A weekend with the locals

Saturday: At 5:00am Saturday morning, my friend Medson and I got in an old Land Rover and headed south. Medson had agreed to take me to the village that he grew up in, so that I could experience rural Malawi. Medson and Me

His village is 4 hours by car, so I had lots of time to learn his story. He is one of the only people in his village to go to secondary school and the only one to go beyond that. Unable to afford school, he was fortunate enough to find a British sponsor by an unexpected twist of fate. Now he is a hard-working intern that often skips lunch in order to care for the neglected patients. He is the only boy of 5 children, but his eldest sister passed away from complications of HIV 6 years ago. It was quite the story. After hours of talk and educating one another, we pulled up to his village.
When we arrived, his mother prepared a meal for me, Medson, and Medson's friends. It was fantastic! There was so much food, and everything was tasty. Medson's parents have a very nice new home that has a secure wall and gate around it. They have good investments in livestock and farms that have made them among the richest in the community. The village is directly outside his property:

One view from Medson's home.
I wanted to take many more pictures of the narrow, crowded streets; a "bustling metropolous" at the village's center, but could not do it with tact.

The houses were mud or cement with thatched or tin roofs and no running water. One well provides clean water to the town; a 13 year old addition. Electricity made it to the town 3 years ago and that powers the corn mill where they bring their dried corn to be ground into flour.

Medson's mother wrapping me in a Chitenge

After a great meal and initiation into chitenge wearing, we took a walk around the town. We walked the 200m to the Mozambique border and talked politics to the border guards. I didn't have my passport with me, but I couldn't resist running illegally into the a new country.

Me illegally in Mozambique

The kids that greeted me at the border

It was the most interesting day that I have had in Malawi so far, and I fell in love with Africa a little bit more. The community life so resembles what I miss about the villages that I have visited in Central America. The barefoot kids were all beautiful and everyone was so kind to me. It was a great experience. After a 4 1/2 hour drive through rain and fog and more good conversation, I arrived home safely.

Sunday: I went to the neighboring city of Limbe to meet up with my friend Madalitso. We had arranged to go to Catholic Mass; the English service.

The Limbe Cathedral on a rainy Sunday

After mass, I spent the rest of the day with Madalitso's family. She prepared 2 meals for me and we watched a lot of Malawian television. It was a low key day after the emotionally exhausting trip to the village the day before.

Me and Madalitso

Madalitso and her 3 year old son. Her son was scared of me at first, but eventually opened up. He was adorable...

I very much enjoyed my weekend adventures with my Malawian friends. It gave me a look into the culture here that I have so been craving since my arrival. I had great food, wore traditional clothes, crossed illegally into another country, and even tried to carry a bucket on my head. I wouldn't have traded it for anything.

She's only 26

She's a year older than I am. Her pregnant belly is hidden behind the fluid collecting in her abdomen and lungs because she has advanced Tb. Her body's immune system is useless because of the HIV that has been silently killing off the only cells that can defend her. She sits patiently, smiling even, while I drain fluid from her belly so that she can rest more comfortably and tells me in Chechewa that she doesn't mind because she just wants to get better. This is her third pregnancy. I do not know if her other children are living and, if they are, who is caring for them. Her mother sleeps beside her on the floor. She is also weak having already outlived the 38 years that is expected of the average Malawian. I run uselessly around the hospital trying to collect the results from her blood tests and making sure that she receives the medication needed. I have at least 5 other patient's with stories like this one and there is so very little that I can do. I come home frustrated by the lack of resources, but content that I gave all that I could this day. It is difficult to reconcile this world with the one waiting for me at home. I will add this to my other experiences in lands with limited resources and know that again I am changed. I juggle the frustrations with my excitement about moving to a new city, starting a new job, and getting to live close to Ankoor after nearly 3 years of a long distance relationship. It has been a growing experience to say the least.

