mozambique

we're in mozambique! having a lovely few days in pemba after a very very long drive across from mandimba (where we jumped the border) to nampula where we slept before heading up...we stayed a night at russell's place and now are at pemba dive and bush camp...saturday we think we will head down to nacala...we do have a moz cell +258824508601 if you'd like to get in touch...have a merry christmas!!

trip plans

As we know it…leaving tomorrow for the lake…nice short day to start…just to get away and realize we are on holiday without killing ourselves to go…so somewhere south on the lake like monkey bay…then Monday morning early we head across the border at madimba and fly along until nampula…we think we’ll stay for a night (we asked about three nights before looking on the map and realizing it wasn’t on the beach) and then up to pemba…we’ve seen some amazing pics—yes on line so they may not be typical but we’ll find out…some days there probably through Christmas and then head down…nacala, quelimane and then across…to the Zimbabwe border where we can check out the chim…mountains and on through the masvingo province to visit ute’s friends and see the Zimbabwe ruins which we hear are not to be missed…spent time Saturday getting one dollar bills—usually we only bring over the big bills to exchange but in Zimbabwe their currency has devalued so much that they use American bills and we’ve heard they set up tolls for $1 and it is just easier if you don’t have to argue for change…we are also going to try and get a mozambiquan sim card for our cell phones…I’ll try to let you know if we are successful…and if not or we can’t get on line before we get back or before…may you all have a blessed Christmas and a wonderful start to the new year!

rainy mountain

So Saturday after my bout with sickness I was ambitious and thought I would join Ute and Taonga hiking up the mountain…rested in the morning and then we went for it…and about 15 minutes in it started raining…we made it to picture rock…waited, huddling under some cover (not really) and then decided it would have to wait for another day…but here is the view at the beginning of rainy season…
taonga (norwegian nurse-i don't know how to spell her norwegian name or pronounce it correctly so this is her chichewa name)
ute

triplets

two sets born within a week...one girls and one boys

I don’t remember what I’ve put in about the triplets before so I’ll do a quick overview. When I got back from Mozambique the first time there were triplets that had just been orphaned. We don’t know if they were premature as there were 3 of them and the mother didn’t do antenatal care checks…but they were tiny and not getting any bigger. They had an aunt taking care of them in the Kangaroo room (the mothers put the premie babies skin to skin on their chests to keep them warm enough.). I started to go in to help with feedings…out of syringes 10 mls at a time…every 2hours or so…so small and sleeping all the time…had to try to wake them up to feed them. The aunt had to go home to discuss with the family what would be done…none of them could really take them in but they didn’t want to give them up for adoption—different culture: adoption often means that the family takes care of them until they are big enough to help the family, not given up for good…I took 2 of them home for the day…jane and I watched a movie while the babies slept and ate…couldn’t put them down without them mewing for more…

Soon after that they went to live with two of the hospital staff. I don’t know that adoption has been decided or not but they are doing amazing. Tamanda is with Ellen who is the head nurse on maternity. Takondwa and Tadala are with Nyatipa who is the clinical officer on maternity and they are doing so well. Big girls…I think they’ve been traded out…

l/r (not left and right)

So I’ve also probably mentioned that Malawian pronunciation is very similar to English…except for their r and l. they reverse them both…and so spellings of words are fluid (fruid)…you can write (wlite) either one—as most people don’t write it isn’t much of an issue. But I find it in school—for spelling test for far I’ve gotten fal as the answer… and sometimes you see thing written and you don’t know what they are until you say them outloud…or change the letters…lots of the names would seem “normal” but they’ve switched letters—lodreck (rodreck), estere, lobert, etc…and they aren’t consistant…it isn’t every r that is an l and vice versa…but ok. At school the kids want to go pray…and at church we bow our heads to play for God’s lighteousness and glace…they have meetings for the church modelmen (I think they are moderators of some sort but I’m not sure).
Last Sunday during the announcements the abusa announced that Friday was going to be Christmas colors. I don’t know what that entails but I’m imagining a deck the halls type thing…he said we will be singing songs about Jesus’ birth not his death at the Christmas colors service. Ok then. It takes me about 45 minutes before I realize they have switched the letters…Christmas carol service…makes so much more sense…of course someone else heard that Friday was the Christmas cows service so…
It was a nice service…with lots of music and choirs. The youth did a skit and though it was all in Chichewa it was quite entertaining—pageant…angel Gabriel was a very energetic lacy mummy that made many appearances…the hymns out of the book were also in Chichewa which confused the students from the guest house as they found the right hymns in the English version. But it was a nice reminder that we are in the Christmas season…

power cuts-extended version

As we know things have been getting worse…but really last Friday was the monster…it was evidently (at least what I’ve been told) a main line problem…nkhoma was out for over 30 hours…from before I woke up until 10 on Saturday. It was the last day of school…I still wasn’t feeling 100% but went in and couldn’t do any of those last minute things to close up that need power but it was good…the kids had a short day (730-10) with Christmas presents and partys and fun…who needs power? Then iwent home to conserve my energy—I was keeping the veitch boys so mom and dad could go out for their anniversary. No problem because usually the power comes back around 2 when it is out before I get up…used my computer until the battery died…and then the power didn’t come back at 2…or 4…or 6 when they got dropped off…so we played outside until we couldn’t see…went inside to cook dinner over gas…then watched 45 minutes of Despicable Me until the computer they brought over died…then we didn’t know what time it was because all of our electronics were dead (my phone died around 10am). As two of the three I was keeping had already fallen asleep on me I deemed it bed time and right into bed they got. Easy as anything. Breakfast the next morning also over the gas…eggs and tomato and rolls. Then they played outside a bit longer and went home…the power came on at 10—lots of cheering…and then went out again at 11…not nice…but only gone for another hour or so…

fable from Mao's Last Dancer

by Li Cunxin
Frog in the Well
There was a frog that lived in a small, deep well. He knew nothing but the world he lived in. His well and the sky he could see above it were his entire universe.
One day he met a frog who lived in the world above. ‘Why don’t you come down and play with me? It’s fun down here,’ the frog in the deep well asked.
‘What’s down there?’ the frog above asked.
‘We have everything down here. You name it. The streams, the undercurrent, the stars, the occasional moon, and we even get flying objects coming down from the sky sometimes,’ the frog in the well answered.
The frog on the land sighed. ‘My friend, you live in a confined world. You haven’t seen what’s out here in the bigger world.’ The frog below was very annoyed. ‘Don’t you tell me that you have a bigger world than ours! My world is big. We see and experience everything the world has to offer,’ the well frog said.
‘No, my friend. You can only see the world above you through the size of the well. The world up here is enormous. I wish I could show you how big it is,’ the frog above replied.
The frog in the well was angry now. ‘I don’t believe you! You are telling me lies! I’m going to ask my dad.’ He told his dad about his conversation with the frog ont eh land. ‘My son,’ he said with a saddened heart, ‘your friend is right. I heard there is a much bigger world up there, with many more stars than we can see from here.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me about it earlier?’ the little frog asked.
‘What’s the use? Your destiny is down here in the well. There is no way you can get out of here,’ the father frog replied.
The little frog said, ‘I can, I can get out of here. Let me show you!’ He jumped and hopped, but the well was too deep and the land was too far above.
‘No use, my son. I’ve tried all my life and so did your forefathers. Forget the world above. Be satisfied with what you have, or it will cause you such misery in life.’
‘I want to get out, I want to see the big world above!’ the little frog cried determinedly.
‘No, my son. Accept fate. Learn to live with what is given,’ his dad replied.
So the poor little frog spent his life trying to escape the dark, cold well. But he couldn’t. The big world above remained only a dream.
“Dad, are we in a well?” I asked.
He thought for a while. “Depends on how you look at it. If you look at where we are from heaven above, yes, we’re in a well. If you look at us from below, we’re not in a well. Will you call where we are heaven? No, definitely not,” he replied.

sometimes how it feels?...

