Kachigamba

We had a good clinic today in Kachigamba. We got a bit of a late start this morning and so took a supposed shortcut through a privately owned plantation where they grow tobacco, maize and soybeans. The road was so rough, I thought it really slowed us down. I actually saw a tractor on this plantation which is the first mechanized farm equipment I've seen in Malawi.

The first tractor I've ever seen in Malawi

Our clinic went well even though we arrived a little late. We had a steady stream of patients, many who really needed to see a doctor today. Luke and Araceli did a great job in the pharmacy. Timeyo and Ray worked very hard as our translators. The H.S.A agent for this village worked our triage. 

 The area surrounding the village was so beautiful - the farm valleys, mountains, and expansive blue skies. The people were beautiful, too. But the children were terrified of us. We handed out DumDums to bribe them. We are so naïve about what they have been exposed to. One little girl ate hers, wrapper and all.

Luke and Araceli setting up the pharmacy.

The view form our church/clinic window.

Grace was also slightly challenged by a patient that had “twingling” in her side. We all agree this is a great word and will continue to use it in our quest to get the Oxford dictionary to add this next year. We think “twerking'”must have developed from women trying to eliminate their “twingle”. And yes, I had a couple of beers before this conversation.

Grace and Casey contemplating the word "twingle:.

We were planning on working at the clinic here in Kasese tomorrow, but will not afterall, as our presence is somewhat disruptive. I think it will take time for us to integrate our work into the clinic here. But, I think the outreach clinics will thrive with no problem, and this is what the teams really enjoy – the village experience. Because of the early growing pains, we have had less than we hoped of that exposure.

As we drove back in to Kasese we saw that it was market day and decided to head over.  I scored some beautiful Malawian fabrics.  They were 600MK each.  That's less than $2USD each.

The market in Kasese.

My beautiful Malawian fabrics.

On their way to the market.

We had a dinner of all the food that had been bought but not yet cooked and served, as well as leftovers. We invited all the people who had helped this week to join us for dinner, but only three showed up. So, we still have lots of leftovers.

We will inventory our supplies in the morning so we can re-stock for the next team. They will be here in September. I'm thinking about asking Temeyo's wife, Bessa, to braid my hair tomorrow. And then we are going to a refugee camp run by the Jesuit priests. The women have set up a jewelry coop there and we are going to shop and visit. We will then head to Lake Malawi to de-brief and rest.