massive which also calls for us to prepare extra more in the coming edition,” Mulungu said.

“So, as we are advancing in our preparations, we are also looking at what people are saying towards the awards, the feedback that we are getting. So, we are hoping that next year we will also have a great experience, we will have the ceremony and we will celebrate the achievers in various categories as they deserve,” he added.

As a tradition, this year’s ceremony honored excellence in traditional categories that include music, creative writing and poetry, visual arts and designing, innovation and entrepreneurship, and sports.

It also honored excellence in three newly added disciplines of community development and education, women empowerment and gender equality, and media and communication.

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