candlelight

We had a gathering to celebrate sophie’s 5th birthday and wish safe travels to Ken and Colleen. We had a braii (bbq) and a wonderful time chatting and being together…and the power went out. Nothing new but we had some talk about it…and we know that it is just beautiful to see the stars in the sky on nights like this without any light pollution, and so nice to eat by candlelight with the softer glow…but we easily lose sight of that as it seems to happen every 3rd day…just something that we have to keep reminding ourselves…it is a pain in some respects but we should be grateful for what we have and enjoy whatever life throws at us, knowing it is all temporary here on earth. And tomorrow will be different as well.

fat joe and mangos

I’ve said before that when you walk anywhere you are automatically singled out as the azungu-foreigner-soemone to ask for things…most common questions are how are you?, where are you going?, where are you coming from?, and what is your name? this is most often followed by “give me ______” (money, sweets, pen, ball, etc). and so often I try to ignore lots of what is yelled at me…but the other day I had 2 surprising encounters within 5 minutes of each other. I was leaving my house and crossing NKhoma to make some visits and came upon a group of boys…the average azungu walks much faster (even a slow one) than most malawians…so two of them ran up and walked next to me… “what’s your name?” jessi. “what?” jessi. “ok. I’m Kenneth. And this is Fat Joe.” He says with a big smile. I doubt that, I answer. Fat Joe is bigger than the skinny one but not fat as you would imagine. “do you have a pen?” fat joe asks. Yes, but I use it. “can you give it to me?” no. I use it. “oh ok.” Then Kenneth says “don’t give him anything. He is always asking people like you for things. At this point our paths split and we say goodbye. As we are getting further apart Kenneth announces to me that “this boy he is a foolish one”…obviously proud of himself to be using the word foolish. And you are the straight, normal one? I ask. “yes” lots of laughter.
About 2 minutes later I pass a girl eating something…after she passes me she asks “do you eat this?” I couldn’t tell what it was—some sort of whitish fruit? What is it? “mango”…oh yes, I eat mango… and she holds it out to offer it to me. Thanks, but I like it a bit riper…they eat them still very crunchy here. “ok” and she continued on her way.

laminating- 3rd times the charm

So I’ve been laminating for school for ages…flashcards for math and sightwords and blended sounds…and I’ve confiscated the laminator from the hospital…really—they asked for it back and I didn’t give it…turns out they didn’t really want it just to know where it was, but still. And so we got a donation for office supplies and decided that we would get a guillotine (paper cutter), a binding machine, and a laminator…Ken and Colleen were in town getting the new things along with other supplies and colleen said she thought I should be there to pick out the laminator as I was the one who knew the most about it…don’t know that I really do…but they picked one and brought it back…I saw it the next day at school and had to send it back immediately…it only takes A4 sized papers (the size that the rest of the world outside the US uses) as we get so many donations from the US and we had just gotten 300 laminating pouches from the US that were letter sized there was no way it would work. Ken asked if I couldn’t just cut all the pouches (haha). So they took it back and got one that would do anything from A3 size and smaller…perfect. Except for when I plugged it in. the lights came on but it never heated up and so wouldn’t melt the plastic to laminate the pages…the next one that came back they had tested in the store and it works! (I tried it at school as soon as there was power)…so I still have loads of flashcards to do but now I will be doing them at school whenever there is power…and when there isn’t power I’ll have time to cut them apart…

christmas plans

Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes...i'm doing much better...back on roughly tasty foods...still avoiding some but no longer fasting or eating only dry bread.


Christmas is coming…I hope you all have a wonderful advent season. School ends on the 9th of December and begins again on the 9th of January. The eye hospital closes on the 16th due to rainy season and the lack of patients they get…until the beginning of February…so we are going traveling…it started as a brainstorm when I returned from Mozambique in july…Jane, Ute and I were going to do a southern Africa tour…going through Zambia to Vic Falls, into Botswana to visit a friend of Jane’s, then Zimbabwe to visit one of Ute’s friends and then to Mozambique to see the ocean and then back ot Malawi…well, Jane can’t come back quite so soon and we’ve been told that Botswana in the rainy season isn’t a good idea at all…so our plans have changed but Ute and I are still going on a trip…roughly we are thinking of leaving around the 18th to go to Mozambique coast for Christmas and possibly new year…then make our way back inland to visit her friend in Zimbabwe and do some hiking in the beautiful mountains (not sure if they are on the moz side or zim…and then back to Malawi…I’ll let you know if we come up with more specifics than that but so far we are pretty unplanned…

sick

I hate being sick. Well I guess everyone does but really…I went to school on Monday and was feeling a little funny. I thought it might have been nerves (ok not really) as ken and colleen were leaving and I was therefore in charge of the school…I don’t want that much responsibility…but there you have it I’m headmistress for the last week of school with all sorts of administration responsibilities and the keys to everything. I made it through about 3 hours and then decided that was enough…went to the cottage to pick something up and laid down on the bed…couldn’t get up for an hour…then walked up to my other house where I crashed for the rest of the day…sore all over, nauseous, not wanting to move…made myself a cup-o-soup but after the first sip gave that up…Tuesday I was feeling better so I went to clinic…I made it until 930 when I crashed in the middle of clinic…actually had to have natasha walk me home where she made me a ORS drink (disgusting stuff—oral rehydration salts—8tsp sugar, ½ tsp salt, 1 liter water)…and I stayed there in bed until about 5 when Natasha drove me home again…Wednesday was close to the same—feeling ok when I got up…went to school for an hour and then came to sit on the veitches porch…the best place to be when you can’t move…people around and a great view…things are looking better this morning (thurs) but i'm still not really hungry...

house sitting part 2

Moved into another house…big one—family of 6 kids…still trying to find things in the kitchen…loving having a shower (the cottage only has a bath tub)…and as it is the medical director’s house it has an internet connection! Not that it works all the time or quickly but it is in the house—I don’t have to go anywhere for it. I once again have a great porch overlooking a beautiful yard. I’m on the other end of nkhoma—everything is downhill from here (which means coming home is all uphill)

creativity

Creativity seems to be lacking…and it seems to be a cultural thing. I know this is stereotyping and it isn’t all across the board but at the moment it is feeling quite pervasive. If one person has an idea, everyone around does the same…if there is one chips stall there will be 3 more right in a row…same in the markets with tomatos, potatos, you name it. And you find it in school too. They don’t seem to think for themselves…if I do one of the crafts as a model…just for ideas…the kids try to get the same color paper and make it look just the same. (I know that kids do this everywhere but I’m feeling like it is all the time and they don’t do anything for themselves) i know that they are usually taught (in the other schools) to just memorize and learn by rote but it is hard to understand. But then they probably usually don’t have all the same incentives to create…it is more to survive. the wood markets all sell the same stuff…if you see it one place you can probably easily get it somewhere else…unless of course you really like it and then it seems to be out of stock…

arts cards

Christmas cards for all the classes this week is the art project…well 3rd grade did last week but they are having end-of-term exams this week. So we’d done them last week. Cut out angels and put on other Christmas symbols (trees, candles, stars, etc) using small papers that we have and can cut more of. They were very excited about them. For kindergarten through 2nd grade we had cut outs of the manger and a baby Jesus that would fit inside it. So glue them on the outside of the card and then write the message on the inside. And then with the little ones I photocopied angels on half sides and merry Christmas on the other…turns out that I did them backwards but I’m sure they will still work…and then I went into the preK class and teacher Rabecca had already gotten hers ready…she just asked for help getting them to glue them on the papers. Lovely week done.
If you have other ideas for art projects for any of the groups (age 3-8) I would greatly appreciate them…for all times—not just for Christmas (and actually not for Christmas as it will be over by the time I can get it together…school ends on the 9th)

