Chinsapo, South Luangwa and Seizure clinic!

Ok this has been a crazy week. We did a clinic in Chinsapo, a village on the outskirts of Lilongwe. Dr. Young, Claire (just finished med school in the UK), Kelley McGowan, Joey Swartz and Malawians Charles (coordinator of all things!), Lewis (general help), Anthony (pharmacy) and Grace  Malawian head of the project) helped. We have done a couple of clinics here before, once under the trees and then last year in the new school building. This year we were in the administrative part of the school. Total of 4 rooms, with the doctors rooms being nice, the pharmacy being nice (but tables all very low) and the 'entrance' room where people gathered, were triaged, had malaria tests, and waiting in 'lines' to see doctors / pharmacies, etc. There was chaos in that room, all the time! We saw slightly over 150 patients, transported two sick ones to ABC for additional care, treated lots and lots of malaria. Much too much for this time of year!!  That was on Saturday. Sunday was church at Flood and dinner with Sam and Malla Kawale, joining us was David Epperson who is in country to help finish a project.
Monday morning we left for Zambia - South Luangwa national park at Mfuwe Lodge.  It is the 'treat' for the hard work that Kelley and Joey have been doing. I won't bore you with the long story, but my car is still unavailable (tied up due to formalities at Road Traffic). Charles graciously drove us in his car. We had a great time and not only saw the usual array of animals, but also a pack of wild dogs hunting impala. The wild dogs are new to the park, they showed up about 2 years ago. Alec, our guide, said they think they came from North Luangwa (which is much more remote and has few lodges, etc). We also saw a pair of lions and a leopard hunting in the daytime.  We also visited Project Luangwa (check out their website) - Karen and David Hopson are involved in building schools, doing 'gender education', working with girls and women to help with their issues and empower them through education and employment. I visited two years ago and am amazed at all the new projects that are either finished or underway. You can also sponsor a child's school fees through their project.

We came back home on Wednesday, up this morning (Thursday) so that Kelley could pick up some items for her family, then seizure clinic this afternoon. This is part of Children of Blessing Trust, and Kathy Bowler and her team do amazing work.  Enjoy the photos.

As an aside - I was told that about 75% of girls / women in Malawi are sexually abused at some time (David tells me it is 70% in Zambia). There are a multitude of factors - females are held in low regard. They are often dependent on relatives (uncles, etc) for their housing / food due to being orphaned and if they report them for abuse, they have literally no roof over their heads. The girls that are mentally or physically challenged are easy targets (we have encountered several girls in this situation that have been raped). There is no justice for a raped or abused woman. The groups that are working to empower women and to protect girls / women need your prayers and your support!  I am so grateful to groups and projects that are working in these areas!

Lions in South Luangwa

Wart hogs in South Luangwa

Grey billed horn bill with some food in its beak

Wild dog

Action shot of elephant as it is shaking its head

Entrance into the school area of Chinsapo. The road was so washed out that they were filling the ravine with bricks. That is the car Charles has loaned me, and that is Charles in the red shirt moving the bricks around. I had Lewis drive the car over them as I am a coward!

Me holding a 2 month old. She had a upper respiratory infection (no malaria) but her Mom was so ill she had to go to ABC.

This sweet girl has microcephaly, which we see a lot here. There are no tests to do here so we have no idea if it is Zika virus, or one of the other viruses that can cause this! She does seem to understand a little, but cannot speak. Her mother takes care of her. She is 19.

Grace, the Malawian now 'in charge' of the project. This is a face full of peace and grace in the middle of chaos!

Dr. Young seeing patients

Kelley McGowan recording triage vital signs. The patient is sitting on the floor. Kelley is writing in their medical record = a medical passport that the patient keeps.

The crush of people in the front room (triage, malaria testing, 'lining up' and waiting.

Dr. Young checking out patients waiting outside. We wanted to be sure we did not miss someone very ill. Generally the sicker patients come early in the morning, but occasionally a late-comer will be quite ill, also.

Dr. Young, Kelley McGowan, Joey Swartz and Claire - at the end of the clinic, we were served drinks and cookies. We had not eaten all day, but some of us were able to take a few sips of water. 

Not sure why the pictures are out of order, but here are a couple of giraffes in South Luangwa

Women at the women's project / workshop (Project Luangwa). Busy sewing!

Seizure clinic. The girl standing is Chewemwe (translator), the one sitting is one of the clients. Notice her badly scarred right hand from previous burns. Because cooking is done over open fires, and they use fires to stay warm in the winter, many seizure patients fall into the fire when they seizure. The complications in this resource poor country can be devastating.