Finally, my final post...

Today (Sunday, 11/4/12) we experienced an African High Mass, a three hour outdoor celebration. The occasion was to thank God for their many blessings, to ask God to bring rain as the new planting season begins, and to ask God to bless the famine foods they will exist on until the harvest.

It was a beautiful day, warm with a light breeze. Chairs had been set up under temporary stalls with mat roofs to provide shade . The choir, dancers and drummers were ready. There was quite a large crowd gathered. We had front row seats, the alter was decorated, and a new fruit tree had been planted.

Even though we were sitting in the shade, I managed to get a pretty good sunburn (approprately, a farmer's tan) because the malaria prevention medication I am on increases sensitivity to the sun. I knew that, just forgot.

After the mass, there was a luncheon feast for the special guests that had traveled to Bowe for the event. There was rice, nshima, noodles, two types of chicken, beef, cabbage, and papaya. It was kind of like Thanksgiving but with Malawian food.

The rest of the afternoon and evening we piddled around and napped, started packing up and thinking about our goodbyes. We've all been reflecting on the journey this week has been.

Please enjoy the videos from the worship service and photos of the people in Malawi who are so generous with their time.

The entrance procession and hymn               http://youtu.be/ggQtPNgW8D0 

The prayer and blessing by Little E                http://youtu.be/xPaWqKWjdQU

The blessing with holy water                          http://youtu.be/-0rey94jUv4

African/Catholic culture                                  http://youtu.be/FhYBbSMD8g4

Big E receiving the bible for the readings       http://youtu.be/JNVNAPe3cOA

Mr. Mbamba.  He cooked many meals for us and did a wonderful job! 

Temayo. A young man who spends long days helping us by interpreting Chechewe to English and back. 

Dingiri - She works tirelessly cleaning, doing laundry and ironing for the priests.

Marie, my African daughter and Mrs. Gondwe.  Marie was orphaned at the age of nine and has been raised by Big E.   Mrs. Gondwe has helped and encouraged Marie to be strong and continue her education.  Mrs. Gondwe is now a beloved headmistress at a school in a nearby parish. 

Stefano (left) sits interpreting for me.  He is very active in the village in helping care for the poor and ill.

Guest post from Ray Misomali, Director of ORANT charities

Greetings everyone!  We've had a great week in Malawi.  While we've 
encountered a lot of heartbreaking issues in the patients we've seen,
we've also had our hearts warmed by the love shown to us by our hosts
and the communities where we've served.  The joy and happiness that
radiates from the smiling children in  Malawi is infectious.  One
forgets they are in such desperate conditions when they see the happy
faces of the children here.

We've had a great week of serving in Malawi.  We spent three days out
in the villages neighboring Bowe Mission and two days at the Bowe
Mission clinic. The Bowe Mission clinic is probably the best stocked
pharmacy in this part of Malawi.  It was also recently furnished with
an examination bed which was built by the students at the Bowe
Mission carpentry school.  And yesterday, the students added some
shelves for the pharmacy.

Looking back on our week here, it is easy to be overwhelmed,
frustrated, and disheartened because the poverty here is overwhelming.
But when you look into the happy faces of the little children, the
hardwork and cohesion of our mission team, the grace and generosity of
our hosts, the men caring for their children by bringing them to the
clinic, or hear about the decline of funerals in this area because of
the medical mission trips over the past couple of years, there is a
sense of quiet celebration and hope about our time here.

Thank you for supporting us through your thoughts and prayers.  There
is  lot of work to be done in Malawi.  We have seven trips planned in
2013.  Would you consider joining us?  Let me know at
rmisomali@orantcharities.org.  By the way, I, Ray, recently joined
Orant Charities as its first director just over a month ago.  I was
born in Malawi and have lived in the US for the past 12 years.  I am
excited to be working with a great group of people who are so freely
giving of their time and resources to benefit the poor in Malawi.  As
we see the delight on the faces of those we are serving, we are
experiencing the joy of giving and feel blessed to be a part of this
work.  I would like to invite you to join us in this adventure.

Food for thought...

I went to sleep to the sound of drums and singing from the village last night. I can only imagine the dancing that was going on as well. That was after seeing a local soccer match where when your team scores everyone runs the length of the field rejoicing and I'm talking a couple hundred folks – mostly children.