mango jam

When we returned to nkhoma after our night in town, ute dropped me at the cottage and we looked at the jars we had assembled because we knew that we had a lot of mangos and we wanted to try making mango jam before they all went off…but we thought we would put it off until Monday evening…well the mangos were at ute’s house and when she got home she said the smell of very ripe mangos was too much…so I headed over with the jars and we got to work with the mangos. Lots of mess—if you’ve ever tried to cut mangos…and then these were quite soft and squishy…but they still tasted good (it was like picking berries…some for the pot and some for me)…then lots of sugar and some water and boil until you think the consistency is right…we had two pots so we added orange juice to one and vanilla to the other…cinnamon to both (adapted from recipes found online)…and I’d have to say we did a pretty good job. We did run out of glass jars but we coped…and I think that it is a good thing we like it because ute has 5 mango trees in her yard and I have one out the back of the cottage and now at the new house there are more in the yard again…

rain and a pool

Took the Saturday afternoon and night to stay in Lilongwe with Linn who was in nkhoma for 10 months on a Norwegian nurse exchange and is back working at the big hospital in town through the norwegian peace corps. Her house has a pool and a nice yard and is in the middle of town. So we arrived and sat by the pool in the heat of the day…so nice. Got a bit cooler when the sun went down and we got ready to go out for dinner. Went for Chinese and then to listen to some music at Chameleons. The band we were told was good—had good lyrics about stuff that was going on but then it was in Chichewa so we just enjoyed the beat. And then it started raining…not too hard but a constant drizzle that lasted all night. It was cloudy and overcast Sunday and too cool to sit next to the pool. Just our luck really…but then it was a nice break away and relaxing…we’ll just have to go back again for the summer feel…

christmas tableau

the set
main movers (king, registrar, inn keeper, joseph, mary
wise men and star holder
our choir of angels and herd of shepherds
And the day after thanksgiving was our Christmas pageant. After a scare that we wouldn’t get the church as planned we just had to move the production up an hour. (the nurses’ graduation was kicking us out even though we’d booked a month in advance). We also had to share the stage set up with the graduation décor so our stable didn’t have quite the backdrop we’d imagined but then not much is the way you plan it here. There was no power so our attempt at getting a sound system working was thwarted (I was relieved as usually they are turned up so loud you can’t understand anything anyway). Our narrator was our kindergarten teacher and you could hear her very well. The songs were accompanied by Dr. Barbara Nagy on her guitar. We had a registrar and innkeeper, mary and joseph, main angel, king herod, star holder and 3 wisemen. Everyone else was in the herd of shepherds or in the host of angels. We sang silent night, away in a manger, long time ago in Bethlehem, twinkle twinkle little star and joy to the world. It was short and if you were late you most likely missed it…which was too bad but then we had to get out for the graduation. Here are a few pics that I have…wish I could put up a video but that would be pushing my internet capabilities and time…

thanksgiving success!

I did it! Even with the power being unreliable…it was so exciting. I woke up on Thursday and was a bit worried that the power was still on…I knew it would go at some point during the day and I thought that if it was gone early morning it would be fine for the afternoon/evening…but ok. Started with all my potato dishes—had to peel lots. Wasn’t sure about too many sides so I ended up with: potato salad, regular salad, mashed potatos, green beans, stuffing, some potatos and onions around the turkey and gravy…it was enough. The power went out at 10…at that time I was worried because there is no telling when it would come back on…I was hoping for 2 because I hadn’t cooked the turkey (many told me there was no way they would have waited, it would have been cooked the day before but I am a procrastinator for one thing and for another how would it taste nearly good enough if done the day before—and where would I keep it already cooked?) the power came back a little after 2 and as I hadn’t done much while the power was out I rushed to get the turkey ready for the oven…in it went and there it stayed until 7 when my guests arrived ( the power went out for a minute at 5 and i got scared but it was only 1 minute). I was the only American—I had 12 in total from Holland, Norway, Scotland, England, South Africa and Germany…a grand success. They brought dessert—an apple cake and tablet (a Scottish dessert made from condensed milk and sugar…I think it is supposed to be a fudgelike consistency but this was a little fluid still…looked like we hadn’t eaten any of it as it spread out again in the pan.) I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving!

flash cards

So I don’t know if it happens quite as much at home but as soon as you send something home here with the kids, it is as good as gone. Even if they bring it back…flashcards are destroyed almost as soon as you put them in the folders to go home…so with the first set of math ones I had the idea of getting them laminated…and it is now the bane of my existence. I still can’t really tell if it is working to extend the life of the cards but now I’ve been volunteered to laminate all of the flash cards…this is math and sight words and the double letter blending sounds and….and….and…it just goes on and on…but then I do think it is working (I hope it isn’t just positive thinking). Of course you can only laminate when there is power and you have laminating sheets…but once you’ve laminated then you have to cut them apart and keep them in sets…and if you get the cheaper laminating sheets you have to send them through a couple of times to make sure they are sealed. And I know I’m making this sound terrible and taxing and I do that when I’m talking as well but really I don’t mind. I know what I have to do and there is something there at the end…(and I’m almost out of laminating sheets—though not really almost out of flash cards)

mangos

It is mango season again…just starting really…I’m so excited. There were tons on the way to the lake. You can get them at the market in nkhoma but those are really ready yet…so on our way to the lake we stopped and bought things for ute’s house…mats of varying sizes and I got a basket that we immediately filled with mangos…and on the way home we stopped at the wood market—I got two more baskets and ute got one. We filled two with mangos and one with tomatoes and onions…also bought firewood…there wasn’t any room for anything more in the car…luckily we didn’t bring a fourth person—I don’t know where they would have sat! and now I get to eat at least 2 mangos a day and we have fresh mango juice…

lake

Time to get out. There was a spate of petrol available for about 3 days (roughly—depending on when and where you were in town) so we decided that a lake weekend was needed. We left early Saturday morning after having a relaxing barbeque next door (this was the night before I moved out of my great view). Ute, Noel, and I went to senga bay…our first choice of accommodation was full and they recommended us stay at tom’s bar and we would be able to use all of their amenities—restaurant and beach…well, we checked it out but tom’s bar wasn’t on the beach and it was quite a ways from cool runnings so we opted to just find something ourselves. Went down a bit farther and found 3 places…none of them had grass but we picked the one with the most shade…and there were rooms on the second floor and had a view from a balcony…not that we would spend much time in the room but nice.
Swim, sleep, swim, read…nice. Dinner that night I wanted fish…shouldn’t be too hard—we’re at the lake. On the menu is chambo (only found in lake Malawi) and kampango…whole, filleted, curry, etc. ok. We would like 3 kampango filleted. Well, we don’t have. Ok then the chambo. No only whole. (what is the point of a menu?) then he tells us there is only 1 kampango fillet. So I get the fillet, noel orders the whole chambo, and ute opts for chicken curry. Off to change and shower as dinner won’t be ready for at least an hour and it is time to hide from the mosquitos…then he comes to us and says that the kampango is finished…so I change to chicken curry as well. At least I thought I did because when we got served our dinner I actually got chambo fillet…it was good…we didn’t complain; we were just a little confused.
That night we had our overhead fan on and were quite comfortable in our beds. (the last time I stayed here nothing moved all night—even with the fan…it was stifling) and then about 1am the wind started up…not usually a problem to have more breeze but then we found out that the tin roof above our balcony wasn’t properly attached…and for the rest of the night every couple of minutes it sounded like a car crash was happening as the wind would pick up the panel and then drop it…ah well, I guess you can’t have it all…

eviction

So I had to move out of my house again…and just as the construction was coming to an end…ah well. They say I’m still welcome to visit anytime I like. So I packed everything up on Friday and moved it out on Saturday just before leaving for the lake…they came home on Sunday and said that they had a great trip to india…when I saw them on Tuesday…I’m back in the cottage full time, living with Natasha a South African doctor who is here for a year. But then she is moving out on Wednesday to have her own little place for a while that has water much more often than we seem to have it in the cottage…of course next week I’m moving in to house sit for the ter haar family while they go on holiday to south Africa…another big house but not with the same neighbors.

efficiency?