On a happier note, I have fun plans for the weekend while the rest of the group enjoys Lake Malawi:
Friday: Enjoy a few hours of solitude...and then watch a movie with some new friends from the states.
Saturday: drive for hours in the car to a village in the southern part of Malawi to spend the day with my favorite intern and experience what village life is like.
Sunday: attend Catholic mass with my favorite midwife on the labor ward and go out to eat with her after.

I'll let you know how it goes. Sorry if this blog bummed you out too much.

I'm moving to Cleveland!

I am very excited to share the news that I will be working at Case Western University Hospitals come July 1st! Ankoor and I will get to be together again at the program of our choice after nearly 3 years of a long distance relationship. I am so very happy. My breath caught in my throat while the email slowly loaded and relief soon settled in. I am sad that I cannot be home with friends and family to celebrate, but my 8 roommates were fantastic. 2 other people also matched tonight and Terrie (our professor/house mother) bought us chocolate and cheese to celebrate...two things that are hard to find in Malawi. It was fantastic.

I am truly enjoying my experience here. It has been intense and I have much to share from the last two days. Today has had a really high high (matching in Cleveland) and a really low low. I went to the hospital early to find out that one of my patients passed away last night at the age of 29 from an infection that her HIV infected body was too weak to fend off. It is difficult to deal with all of the things that have happened during my time here and I have much to talk about when I get home. For now, I will celebrate my new job while doing the best that I can to positively affect the Malawians that I meet here. They certainly have had a profound impact on my life and I will always remember the lessons that I have learned here.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I hope to celebrate with you soon.

Match week

For those of you who don't know, this is match week. On Thursday we find out where we will do our internship next year; a paying job after 8 years of school. It's kind of a big deal. I'm excited to graduate and move on to the next stage of training, but it is daunting.

Today we found out if we matched...not where. Even though I knew that I would match in one of the 5 programs that I interviewed at, I still got the tiniest ball in my throat when I opened the email entitled, "Did I match?" Thursday is going to be an intense day. We find out at 1:00pm EST, so 7:00pm Malawi time. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers this week as I approach this stressful day, and I'll let you know where I will be moving to come June.

The Zomba Plateau: A transportation adventure

I had a wonderful weekend on the chilly Zomba Plateau. It was definitely the biggest adventure that I've had in Malawi so far.

The trip to Zomba - hitching a ride, Malawi style: 4 of us decided to risk the Malawi bus system and get a ride to Zomba for less than $2 rather than spend far too much money to rent a car/driver for the weekend. Surprisingly, the bus had seats for everyone on board and there were no chickens (a common finding on Malawi buses). When we got to the city of Zomba we had to meet up with Anthony Umi, our host for the weekend. We were under the impression that he would drive us to the plateau, so we were a bit surprised when he walked up to us; no car in sight. This meant we had to find an overpriced taxi to go the last 11 miles. Mr. Umi went to find us one and came back with a friend of his that offered to take us up to our house for free. You can't beat that, so we hopped in the back of his truck, happy that our journey only cost $2. The trip was off to a great start. The other 4 group members were less lucky. They had hired a driver who apparently was night blind. He was great until night rolled in and they hit a biker on the side of the road and feared for their lives. They arrived a bit shook up to say the least.

Saturday - the 5 hour hike: We awoke to a foggy day and set out to see the plateau. First, we stopped by Mulunguzi Dam where Mr. Umi had a friend. We hiked down a rocky slope to get to the door to an underground/underwater tunnel. Mr. Umi's friend described the history of the dam and proceeded to take us through the tunnel and pressure locked doors. It was actually pretty cool to be in a tunnel 47 meters under the water's surface.

The lake created by Mulunguzi Dam with a small waterfall in the background.

