4th of July in Malawi

I can't believe it's already day 6 in Malawi!


Tuesday we got a lot accomplished in preparation for our teaching which begins next week. We went to the Lutheran Bible Institute (LBI) and saw the computer room for the first time. There are 4 desktops and 4 laptops which we needed to be set up. We checked that all 4 were connected to the internet. We were able to successfully install Miscrosoft programs on 7 of the computers (one of the keyboards on the laptop doesn't work) as well as a Mavis Beacon typing program.  So the computers should be ready to go! Now we just need to meet the students!

Yesterday we had an exciting 4th of July in Malawi!


We went to the LBI to meet the secretary who accompanied us on the minibus to show us how it works. It was only our 2nd time taking the minibus and we have to quickly learn how it works and get oriented with directions so that Laura and I can begin taking it on our own next week.
We took one bus to the busy market area where we transferred to second one. There are 5 rows so one would think it would hold just 15 people, but that's not the case. So we waited there until the bus was about full and then we took off. The driver is on the right of the vehicle and he drives on the left of the road and as we make stops, there is a man who takes care of the sliding van door and collects the money.
At our fullest they were able to cram in 20 people not including a baby on a mother's lap and a dead rooster on the floor of the van. I was fortunate enough to be sitting right next to the open window to catch some fresh air.


Then for dinner one of the nurses from the mobile medical clinic here picked us up in addition to a Tanzanian woman from church. We got to ride in the back of the ambulance since that's the vehicle she uses here. She made us a delicious 4th of July dinner of hamburgers with roasted vegetables and even warm apple crisp for dessert!
We were lucky because when she left to pick us up, the electricity had still been out from several hours earlier but it was back on in time for us to have a warm dinner!

This morning we got up and rode in the ambulance to the clinic. Every day Monday through Thursday the mobile medical clinic team travels to a different village so each village sees the staff once a week. Today we went to the Mwololongwe clinic. We picked up the pastor as well. I learned that the word for Pastor in Chichewa is “mbusa.”

When we arrived, there was already a huge crowd of women and babies. The second ambulance arrived with all the local staff members, about 13 in total, as well as the medical equipment up on top of the vehicle. After it was all unloaded, Pastor lead a devotion and my favorite part was singing “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” in Chichewa. I did my best to follow along in the songbook; it sounded so pretty singing acapella.

Patients at the Clinic

 Then all the patients line up and get a number and everyone carries what’s called a “health passport.” Mothers carry one for themselves and their childrens’ books also. It’s about the size of a passport and it has their personal health information inside it so the nurses can see when they were last checked, growth charts for the babies etc.  

Inside the clinic, Laura and I helped prepare medicines, mixing and  measuring out cough syrup and pill bags.  We sat next to Melissa in the clinic as she took blood pressure and did exams for the babies.  She was doing malaria checks- paleness under the lower inside of the eye, and an enlarged spleen are indicators of malaria.

Starting to line up for clinic

Then one of the nurses came over and mentioned about a critical patient who they thought had an ectopic pregnancy meaning the egg was implanted in the fallopian tube and could burst and be fatal. It was amazing how they handled the situation- in such a clear, calm voice, she said, yes it’s an emergency and we should bring her to the hospital. So the quickly found out which was the best hospital to bring her to. The driver, clinic nurse, patient and her guardian, Laura and I all rode in the ambulance with her to the hospital. It was my first time riding inside an ambulance with the patient, with the siren on, to the hospital. I was surprised how calm everyone was. 

We arrived at Kamuzu Central Hospital and brought her in to the maternity wing. They described to the nurses there what the problem was and then we left. Here in Malawi it is the patient's responsibility to get a ride back to their home when they are done. And there is no emergency number to call. So if a patient wasn’t at the clinic and needed to get to the hospital, they would need to get there themselves by minibus or however they could. That was surprising to hear. 

It took about 45 minutes by the time we left the clinic and returned. 

Clinic ended a bit earlier than usual a bit after noon since there were less people than usual. Today there were 173 people in the sick line and they've had about 300 other days. 

It was a very interesting experience and I'm so glad we got to see how the mobile clinic is run in one of the villages!

Tomorrow we meet the LBI students!