For a patient to be seen on a Tuesday (and I assume other days though I don’t know) they come in through the outpatients receiving room…where they get a stamp in their health passports (medical records that they keep). They are to get weighed and temperature taken…then they pay 80MK (roughly $.40) for a consult. On a regular day this will get them seen by a clinical officer (Malawian equivalent to a very junior doctor?). on clinic days this gets them to the doctor…so they come to the hallway outside the doctors rooms…and they sit. There is no order for anything. An assistant comes by and takes the passports into the first room where I have a feeling they get shuffled (I really think it should be first come first serve but the books are constantly being mixed up)…they are called in to get their blood pressures done and blood sugars if needed and then they go back out to wait in the hallway while the books go into the next room for the doctor…of course the time taken depends on the number of doctors who are there that day and whether there are complications in the patients…and of course if you are a headman of a village or area or a staff member or related to a staff member (as it feels like everyone is) you don’t have to wait—often getting bumped to the front of the stacks…even though others have been waiting for ages…and then I have to remember to take a deep breath and know that everyone will get seen…

clinic drs

I’ve really enjoyed helping with the epilepsy clinic…not being much of a medical person it is something that I feel that I can do…we only have three drugs that we can use to treat epilepsy and I feel like I’ve gotten pretty good at knowing what the doctor is going to do from the questions asked (namely how many seizures have you had since you’re last visit—continue if none and usually add if they’ve had some). And of course there have been different doctors who help with the clinic—some who have been visiting for short times and others who are filling in or helping out on particularly busy Tuesdays…easily on any given day there are 50 patients for clinic (this includes epilepsy, diabetes, and high blood pressure along with other random ailments) and it has been interesting to see the differences…some ask about whether the people are going or have gone to school, or whether they are on contraception, or if they are drinking or smoking (that is a pretty common question), if they know their HIV status…and the answers we get are sometimes sounding very unbelievable …or nonsensible (when did you run out of medication? I take it always—helpful if you have it but if you’re out…)…but you have to take the answers you get because what else do you have?

unrest

Malawi needs our prayers. There has been lots of unrest and it has started getting into the school children as well. I found out at bible study last night that the last couple of weeks in the schools around nkhoma incidents have been happening. At the government school last week a guy from one of the villages went into the hostels (where most of the students stay) with a ponga knife (machete) and was harassing students. Last weekend there was a soccer game that got out of hand and in the fight afterward a primary school student was killed. And at the private boys school William Murray all of the Form 3 and 4 students have been expelled because there was fighting over another soccer game (I think). This means they will not be able to sit exams and will have to reapply to the school. I don’t know what the underlying causes are or if these are the true stories (well whole stories).
Along with the petrol, diesel, and gas (propane) crisis…please keep Malawi in your prayers.

turkey

Just got the most expensive turkey I’m sure I will ever eat…but then thanksgiving only comes once a year…and if I screw it up it will be very very sad…which it would be anyway but especially since this one is dear…
HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

construction

So I’ve been living (once again) on a construction site…the house that I’m sitting in (with a great view and great neighbors) is undergoing renovations…these were (of course) started when the family was here but as everything takes much much much longer than anticipated it is still going on. Well they come back on Sunday…(sadly I’ll be evicted)…and I’d have to say they are going to be surprised (pleasantly I hope) by all the work that has gone on. It does still feel that it has been all last minute—so much going on this week but it is getting somewhere! The bathroom floor was retiled—and of course they pulled up the old linoleum tiles at least a week before actually doing the new ones so I walked on the sticky stuff for the duration…the sink was leaking and they didn’t want to put the tiles in until that was fixed. Ok. But everytime the plumber came back the drip was different—and not always better…but that was done and then the tiles started…that took about three days to finish what with the power cuts so the grinder wouldn’t work to cut the tiles around all the door frames and toilets…
The front porch is getting a roof put on it…so really I haven’t been able to use the front porch much because it is a huge mess of dust and grit and I’ll admit I’m a little worried something might fall on my head as it isn’t finished yet…then it got the tresses (supports?) up and stayed like that for ages (maybe only a week and a half)…then they came and took the tiles off part of the existing roof so they could integrated it…and left it like that for 3 days…but today I came home and over half of it has been tiled…and the rest will be done tomorrow (so I’ve been told).
And the back kitchen door had a concrete patio area put in…not really a patio but a stepping place that wasn’t just mud…so they dug up the area…put in gravel and then paved half of it—and left it for 2 weeks…that was just finished yesterday with the paving…and today they put the smooth finish on it…I hope it is tilted slightly in the right direction...otherwise the water will just flow right into the kitchen. The roof for that area should also be coming tomorrow…

supplies

I’ve never had so much trouble helping out…for the last month or so while helping to make patient files at the hospital it has been one obstacle after another…and I told Rebecca I would take care of it—well, try at least which I have done. So I noticed that we were getting low on folders…and they have to be printed in Lilongwe…of course I don’t know what is involved in the actual ordering…it has to go through the accounts office and someone else has to check it and there has to be a price estimate (can’t imagine it is that different from the last time we ordered) and then you have to wait on the printer…before we actually ran out of folders though the copy machine ran out of toner (no ink=no copies) so we had none of the requisite papers to go into the folders…this includes a chart to note medication (needed and given) and observation chart (with vital signs) and the admission history sheet…we made due with what we did have and just added blank papers for the rest…but that ordering was the same rigamarole…plus the hesitancy to buy any because it is quite expensive here and there was someone coming from abroad soon who was bringing some…but he didn’t…so then we got toner…and we were out of the clasps that hold the folders together…and then out of staples that hold the half sheet pockets we put in the back for all the small papers (lab reports, xray requests, etc)…but now we are all back on track again…
Now I’m on a mission for scratch paper that I cut in half to use for those pockets…I use quite a bit from the school—copies gone wrong and such…much better than using plain white paper that would be so useful as copy paper…

rain?!

It rained last Sunday…and I mean poured! And it wounded like there was a raging river off the roof onto the porch just outside my window. I love the sound of rain…this however came with all sorts of wind that then made all the windows and doors slam around and make lots of noise because of course they were all open to get any sort of breeze…but this meant in the middle of the night I was wandering around trying to find all of the open and banging offenders…found most of them and slept oh so well.
And 2 days later the bugs arrived…after the first 3 rains the termites (or ants with wings) all start coming out of the ground…ute and I were sitting on the rock in front of my house watching the sunset colors and we looked around to this paved area and there were some beautiful birds hopping around eating something…the birds were this dark purple and when the light hit them they were iridescent..it was beautiful—one of them did a little tour right in front of us almost like he was just showing off. We couldn’t tell what they were feasting on but a few minutes later we saw these columns of bugs coming straight out of the ground and flying up…the birds were having a field day and the number of bugs just had us in awe…found out later they were termites—loses some of its appeal but it was cool. And now there are these beetles that are swarming any light that is left on…hard to walk through to get to doors but we’re managing…

arts and crafts 2

My next arts and crafts room was the preK class (4 year olds mostly)…and colleen wants something they can really get into…she said she tried fingerprinting once but the teacher had the kids come up one by one and get their finger stamped…so we had a the idea of making playdough…I wasn’t too crazy about the first recipe we found—flour and salt as that is their main food here and it just doesn’t feel right using it for arts when so many people are hungry…so we found a recipe that uses sawdust—hopefully we can teach them not to eat it…but there are 26 kids in the class and as it was a trial we didn’t have enough stuff to make the dough with everyone…so I was trying to come up with different ideas for those who would be a different tables…we ended having a table for the dough, one with beading, one with threading shapes and coloring…I think they enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to going back next week to do another round of playdough and various activities…

signs

Going through town last week there are not many people on the roads (well moving on the roads—they do park on the roads) as there is a fuel crisis going on and no petrol or diesel is coming into the country (or very little). The lines at the gas stations are absurd in length and they don’t move…so cars on both sides of the roads often 2 deep and sometimes 3 (in the road)…so even if cars aren’t moving on the roads it is sometimes hard to get through. Also at the pumps are lines of jerry cans to be filled—long snakes that are impossible to satiate. But we pulled into a station that has a shopping center behind it but we couldn’t get through…so we were trying to turn around and saw this sign in the middle of nowhere—nothing above it but the sky…where things would fall from we weren’t sure…maybe just a warning for life in general…good advice to follow?

