Saturday, October 31, 2009

Under 5's Clinic



Teaching health care practices with song and dance in Malawi! I filmed this with my camera at an under 5's clinic I helped out in about one and a half hours outside of Lilongwe.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Update on Zachariah


We were able to go back to the village where Zachariah lives. With the help from the Malawian government we could bring him some food supplements, it’s a food called “plumpy nut” which is like peanut butter, and has the protein and nutritional supplements he will need. We also were able to secure a wheelchair that was donated by the Rotary Club. The best news of all however, is that a chief from a neighboring village has agreed to be responsible to make sure he is fed and taken outside daily. On the bad news side, we found he has developed a bed sore, and for someone in his condition it could prove fatal. I washed and dressed the wound with the few first aid supplies I had, and we left with words of encouragement. I’m not sure how much future he’s going to have, but maybe he can have a few nice days in the sun.

We are feeling more and more "at home" here every day. We found a house that we hope we can rent, and we went to an auction yesterday and bought a few pieces of used furniture. The whole experience was a hoot. It was just one body press of people as we moved from one item to another crowding around the auctioneer. Everyone shouted in Chichewa and pretty much bid everything up sky high. I bid on several things without getting them. After a while I heard the people saying this and that about the azungu (white person), and finally when I was about to give up on another bid, this guy said I'll give you another thousand Kwacha to just bid again, so I did, and I won this old desk, and everyone cheered (although I never did get the promised 1000 Kwacha (about $7). It was exhausting and I got sunburned, but it was fun. I don’t think it was anything like Christies.