After the dam, we headed straight up the mountain through the mist and fog. There were many pine trees and the air was chilly which made me feel at home in this foreign place. The air was thick and I was exhausted, but the surroundings were beautiful. As I was huffing and puffing, there were many Malawians walking barefoot down the slippery clay path with more wood on their head than I've ever carried. Mostly women and children, they carry large bundles of wood atop their heads to the villages. Amazing really. Apparently, they collect wood on the weekends that they can use for cooking and heating their house for the week.

Hiking through the fog

After what seemed like far too long of hiking straight uphill, the ground leveled out and we found a lake formed by the small Chagwa Dam.

A frog that I found by the lake

The tranquil lake (prettier in real life)

More hiking on level ground brought us to the Queen's view and the Emperor's view...obscured by the fog. We did get to see a bit of the fantastic view through the fog, but the pictures don't do it justice. We had a picnic while watching the rolling clouds and then headed down to Williams Falls. There, we took a refreshing shower under the falls...my favorite part of the weekend.

Williams falls

Shant, me, Niamh, and Mr. Umi in the chilly falls

After 5 hours of fabulous hiking we returned home to Mr. Umi's guest house and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Sunday - travelling refugee style: All low on money, we got the cheapest ride back to the bus station that we could find. This meant sitting in the bed of the of a truck on make-shift benches. Since it was raining hard, they had covered the truck bed in red and blue fabric. This meant that we could not see where we were going at all. We were huddled in the back with no idea how far we were from home, holding on for dear life. The rain kept coming down and the holes in the fabric became apparent. I was lucky enough to be under one of the larger holes and got my own personal shower. Laughing through it all, I arrived at the bus stop wet and cold. Our bus arrived an hour after we did and although there were many people standing in the aisle on the way home, the trip was uneventful. It was a fun adventure for sure.

I had a great weekend! I loved talking to Mr. Umi about the town and the people. It was much less planned out than our previous trips and that's the way I like it.

Alright. I'm happy to be home and now I must rest.

All for 3,000 Kwacha ($21)

I have happy news and sad news. I'll start with the good: The baby that I helped resuscitate yesterday is doing miraculously well. When I went to check on her, I found her kicking and crying. She moved all of her extremities and had good color. I was so relieved. I think that I can honestly say that that was the first time that I saved a life. She seems strong and I hope that she continues to rally.

The bad: Today was a sad day in the pre-natal clinic. I helped do ultrasounds on the mothers to be. Unfortunately, we had to tell 4 of them that their babies had passed away. The worst case was a woman that was 7 months pregnant. 4 days ago some robbers came to her house and asked for 3,000 kwacha (about $21). When she couldn't provide it, they beat her and kicked her in the stomach. This was a fatal blow the fetus inside her and now she must labor to birth a still born. It was a sad sad thing, and it just made life seem so cheap.

Hmmm...Maybe I should have started with the bad, I don't like ending on a negative note.

Tomorrow we head out of town again, this time to the Zomba plateau where we will hike and relax and try to cope with the difficult things that we saw this week while in awe of creation.

Breech Baby Blue

Today I assisted with a breech delivery on labor and delivery that was supposed to go to C-section, but did not make it due to lack of resources. The baby came out slowly with lots of tugging and repositioning. When the baby was completely delivered she was pale and floppy. I went with the nurses to resuscitate the newborn. I did chest compressions while the nurse provided air through the use of a bag valve mask. After a couple minutes of chest compressions, the baby's heart miraculously began to beat fast enough. I then took over for the nurse and breathed for the small seemingly lifeless infant. I continued the resuscitation efforts by myself for the next several minutes while the nurses attended to other women in need. Amazingly, the small girl began breathing on her own. She was still floppy and did not cry, but her heart was beating and she was breathing. I followed her to the neonatal special care and handed her over to the pediatric nurses. It was getting late, so I had to leave at that point in order to get back before the dangerous dark. I don't know what will happen to her, but I know that I did all that I could. It was my first time trying to resuscitate a child, let alone a newborn, and it was intense to say the least. I'll let you know if I find out what happens to her.