arts and crafts

So this week’s idea from colleen as to what I could be doing is arts and crafts for all the classes. I still haven’t quite gotten my reading schedule down in the classes…I know that 3rd and 1st grade have set times but K and 2nd are still eluding me…but now she wants crafts for all the classes…that is reception (3 year olds) to third grade…so Monday I was in the 3rd grade room as that is when their art period is. We did fingerprint designs—trying to be creative with the creatures made and to write a story to go with the picture…I tried to do an example sheet that had a tree (fingerprint leaves), a lady bug, a man (when asked the kids said it was a groundnut—much better for my story) and elephant…so my groundnut man went walking through a forest where he met some friends (ladybug, fish and elephant) simple…the kids loved it…we had hyenas, dogs, butterflies…

auditions

Last Monday we held auditions for our Christmas play…when the kids are all under 8 years old and there are no speaking parts I would never have imagined having auditions but there we were with papers in our hands to rate the various “actors.” The problem was that the 3rd graders of course would do the best the first time around…they know the story and they understand more of our English directions of where to walk and what movements to portray. But I think we got it figured out and have a selection of children to play the different parts (Mary, Joseph, innkeeper, registrar, angel, king, wise men, star holder, angel choir (all the rest of the girls) and shepherds (all the rest of the boys). Rehearsals have been going on all week and will continue through the month. We did have to change out our Joseph as he didn’t want to walk with our Mary but that comes with using children in our performances Our performance will be on November 25th in the church…I hope we’ll be ready (and I do think we will be)…

sunday school

Some weeks ago I went to church (I have been since then but this is for the story). Isabelle was here and we had sat down for the service. We listened to the different choirs and at the end of that time there was an announcement for the children to leave for Sunday school. Then we bowed our heads for prayer. I put my head down and before I knew it Willeke was right next to me…and she said would you mind doing Sunday school. I’ve done it once before (I did have more warning) and was given coloring sheets and the story (Abraham sacrificing Isaac—not easy for Sunday school). Well, ok. We went out and were pointed to the top of the church under the trees where there were about 15 kids waiting for us. And that was it…no story or supplies or anything…now I’m pretty confident in my bible knowledge and being able to tell stories and keep kids busy but with no notice and no planning my mind was completely blank. Luckily the ter haar girls were there and they helped me lots. Singing songs while I rack my brains for something to do for the next hour (or so…)
I decided on the good Samaritan and who is my neighbor. Most of the kids are Malawian and many of them don’t speak much English at all…so I told the story with as many motions and movements as I could. And then we acted it out…with robbers, and a priest, levite, Samaritan, innkeeper…it looked like they were enjoying the story and understanding though really I have no idea. Then we sang more songs and played duck, duck, goose. I think it was pretty successful but I’m going to have to come up with some more ideas as I think I might get sprung upon again…

electric mower

For a country that often has power cuts and water shortages and now fuel shortages I was quite surprised when Jamie Veitch from next door (for the time I’m house sitting) came by with an electric mower to cut the grass at Ute’s house (on the other side of me). Jamie is 14 and very interested in everything horticultural and agricultural…he’s got a plot in the garden, has his own chickens and helps around with all sorts of the outdoor things. Ute was out of town and due back last Saturday when Jamie came by. He asked if she was home…not yet. Oh well can I plug this in here. Um ok. He ran extension cords all the way next door. Found out one of them didn’t work and had to switch them out. Then he disappeared for a while. Came back later and asked again if she were there. Not yet. Does it not work? No it does work. What are you waiting for? Permission…so I gave him permission to cut my neighbor’s yard…he gave me a skeptical look but I told him I would take all the blame. So he got started. And it was very nice…of course he’d waited so long that he didn’t get to finish before it got dark but he made a great start and Ute was very happy when she got home. I mean who wouldn’t be if someone else cut your lawn?
Found out later that he had sent ute a text asking if he could do it…she didn’t know the number but responded that if it was Jamie it would be ok…but then along with everything else the texts are usually still coming through but at great delay…I’ve gotten ones that were sent at 2 pm but they came through after I was asleep—so around 11…luckily I don’t usually have much trouble falling asleep again…

clinic

We’ve had lots of new epilepsy patients—not surprising as word gets out that the medication is free (paid for by Africa Burn Relief). This entails making sure that people are really having seizures and not just coming for free stuff. Most of the time it really is (or they answer the questions correctly in describing the seizures). There are only 3 medications here for epilepsy and I think that mostly they have been eclipsed in the first world by other drugs to control (or try) seizures. We’ve been having different people see the clinic patients as Dr. Morton has been out of the country. This always takes a bit longer because the doctor isn’t familiar with the patients—not that Dr Morton knows them all but still…last week we had a new patient and while trying to get some background information the translator tells us that the woman is confused. Oh, well that’s not good. So the dr asks some basic questions to find out how confused…what day is it? Where are you? What is this (holding a pen, point to a chair) the woman was able to answer (Tuesday, hospital in nkhoma, pen, chair) then he pointed to the computer on the desk and asked what it was…well, the woman looked and looked, turned her head for a different angle—she just didn’t know what it was…comes from living in the village without electricity… goes to show you how much we take for granted…she was trying…she’d just never seen a computer before. Well, turns out she wasn’t confused per say—she just wasn’t answering the translators questions…

mouse

When I got home from the lake I was actually locked out of the house… (logistics on Friday when I left were a bit confusing) not a problem other than Ute who had just moved out but still had a key left on Sunday for a week of eye surgery at the northern part of the lake and Natasha who moved in over the weekend was at work and I didn’t have her number yet…but as we drove up Estelle was coming out of the hospital and I got the number I needed…got the key and the information that there was a mouse in the bottom of the cupboard…shut with a chair so it wouldn’t get out. Ok. Send Miriam on her way to Lilongwe…had forgotten about the mouse until I went into the kitchen and saw the chair against the cupboard door. Hmm…so I peeked—first one side, nothing…then the other and it was sitting there staring at me. We had a little staring contest and he was kind of cute…but then I didn’t want him in my food cupboard…didn’t really know what to do so I called james—no answer. Tried reinette—same thing. Then Wilfred our gardener arrived. I told him about the mouse and he came up to help me. We took out the stuff on the floor piece by piece and checked it all for the mouse and then found him in the bag of ground nuts (peanuts)…then Wilfred took care of it…it was a dead mouse when it left and I hope it was the only one…

end of october!