In our clinic here in Bowe, I saw a 72 year old man (already beat the averages) with an apparent enlarged prostate, in excruciating pain because his bladder was distended above his waist putting pressure on his kidneys and gradually causing renal failure. I had nothing to offer in our meager clinic but to pay bus fare to the only decently equipped hospital in this country in Lilongwe. There they will place a catheter through the skin above his pubic bone into his bladder to relieve the pressure. This he will keep the rest of his life, and the concern will then be the risk for infection, which is quite high.

This was also after seeing 5 year old child who had bumped her chin in a fall and had such a terrible infection in her face I thought she had the mumps when she walked in. Thank the Lord we have a good supply of antibiotics in our clinic. This is the type of thing a child dies from here. I asked her father to bring her back to see me this afternoon, even though the clinic will not be open – the day of rest and all that.

It is difficult for me to process and reconcile such complete joy against such terrific suffering, when I can't recall experiencing or even witnessing either to that degree at home.

Just food for thought...

So unbelievably tired....

And I feel terrible saying that when I see how these people live day to day. We finished our clinical work today and are going to rest tomorrow.  Mass is at 10:00 am, then lunch, then apparently visitors from the government to press the flesh with.

I am hoping to publish a guest post soon from one of our team members, Ray Misomali, who is the new director of ORANT charities.  Power was out from 5:30 am to 7:00 pm here so that's a limiting factor.

Look at these and understand why so many adults came to clinic with the chief complaint of  "general body aches".

Nkanowa

It's 2:30 am and you know it's raining hard when there is no wind, thunder or lightening and the sound of the falling rain wakes you up – especially when you're as tired as I am. I'm thinking the rainy season is making an early entrance this year. I feel so worried about people in the villages as many have not finished re-thatching their roofs. We've already had two afternoon rains.

We went to the remote village of Nkanowa today. We had a private Mass in the chapel before breakfast (grilled sardine and onion sandwiches – Big E's favorite) because it was All Soul's Day and the main mass was at 7:00 am. Big E wanted us on the road by then. I can understand why village trips are not possible when the rain comes. The journey was a core workout on a dry road.

Nkanowa appeared to be the poorest of the villages we have visited this week. I have no idea how many patients we saw today, but once again it wasn't everybody. We are such spectacle here. No matter where we go, there are crowds of children peering through the windows. Then as soon as you look or move towards them, only the bravest don't disappear. 

My office in Nkanowa. 

The church/school/clinic in Nkanowa .

The not yet re-thatched ceiling.

The exam room.

The most amazing medical mission crew!!  L to R: Margarita Padilla, Jennifer Verner, Luke Robinson, and Ray Misomali. 

Our amazing pharmacy personnel, Margarita Padilla and Luke Robinson.

Beautiful, curious Malawi children.

More spies on the mzungus.

A pop-n-squat.  I now empathize more with men and their aim. 

 A silo for ears of maize.

We arrived back at the mission around 4:30 pm and I sat on my bed to start editing photos. The next thing I knew it was 6:45.  I had been gone. I walked over to the priest's house for dinner and my one Carlsberg beer – the thing that really keeps me going each day. What a surprise to find that Father Levinius and Father Joseph had driven in for dinner and the evening from Colembe, a new mission site.  These guys are like five rowdy brothers when they are together.

The most amazing Christians I have ever met. They don't just talk the talk, they walk the walk.
 L to R: Father Levinius, Father Stephen, Father Emmanuel (Big E), Father Emmanuel (Little E), Father Joseph. 

Pics from yesterday - delayed posting due to power outage.

The road to Chekuuru.

Another one of ORANT charities water pump wells along the way.

The school where we will set up our clinic today.

Women walking to the clinic to be seen.

Each day in the villages we are served lunch in the home of the village chief, who is the most well-off person in the community.  The custom here is to not dine with your guests.  Cuisine clockwise from 11:00 o'clock: Rice,
Nshima, the traditional starchy food made from maize - it is like grits but much finer and cooked to a paste that is used to sop up the other foods. Flatware is rarely available.  Greens - aka stewed pumpkin leaves. More rice. Chicken stewed with tomato and onion.

L to R: Yours truly, the headmistress from the Chekuuru school, Jennifer Verner.

Those still waiting to be seen when we had to leave.  This village was over an hour from the mission and we were instructed to leave in time to be back on the M-1 before dark.

The school children so excited to see the mzungus.

The beautiful evening sunset over what used to be the jungle.