Daeyang Luke hospital

We got up early to take Leslie to hook up with the mobile clinic people - no power, but we used the neighbor's propane stove to heat water for instant coffee.

Wednesday is our 'out of clinic' day so Jose and I went back to the Daeyang Luke hospital for an meeting with Dr. Lungu, the medical director of the hospital, and an extended tour of the facility. Dr. Lungu, a Malawian trained doctor who did his surgery residency in South Africa, is a young, energetic, forward looking physician. He seems really excited to be able to use Jose to set up a basic EMS service. Currently they have a ambulance that is empty in the back. The driver - drives - no first aid, even! However, they do have equipment in various places in the hospital, but don't know what should be in the ambulance, how to arrange it, etc. etc. Jose goes tomorrow afternoon for his preliminary canvasing for setting up some basic EMS service. We had a very personable young man, Kelvin, give us a complete tour of the hospital. I love African tours - we saw all the wards, the nurses' stations, the toilets, the kitchen, the dining area, more toilets, the lab, the laundry, toilets again, the out patient dept., maternity, surgery, emergency - oh, and did I mention toilets? Actually, the toilet thing is a BIG deal. Most hospitals here have very limited toilet facilities, so they are rightfully proud of the number of public toilets they have. The hospital itself is very, very nice. The upstairs is all meeting rooms and administrative offices. Downstairs are the patient areas. There is a large central open area with a fountain and fish ponds. The picture is of Jose and Kelvin standing by the fish ponds. The rooms are all in wards. The pediatric area overflows into the women's second ward, but so far there is only one patient to a bed. In malaria season that could change. We also saw the church that was just finished (on the grounds). It seats 600 inside and has an amphitheater that seats another 500. They are also building a new wing for wards, with 40 patient beds, and a nursing school. We are excited that we can offer our services to this growing facility!

OK, tomorrow is another clinic day for me, an EMS day for Jose, and for Leslie??? maybe going back into the villages for Dr. Young's seizure clinic! The weather stays lovely. We bought some beautiful plantains and strawberries from a street vendor. Jose cooked the plantains with butter, cinnamon and sugar - yummy - and the power stayed on! Yeah! You learn to really be thankful for the little things - power and water, Internet, flush toilets. Life here is very good! Ok, to bed now.