It’s been a good week. I spent the weekend at the lake with some other americans. Miriam I met on the plane on the way here. She works for USAID in lilongwe. She had organized a cottage that sleeps 6 and said she had an extra place if I was interested—I am always interested in going to lake…the others worked with her or with the embassy and they came for varying amounts of time. Miriam and I were there from Friday to Monday…and it still didn’t feel long enough (it never does). She had brought her 3 puppies…mutts from the SPCA here (retriever and maybe ridgeback mix). Sweet dogs but I don’t think they had ever been out of lilongwe…goats and monkeys got lots of barks and the pig just got stared at…they were excited and confused by the lake and the beach but by the end I think they were loving it.
It is getting so hot here. We are moving into summer and at night the winds seem to stop and it is just hot. Not easy for sleeping but not impossible (yet). During the days I often get the feeling I’m melting. But I haven’t actually done that yet. When I got back from the lake I moved into the Jones’ family house as they are gone for a month to visit family in india. Rob is the pharmacist at the hospital. He and Ritu have 3 little girls—2 of whom attend ebenezer. (it is funny/scary to hear them—they go from a proper english accent to malawian english very quickly and easily…they learn things at school and when they come home to share they often do it in the malawian way they learned and then mom says where did my english girls go? And they can then do it in english…) Of course there was a power cut Monday night so I explored the house in the dark and got all settled in…excited for the view in the morning…
Tuesday was epilepsy clinic and it was too hot. And there were a lot of patients…I onlyhad 10 on the list that were scheduled to come…of course there were about 8 more who came because they were either running low on medication or had run out because they were supposed to have come a previous week. And then we had no one to see the patients…and then we found someone who could see them but we had lost our translator…and while I admit to being able to understand some of the answers…I can not translate in any sense of the word or work. But we did finally make it through…I will have to find out what they are going to do with the information I’m recording and keeping…because if it is not going anywhere or going to be helpful—I think I could spend my time much better elsewhere.
Wednesday I was back at school and it was announced (I was consulted beforehand) that I would be moving out of the classroom—we don’t really know if Magrate will ever take full responsibility for her class if I’m still there—and into more of an administrative job. I will be helping with reading in all of the classes (K-3) and other adminy stuff…money taking for school fees, and I don’t really know what else. Ken and Colleen have to go back in December to South africa for Ken to have back surgery so they won’t be back for 3 months and in that time I am to move into acting principal I think. We’ll see how this shapes up.
Helping with the reading is fun…different levels and different ways that the teachers do it…some in groups and some individually…recognizing words (sight words that are just memorized) and sounding out phonically. Of course I also have to work out with teachers when they are doing their reading…as it all seems to happen in each of the classes within the same hour…and try as I might I’ve found it hard to be everywhere at once.
Power cuts have gotten more frequent—almost everyday and at varying times in the day…sometimes from 530am to sometime in the afternoon, or off at 2pm to 6pm, or 530pm to 8 or 9…not usually the same back to back but it is keeping us on our toes. The fuel crisis is getting to be very bad. Both petrol and diesel are very hard to find at the stations…and when they do have the lines are enormous with vehicles and with jerry cans…and there is no order to who gets first or how that all works…Ken was in line for about 10 hours one day and he got to the pump and they put the sign up that they had run out. Times like this I’m ok with not having a car…

i am still here

sorry to have been out for so long. i thought my computer would have been coming sooner and so i waited...and i think it was also just an excuse. so i'll try to catch you up and continue on from here.

my job with the youth department doesn't seem to be happening...of course the week i finally admit that to myself i get a phone call from one of the staff with 3 different events going on around nkhoma so i agree to do that but i (and he) also knew that as of september 1 he would not be working for the youth dept either. but i went to a kids day and did a lot of dancing with the kids...then a sports day which was just utter chaos and too hot and i went home early with a massive headache. and then the next day was an overnight to see a world vision (ngo) work site where they had been operating for 15 years as world vision has set up in nkhoma only a year ago. so we took about 40 people--youth and adults to see it and ask questions and see what is hopedd to be accomplished in community development here. of course it was all in chichewa so i didn't get too much of it until about halfway through someone started translating for me--but not in a discreet quiet manner, he was loud and stopped everything else to make sure i was following. i still think i need a little more background info on world vision in general before i really get what they are doing but everyone else seemed to know more and get a good days talk out of it. the excitement of the trip happened the night before all the talks as our coordinator walked through the glass window at the restaurant we were using for dinner...it shattered and cut his face and hands and then we had to drive to find the hospital and then the doctor and take them back to the hospital as it was really just a clinic and not usually staffed at night. but he is fine now though unemployed and waiting for God to lead his way.

so as that is most of the youth work i'd done in quite a while and so the plan now is to work part time at Ebenezer school again--helping the new second grade teacher Magrate get used to the ciriculum. and part time at the hospital doing whatever is going on...folders, computer work, baby feeding. it is going well and i am keeping very busy.

when i get introduced to new people now i still don't really know how to answer the question what do i do here because it really is a little bit of everything. someone once called me a chameleon and after getting to know me Colleen, who is acting principal-headmistress at ebenezer says that is very fitting. the other question to answer is how long i've been here...a year and a half but not consecutively as i was home for 2.5 months in between. but it is going well. and i hope to write more and do a much better job at keeping up. thanks for all the love and support!

week 21 mozambique

Long drive to get to the beach…but that’s normal. Full day and when I first saw the ocean it as flat as a lake…there were more waves in the lake last week. But the colors were beautiful. My first sight of the Indian ocean. Drove further down the coast to arrive at Nascer Do Sol and an amazing resort area…very isolated with great chalets, beautiful views and the ocean acting like the real ocean—salt, waves, current and sand…I felt that I had made it and really there was no need to leave…Reinette and I jumped in without a second thought. Well, still fully dressed there was a second thought but it didn’t stop us. We fought the current and the waves and had huge smiles on our faces the entire time…and the wind was blowing which just made us not want to get out as then we would be cold…we stayed two nights with many walks on the beach and dips in the ocean though we did warn the kids about not going in without an adult because the rip current was serious but the kids were fine with that with the waves being much bigger than they were. Walking along during low tide we found sea anemones and men o’war (little blue bubbles with tails that sting) brought back memories of walking the beach in Hawaii and stepping on the bubbles to pop them…so I passed that along and then promptly got stung…my foot was beautiful—greeny blue from the sprain and red from the sting…
When we left we continued south to Maputo the capital…that was where we were splitting ways—they would continue to South Africa and I would head back north and return to Malawi. Having lunch with some people they knew there my wellbeing was being taken into consideration—mostly in Afrikaans so I didn’t get most of it but was aware that they were worried about my safety and traveling on my own and while I tried to tell them that I would be fine…I also had no concrete plan that would put their (and my) minds at ease…I was left in the care of dirk as they continued on and his plan was to get me to the bus station to buy a ticket back to Malawi then leave me with a friend who would get me to the station the next day…that didn’t sit too well with me as that would mean I would see nothing more of Mozambique except a really long ride back to Malawi immediately…so I convinced him to take me back to Xiaxia where I stayed with a pastor’s family he knows—Pastor Antonio—they were so nice and welcoming, his wife, two kids (Gladness was 1 and not scared of azungu at all), and two nieces who had very good English. My portugese still isn’t too great but we could communicate. They took me to the minibus the next morning and wished me well. I sat down and we took off—the guy behind me offered me a sweetie—turned out to be a halls throat lozenge, a bit later the guy next to me offered me some cassava that they eat raw as a filler…not too tasty but a very nice gesture and when we got off in Maxixe he made sure I knew where I was going (not an easy thing as I didn’t really know where I wanted to go)…to the dock to take a ferry across the bay to Inhambane. My guide book mentioned an out of the way hostel that was just gorgeous but of course I could no longer figure out how to get there as it involved another dhow or water taxi and I just got blank looks when I asked about it. So I settled in at a hostel I did find and wandered around town—didn’t take long and since I wasn’t where I figured I wanted to be I came to the conclusion that I didn’t like it and would leave the next day…

week 20

So I went to the lake with ute, mark and maretta…and then I stayed and came home with the veitches. Nothing like a long weekend and I’ll do just about anything to stay longer at the water. But it will be my undoing too. Monday morning swim with waves like the ocean I jumped over one and came down to soon…or too shallow and I landed wrong on my left foot…bent the wrong way and I felt it. But I stayed in the water as long as I could—using it as an ice pack…and then limped around for the rest of the time. When I got home, jane put me on the couch and told me not to move…I don’t take to that very well but limping around is hard to do. So I stayed on the couch when I had to but then I would get up and go places and then come back for more time with my foot up…
While important at the clinic I know that I’m dispensable but as I was already going stir crazy, Loes told me I could come and take the notes while she did the running around with the patients…so I sat in the exam room on the patient bed (not used except for certain cases on these mornings) and was even able to elevate my foot. Good thing because it was swelling more and turning a pretty shade of blue…
Wednesday was Jane’s birthday…so we had a good breakfast (bacon, eggs and toast) and then she had to go to Lilongwe to work at the big hospital there for the day. I was ordered to stay on the couch…so I went for a slow walk around nkhoma to get some pictures for Barbara before she left for the US…and made sure I was back on the couch when my roomies came home. Cake party when Jane got back from town—she’d told me not to tell anyone that it was for her birthday but of course I did…it was a fun gathering on our front lawn.
I was walking better on my foot by the end of the week though after being up for any time it was still a little blue but as it was hurting much less and I had an offer of a ride to the coast of Mozambique I decided to take it…left early Friday morning with the Veitch family and James on their way to South Africa by way of the beaches of Mozambique…

