Letters from Sue Makin
December 7, 2009
October 1, 2009
August 31, 2009
May 26, 2009
March 4, 2009
February 17, 2009
Sue Makin
Email: Sue Makin
Sue has returned to the United States after serving more than 20 years. She is available to speak when her schedule permits. Email her to extend an invitation to visit your congregation or organization.
Sue Makin has been under appointment as a PC(USA) mission worker since 1987. She now serves as an obstetrician/gynecologist at the Mulanje Mission Hospital in Mulanje, Malawi.
Sue works with a team of Malawian clinicians at this 190-bed mission hospital, which is serving very poor people in southern Malawi. Because of the severe scarcity of obstetrician/gynecologists in Malawi, in addition to practicing at Mulanje Mission, Sue is a consulting gynecologist at five other hospitals in central and southern Malawi.
Three areas of special interest for Sue include repairing vesico-vaginal fistulas, preventing cervical cancer through visual inspection of the cervix and early treatment of precancerous lesions, and working diligently to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity in Malawi.
Prior to her assignment to Malawi, Sue worked for eight years at the Good Shepherd Hospital near Kananga, Democratic Republic of Congo.
The medical work that would become the Mulanje Mission Hospital was started in 1887 by missionaries from the Church of Scotland. It is now owned by the Blantyre Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian. The mission of the hospital is to provide preventive, curative and palliative care to the surrounding community and to show the love of Christ in all that we do.
“My 15 years in Africa working as a doctor for women have been tremendously rewarding and challenging,” says Sue. “Many of the rewards come from serving friendly, appreciative people who live in extremely poor conditions, yet show warmth and love in their interactions. Although health care indicators for Malawi show that standards of medical care are, in general, very inadequate, still there is great joy in the work. I feel blessed to be able to use my education and training in this environment.”
Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Sue grew up in Florida and attended the University of Florida for both her bachelor's and M.D. degrees. Her training in obstetrics and gynecology was at Louisiana State University, Charity Hospital, New Orleans, Louisiana.
The PC(USA ) supported her French language study in Canada and a diploma in tropical medicine from the Prince Leopold Institute in Antwerp, Belgium, before she went to Zaire, now the DRC. Sue is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Gainesville, Florida.
Birthday: April 1
