Salima with Katie

We did a day trip to Salima on Wednesday. We stopped at the Salima district hospital to show Katie a local hospital. The day before we had all toured Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) the big government hospital in Lilongwe. We walked through some of the hospital to find Peter Maseko, but he was so busy he was unable to really give us a tour. We had planned on returning on our way out of town, but those plans did not work out. Sorry, Katie, maybe next time!



After we left the hospital we heard a loud bang and then a terrible grinding noise from the back tire area. We limped to the Maseko house, where Jose took the tire off and found broken metal pieces. We had just put the car in for servicing the day before, including a brake job. Needless to say, we are not very happy. However, once he got the broken pieces out the noise stopped and the brakes seem to still work fine. Our schedule is so busy right now that we will have to wait til next week to have it totally evaluated by the mechanic. Pray for travel / car safety and also a HUGE prayer of thanksgiving for having Jose, with his many, many skills, part of the team! After getting the tire fixed, Emma fixed us a traditional Malawian meal, complete with nsima, rice, cassava, chicken, tomato sauce and cabbage. She also fixed some Samosas - Indian, not Malawian, but a favorite of Jose's. After lunch, we went to the beach side village of Senga Bay. Katie got to walk through a village and then to the lakeshore where the boats were bringing in fish. Mostly usipa (little fish, slightly larger than sardines, that they sun dry and then eat in stews or 'relishes'), some even smaller ones and then another size up - they all have names, but my chichewa is so limited I can't remember them all! However, we had fun, Katie took tons of photos, and even found some chitenges (the wraps that are used for everything here) to buy at the market. After the village, we went to the curio stands and 'went shopping'. Lots of things to buy! And everything is negotiable. Emma had little Alpha (who got tired of seeing the stuff), so she and I headed back to sit in the car and people watch. Very interesting! We saw a young woman with a ice chest come to the market and begin very quietly selling shake shake to some of the vendors. Shake Shake (also called chibuko I think) is some sort of home made beer, they put in used water or soft drink bottles (plastic) and it s a milky, gray color. Looks totally disgusting - Emma said it smells disgusting, too. I thought if the vendors started drinking a lot, I might go and get some really good deals (haha). While we were sitting in the car on the side of the road, a gentleman came up to us - he and his team were also shopping, they were from a Korean church in New Jersey, just finishing a couple of weeks of a mission trip! How funny! Katie made lots of great deals, with Jose being the negotiator - just another of his many skills! We took Emma and Alpha home, then on the way out of town, did a short side trip to see what is reportedly the biggest Baobab tree in Malawi. It was close to dark... once again we had to drive home after dark, one of the things we hate most here - driving after dark. Jose did an excellent job (as usual), even though he was operating on about 2 hours sleep. He is rooming next door with a young doctor, Ty, who just finished his residency in family practice and is here for two months. The nurses called them early Wed. morning for a young patient that was brought in to the campus and put in the inpatient ward, not breathing. The guys did a valiant job with inadequate tools, but the child died (probably was dead when he arrived). What followed was a nightmare of dealing with the family, trying to get the body taken care of, etc. Jose never got back to sleep. He carried on like a trooper, though, and will never know how much I admire him for his willingness to do so!

Pictures:

The baobab tree - you can sort of see Jose and I at the base of the tree, and the children from the surrounding villages running up to see us. Emma and Alpha in the back seat of our car, waiting for the shoppers! Jose and Katie leaving the curio market. A boy on the lakeshore with his fish - they were still alive and flopping - I think he was burying them in the sand to keep them fresh. It looked like his brother was using a little piece of cane / bamboo to fish, so I think this was to be their dinner, not for sale. lastly, Jose jacking up the car to take the tire off.

Pray requests: travel safety - we have a village clinic at Chiwengo today, which is in the north part of the country, not to mention clinics Friday and Sat and leave Sunday for Zambia. Pray that Jose and Ty get rest after their traumatic night. Pray that Katie enjoys the rest of her stay here!