week 19

Sunday afternoon we decided to walk to the Linthepe…after church I told some of the people up at the guesthouse that if they were interested they were most welcome. About 2 oclock there were 12 girls from the guesthouse ready to go. Of course we get looks as we walk but whether we are one or 12 the looks are the same…I used to think that it changed with respect to numbers but now I don’t think so. It was good to have the group because we walk at different paces and there was someone for all to walk with (especially me since I found out I live with 2 power walkers). Nice breeze at the river and a group gathered when we stopped so we didn’t stay too long.
Got a trip to town on Monday. Dropped off some for a safari in zambia—wished I were going too but then I did go last year (and I wasn’t invited). It was quite early since they have such a long way to go so I had plenty of time to run any errands I had before picking up another traveler coming to visit Barbara and nkhoma. Even had time to sit and have a cup of tea and was home before noon so I felt extremely productive with half a day to still do things around here.
I’d been told that I had 2 packages sent to me in march and they still hadn’t arrived so we’d all given them up as lost. And then they did arrive! So I got to celebrate my birthday again! Only 4 months late…very exciting!
Clinic was of course very busy since everyone who had missed their appointments the week before came as well as those who were supposed to come (at least most of them) came and then there were new patients who had heard about the clinic either for blood pressure and diabetes (david’s normal clinic) or the epilepsy (which is actually funded by Africa burn relief—as epilepsy often is a direct cause of burns especially in third world countries). It is so nice to see patients coming back (on time) who haven’t had any other episodes and know that the medication is working. It is also very nice to watch david as he sees patients and shows his passion for medicine because he loves to explain cases (and while I don’t really understand anything) there are usually medical students in observing and you can tell that he is a teacher and doctor because he loves it.
Wednesday was malawi’s independence day and thus a public holiday here in Malawi (july 6). We jumped in the car and headed for lunch at Dedza. Only about 45 minutes away and very picturesque. We ate at the pottery place, well known for their pottery and their cheesecake. The car felt that it was pulling when we got on the dirt road so we got out and walked…it was a beautiful day and not a far walk from the main road (about 1 km according to the sign but I think it is longer)…
Thursday and Friday were the last days of the school year for ebenezer so I went to see the sports day on Thursday…sadly they started earlier than I had been told and it was all over when I got there…but it sounded like everyone had a great time. And then Friday I was on time (well a little late) but they had just started the ending assembly. It included a presentation of some sort from each class, either recitation of poems or songs or reading. The first grade recited some poem about the days of the week that had to do with someone eating something on Monday, getting sick on Tuesday, going to the doctor on Wednesday, something else on Thursday, died on Friday, funeral on Saturday and heaven on Sunday…so a days of the week but a bit morbid…and second grade sang “what a friend we have in Jesus” and danced a Scottish dance (one of the volunteers is Scottish). Then there was graduation from kindergarten and presentation of awards for each of the classes. It was very special.
And a get away to the lake for the weekend—staying at the cottages that the synod keeps up. A nice place that is not on the regular tourist area so less vendors coming to sell their wares of wooden carvings and baskets…very windy and cool but of course we swam anyway regardless that it is winter here…

week 18

Jane’s friend Rosy came to visit for the week. Good fun to have her and show her around nkhoma. Monday we went to the village of Nguluwe where a school is being built with donations and sponsorship from some dutch friends and from the charity that Jane and Rosy started called Positive Steps. The building had started—at least the foundation but they were having an official groundbreaking ceremony. Many speeches by abusa, orphan project, and village heads and Mark and Jane and Maralise…I was asked to come as photographer and they did try to get me to say a few words but I didn’t know enough about what was going on…The school now is being held under a tree nearby and the school will be simple but there will be protection from the rains and more extreme weather. hopefully this will be the start that has been needed to really get the construction going.
Tuesday we climbed the mountain. Left early to escape the heat and we did that…even in the sun the breeze was pretty cool. But it was beautiful and we enjoyed our climb. I came down for 11 because I was going to go with a South African group to distribute bibles with the youth department and was tole that was when they would leave. I called when I got down and was told that they had already left…the only time things are on time (or early) in Africa…oh well.
Wed and Thursday I went to Ebenezer to say hello. They were getting ready for their closing day activities and finishing up the year. (next week) read a story in the first grade class. Things seem to be going very well.
The official opening for the Burns and Surgical Wards were on Friday. Some speeches in which it was emphasized that we have these new buildings and we need to keep them clean and give good care in them or there is no reason for having them. New buildings won’t heal people but it is good to work well in them and that the combination in much better for the patients. Ribbon cutting and tour of the wards and more speeches. Jan and Trudi who had been here for 5 years working on the hospital reconstruction had sent a video with their sentiments of wishing they could be there for the opening and their hopes for the good use of the facility.

week 17

Spent 3 days helping at the hospital. First day was in the clinic which was busy but not as busy as we thought it would be. Many patients didn’t come in and it took us quite a while to figure out why…there was a funeral that many of the patients went to. It is very cultural to go to funerals. If you don’t go it is seen as disrespect and then you also have to worry that people won’t come to your funeral. It is a big social event as well—full day of gathering. Which doesn’t do well for the patients who will then run out of medication and possibly start having seizures again. Some came in the next day to get refills and others will probably come next week.,. the second day I went in to make patient charts for the different wards. They were very low so I was kept pretty busy…75 for adults and 75 for pediatrics and then we just have to see how long that will last them. The third day was with Jane on the burns ward doing inventory of the stores. Lots of dressings and bandages—at least that is what it seems like now as the ward isn’t open and there are plenty. But once there are patients I don’t know how long it will all last.
And of course more power cuts…however this week we had a self imposed power cut. Didn’t know it (of course) but one day the power sharing had gone on all day and then come back in the late afternoon. The next thing we know we had no power once again. Sat around complaining and moaning between the two of us—how can they have it out all day and then all evening too?! but got our dinner cooked and eaten and then decided to climb into bed and watch something on the computer (hoping that the battery will last)…it is very early but we are just out of options…so blow out the candles and start a movie…about an hour later james comes over for a visit…walks up the stairs and asks why we are in complete darkness and that it is a little creepy. Well, with a power cut what do you expect? And he then tells us that there isn’t a power cut…at least everyone else has power…he checks our fuse box and it had tripped so once reset we were brought back to the 21st century…we did feel a bit like helpless girls at that point but quite ok with being rescued and lights restored to the cottage…

computers...

my computer is mad at me...it didn't like being dropped but then it took a while for it to figure out how to punish me because it worked for a good week before deciding that it would act as though that blue fn key was always pressed. and as my computer is very small that means that the number pad that is superimposed on the right hand keys for typing now only come out in numbers...so i could type in code but i don't think that will work very well...so i apologize for taking so long in trying to get that fixed and maybe i'll be able to use another computer to get my updates on but until then please have patience...

