Our awesome mission team! Left to Right Dr. Grace Stewart, Dr. Rochelle McKown, Casey Carney MSII |
I did go to bed quite early. I believe
I've caught Casey's cold, so was feeling really tired. James. our
master chef prepared the traditional Malawian meal of chicken stew,
greens and nsima, as well as some rice for us westerners. Nsima is a
starchy paste made of maize flour that they use to sop up the broth
and food. It is often used instead of flatware. I have now had this
meal many times and will tell you that James' recipe is superb.
Yesterday, as many days in Africa, did
not go exactly as planned. We set off in the morning to do an
outreach clinic in Chimwendo. It amazes me how you can drive over
treacherous roads through the bush for what seems like forever and then come upon a large
organized school with children in uniforms and teachers dressed
rather professionally. I was surprised (and a little disappointed)
at how much order was maintained by the staff. The children,
initially excited and curious, were quickly reigned in resuming their classroom activities indoors and out.
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Our waiting room in Chimwendo when we arrived. |
When we arrived at the clinic building,
there was one patient waiting. Really. One.
Apparently the Health Surveillance
Assistant (H.S.A.) failed to inform any of the villagers that we
would be coming. Yea. So, we set up our little clinic and over the
course of the next 3-3 ½ hours we saw 23 patients. It didn't appear
any more people were heading in to be seen in the afternoon. We had
made a list of medications we did not have in stock, but could have
used several times. Some of these medications are not in stock in the
clinic dispensary either. So we used the afternoon to go to a
pharmacy in the Lilongwe to buy meds.
It was dusk when we were on our way
back and driving on the M-1 was treacherous. The M-1 is the two lane
main highway that connects Malawi from the north to the south. There
are no street lights, many vehicles without lights, and pedestrians
and bicycles everywhere. No wonder we try and never travel at night.
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