We have had another fun week in Malawi! Toni Moffett came in from her posting in Ghana to be a part of the Evangelism Explosion (EE) conference taking place on the ABC campus. She is here for a week with the children's EE. (Her husband, Matt, was here for the two weeks before). We had a great time seeing her again, although we were all too busy to spend much time together. This is her birthday week, so we did have a chance to take her out to dinner at Buchanan's.
Our gardner's little boy, Siliyus Jamu, became ill this week - he went to the clinic and was seen, given an antibiotic injection, and then came back 'here' (duplex) with his dad to rest while dad worked. He just got worse and was near collapse when Jamu (dad) came and got us. Thank the Lord for Jose - he was able to carry the boy into the house, take his vital signs (including blood sugar) and start an IV on him. Jose had brought a big case of supplies up from the clinic as one of his new projects is to make medical supply 'boxes' for the ambulance.... so he had everything he needed right in the living room with him! Then we transported him to the clinic - sounds easy but entailed carrying the boy and IV to our little car (Rav 4), then from the parking lot up the hill to the inpatient ward (for those of you who have seen the short video on ABC campus, you will have an idea of the distance), then up the stairs and into the ward, down to hall to find a bed. Whew! I am glad Jose is so young and strong. Siliyus had wet himself, and there are no patient gowns here, so Jose gave a pair of his boxers for the boy to wear (and have). The bad news, after all the carrying a wet child, the effort of carrying him, etc, we found that the water was out so NO SHOWER for Jose! (the water did come back on later). The good news - after anther 24 hours of IV fluids, IV antibiotics and even a course of malaria meds, the boy recovered. To be totally honest, we never figured out what he had! All the malaria tests were negative but his white count was high..... We don't have the ability to do cultures, etc. here so sometimes we just treat 'everything' that we can. We were just thankful that he was better quickly.
Wednesday we went to see Lidson, a orphan with Children of the Nations (COTN) that I have supported for about 10 years. He is 15 now and grown into a fine young man. He just took the exams for secondary school. After form 8 (8th grade) you take these national exams. The top scoring kids get into the government schools, which are essentially free. Everyone else has to find a private school, which costs money, and most village kids can't afford it. COTN has been busy building their own secondary school. They would love all their kids to get into the government schools, but know that some will not score high enough. Their school will be able to educate their orphans, and also give more one on one attention to the children that need it. The secondary schools here can apparently be brutal on the new kids - lots of harassment, etc. And being an orphan carries it's own negative connotation, so it can be miserable for some of the kids. COTN is finishing one of the big buildings on it's office campus into what will eventually be the dining hall for their new school (of course, they will use it for classes as soon as it is finished). They hope to have the actual school finished in the near future, along with dorms for the students. The plan is that the school will be built from shipping containers. A very neat concept - go to Cargo of dreams. org to see the organization that is doing this great work in third world countries! We are praying that this will work out for COTN (you might even want to get your church involved once you see the web site!). We are also praying that Lidson did well on his exams and will get into a good school!
My week in the clinic was pretty much the same as usual - although 'same' here is not like 'same' in the US!! Yesterday just as I was getting ready to leave for lunch, a young woman was brought in who had been attacked by a dog. Her face was pretty torn up and she had a very nasty laceration / rip on the end of her nose involving her right nostril. Thank you Lord for all the experience I have had repairing lacerations in the ED. The tricky thing right now.... finding small needles to 'numb' with, a terrible light, gloves a size too big, and had to turn the suture room upside down to find thin, delicate sutures to repair her face and lip. The clinic is undergoing some remodeling and many things have been moved, making even simple tasks difficult. Amazingly, with God's grace and mercy, and His wisdom guiding my hands, her face looked pretty good by the time I was done. (And people ask me if I pray - HELLO, like all the time in my job!!!) It looks like we got all her pieces lined up well. I will see her next week and check her again then. Made for an exciting end to the day, though.
Today (Friday), our plans are to pick up Angellah Maseko (sorry, can't remember her married name) and little boy Tristen and go to Salima to visit the Maseko family. Peter Maseko is a clinical officer at the Salima district hospital and is on call this week end. Jose and I are hoping that perhaps we can be of some small help in the hospital. It is always an adventure there! And of course, we will get to see the family there, and eat more traditional Malawian food! So we will probably be off line for a few days.
Pictures: Lovely flower that Jose found on the ABC campus. Outside of the COTN building for the school, then an inside photo - they are close to having it done!! Annie Brown (currently finishing her year as an educational volunteer at COTN), Lidson and Jose, lastly myself, Toni Moffett and Jose at dinner at Buchanan's.
Pray for our continued safety and that we may be wherever the Lord wants us, doing whatever He wants us to do!
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