week 16

Taught the English Sunday School lesson on Sunday morning. It was on Abrahams sacrifice of Isaac. And it wasn’t in the kids bible’s that we had available. Of course it isn’t much of a kids’ story either. We learned and repeated that Abraham is the father of all nations and his trust in God was so great that he was willing to follow God’s direction even to the point of killing his son. Then we sang “Father Abraham” and colored a picture of the story. Not too bad I don’t think. Reminded me some of being back at Ebenezer as the kids were all malawian but I did have a translator so I think they understood more.
Got a new flat mate. Jane is a nurse from England who has been working on cruise ships. She was a tutor at the nursing school for 18 months starting in 2007 and she visited last year so I’ve met her. She is very nice and we haven’t stopped laughing since she moved in. I think we’re going to get along quite well. She’s here until sometime in September. We think we got rid of the bees in the third room and it is looking quite nice…hope the bees stay away!
At the epilepsy clinic on Tuesday we had quite a few patients and a substitute doctor. It went pretty well as we had scheduled fewer patients since we knew the doctor would be out…but it took just as long as usual because he had to read the medical histories from the health passports. Which is reading other doctor’s notes (often illegible) and asking what you hope are the right questions for the patient. Luckily this was an easier day with the patients responding to their own names and usually bringing the correct health passport. There were also medical students in the room- some of them Malawian and so there were multiple people to translate and try to understand the patients’ stories.
It is impressive and I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before but unlike in the first world where all of our medical records are on file and we don’t really have to keep up with anything, here the patient is responsible for keeping his or her own health passport which is or can be a comprehensive record…they are expected to bring it with them when they come and they must have it in order to see the doctor or get medication (mankwala). The hospital does keep records—for those patients who are admitted especially—but to find them is not usually done if/when the patient returns for other illness or followup.
Had a meeting at the youth office on what we learned from the followup in bowe. This is the planning/brainstorm meeting for the girls’ program. I was told that the meeting was starting at 10…my ride to town got me there at 9 so I chatted and did some computer stuff while waiting. Abusa had gone to malingude at 7 and was planning to be back by 10 (not likely) but we could have the meeting without him as the other women would be there…4 of us and we started about 11…first we went over the list of issues the girls raised when we asked what they thought the issues were and the ways we might be able to solve them.
PROBLEMS: given no chance to lead, not respected by boys, no opportunity at church, fear of speaking to groups, different denomination from their parents
AT SCHOOL: lack of school fees, don’t know why they should go, shortage/laziness of teachers without supervision, teachers taking advantage of girls
WHY THERE ARE SO MANY EARLY MARRIAGES: girls have more responsibility at home, when young they are told to be adults, they have nothing else to keep them busy as they don’t go to school, it gives them status
HOW TO SOLVE: trainings, prayers and retreats that will bring enlightenment and knowledge
So we started brainstorming on what we would teach at a training—public speaking tips, salvation, prayer, holiness, relationships, importance of education, goal setting, decision making…and then they wondered who would pay for it…I said that we would need a budget before we could figure that one out…which means another meeting—not sure why we couldn’t do that now but ok…when? Well they asked me when. I tried to be flexible for them but they wanted a date, then when I gave one they said that they would have to check with abusa first…(why did we just go through that then? ) we adjourned. Abusa arrived back just after 1 and my ride picked me up about 10 minutes after that…
Another trip to the airport to drop off more friends…hard to see them go but so glad we got to meet. Then I escaped to the lake for the weekend…probably shouldn’t have done that as my stomach had been feeling strange most of the week though nothing had happened. Felt so carsick on the way and it took over 24 hours before the queasiness went away…the lake was beautiful though and peaceful. The ride back was ok (thankfully).

wk 15 (didn't skip a wk except in wrong counting but now i think i'm right)

I had a meeting planned for Monday in the youth office but I woke up not feeling all that well and really didn’t see myself getting into Lilongwe for a productive meeting…so I rescheduled for Tuesday which Abusa Juma said was fine. Then I got a text saying there was a training and could I be in town by 7 so we could leave and be in good time. As long as I was back in nkhoma for 630 because the women’s bible study was at my house (starting at 730 but still). So in with the school bus (leaves at 6) and picked up by Abusa at 7:15 to pick up two more ladies and off to Bowe (2 hours north of Lilongwe)…when we arrived I couldn’t get out of the car for all the kids crowded around staring at the azungu! We went a bit farther to the church and with teachers urging the kids back to class I was able to make it out…it was a follow-up meeting for the Behavior Change Program they did. So the people filled out a questionnaire about how they feel the program has impacted their communities and whether they have shared what they learned, etc. Then we took the girls aside and asked them what they thought they needed from the church—what we could do, what they saw as problems for girls, hoping for a starting place or some common ground that we can use—but it was all in Chichewa so I was still in the dark. After that we ate nsima with the abusa there and left around 330…there was no way I was back in time for BS…luckily I had the foresight to leave my key with someone. Back in Lilongwe to drop the 2 ladies around 615 and then Abusa Juma drove me to nkhoma and dropped me off at 725. I walked in just before most of the Bible study women…in time to make tea and welcome them…and all I wanted was a shower…
Friday I drove the kids to Lilongwe to school. Seems like everyone in nkhoma is sick…some flu is going around and taking out all of the families…one member at a time. I was free so was asked to drive the bus. I was a bit nervous—it is a pretty big vehicle but actually easy to drive…plus it came with country music cd which made the early morning as I could just turn it up to drown out the kids bickering in the back…Garth Brooks to the rescue. It was actually one of the most relaxed days in Lilongwe I’ve had as it was last minute that I was asked so I didn’t have time to come up with my endless list of things needed.
That evening Mirte had her farewell nsima party at the Guesthouse. Daniel came over to make the nsima and help with the relishes (greens, chicken, tomatos)…it was a good gathering—about 15 people and afterwards they broke out the musical instruments—drums of differing sizes, spoons and a banjo (that won’t really tune)…it was not well done but it was fun.

gowo

the view from gowo prayerhouse. took at least 2 hours to go the 16km to ask questions about the youth and sunday school programs and to let abusa (rev) give some words of encouragement to the congregation.

wk 13

I got letters!! It does sometimes come through!! Thanks!
Went ot town on Sunday…visited the wood market “sister, sister, come see looking is free, come close, look here, sister sister” is the constant murmur…then had lunch and went to a Black Missionaries Concert. One of the most well known bands in Malawi—reggae music. It would be a nice afternoon concert as it was advertised to start at 130. We arrived around 230 and were the first ones to arrive! It was the strangest feeling to be an hour late and still be the only ones there…so we got drinks and sat down on the cricket field. We could see the speakers and instruments set up but no music as yet. Someone walked by and we asked what time things would be starting…well the music would probably start around 330 or 4…and they were right. They also said that there would be over 1000 people there which we also found hard to believe as yet there were maybe a handful…but in the end he was right on both counts (I think). We listened and danced and had a good time. We knew it was time to leave when guys were getting a little pushy and declaring their love for us due to their alcohol consumption.
I stayed in town that night with a woman who works for USAID who I met on the plane on the way here. Very nice house and food and guest room. I think I’ll have to take her up on it more often as the internet I had was very fast—too bad I was too tired to use it to advantage…at immigration the next morning I was able to put in my application for Temporary Employment and pay the processing fee and then I was told that I was still illegal…the TEP is supposed to be applied for while the applicant is out of the country and the employer is supposed to do it…so as my permit to be in the country has expired and I only have an application in…I could be arrested at anytime. The officer said he could arrest me now (but I could tell that he wasn’t planning on that one). he then offered to have me come live with him as I don’t have a husband…very nice offer I’m sure. Also said that I could be arrested as soon as I walk outside…but it isn’t written on my forehead so I don’t know how they would know…all they have to do is look at your passport (which I don’t normally carry)…so now I’m just waiting for what happens next…and keeping my receipt as that is what most of the doctors here have as very often the applications don’t get processed for ages or they get lost somewhere…
The epilepsy clinic was crazy busy on Tuesday. Well the whole clinic was. I think Dr. Morton saw easily 60 patients…30 of them epilepsy. It was very busy walking in and out with the patients. It is nice to see that some of them are doing very well at filling out their paperwork as to taking their medication and when they have seizures…it makes it much easier to see when or if they have seizures and what to do with their medicine doses.
I got a new flatmate. The new eye doctor moved in on Tuesday. Ute is from Germany and will be here until the end of next year. She is very nice though we don’t know each other yet. And then on Friday she went home for 3 weeks. So I’m on my own again for a little while.
On Thursday I went to the clinic at Mlonda with the NC Presbytery group. They have been working on the house for the doctor who will be at that clinic. It is a huge house and we spent the day painting and sanding and varnishing and scraping (all the paint spots off the concrete floors—anyone heard of dropcloths?). There is still some work to be done but it looks very good and I believe that the doctor is looking forward to going now as before there wasn’t going to be anyone since there was nowhere to live.
Went to the lake for the weekend. Very nice. Cooler than it has been as it is getting on to winter but still beautiful during the day for swims and naps. And the fish dinners are excellent.

the mountain in april

choir festival

part of the crowd
dancing
one choir