Chili Pepper

Today (Friday) we started off the day at the clinic, checking on the burned boy, whose name is Jonas. He seemed better and the wounds looked much better. The plan is to treat him for a few days and then see about a surgical consult. It does look like he is going to heal OK as long as we can do adequate wound care. It is so hard in the villages, no running water, no bandages, no medications. We shall see if he gets better at the Tiyamike ('Thankful') ward - that is the name of the inpatient ward at ABC. We (Joseph and I) also had a short lesson on the use of LMAs for airway management with the nurses, the clinical officers and Dr. Young. Thank you, Robert Twite (ACTNT) for donating some LMAs. Afterwards we took the car for a 'check up' as it is leaking oil... looks like we will have to return Monday for some diagnostic testing!

There is a new restaurant in town, Chili Pepper, that serves 'Mexican' style food. We decided to try it for lunch. Joseph got the chicken burrito, which he said was OK, I had the chicken nachos that were actually pretty good! Not a bad experience for Malawi!

Joseph decided to make some cookies in the afternoon while we waited for Skyband to show up (to get the Internet functional), but needed brown sugar. 6 stores later he found brown sugar - and bought the last two bags and he bought two bags of regular sugar. One of the stores told him that there was a strike (I guess at the sugar factory?) and the diesel shortage - making obtaining sugar difficult. I didn't know what had happened to him, he was gone so long! We had power to make the cookies and water to wash up; then Skyband came and fixed the Internet - life is good!! We ended this good day with dinner at the Youngs. Dr. Diane Young works part time at the ABC clinic; her husband, Jim, is a church planter. They are from New Zealand and a very, very precious couple. Their oldest son is off at boarding school, but the two younger kids are still at home. We brought them some chocolate chips from the US (a treat here as they are hard to find) and two packs of Dan's beef jerky for the kids. They loved it and send a big THANK YOU to Dan Hamilton and family. We also send a big thank you to the Hamiltons. Their beef sticks were our main nourishment during the day while we were doing the village clinics. He makes the best beef jerky (check him out at www.internetjerky.com) He and his family have been faithful supporters of ours for years, and his jerky, beef sticks and trail mix have been our main meals more than once. We had a great meal with the Youngs, and then the kids were chowing down on the beef jerky.

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us, a special thanks to those who have chosen to support us with gifts of many kinds (money, jerky, medicine, supplies). You are all a part of this project!

Pictures: Jonas after his dressings were removed - the wounds are looking so much better! Joseph with the giant chicken burrito at Chili Pepper restaurant. Sara and Michael Young with Dan's beef jerky and big smiles and lastly, a shot of the Young family and Joseph at dinner.