Hi everyone, hope everything is well at home!
Thanks for the emails, and sorry for not replying individually - the internet cafe is a 30min walk from the guest house after a 30 min walk home from work, so I dont have many chances to catch up unfortunately! Hope these updates are ok!
Main street in Zomba
Last weekend we were lucky enough to go to Zomba, one of the main centres in Malawi, approx 1 hr from Blantyre. It is a beautiful forested area at the base of the Zomba Plateau, an impressive rocky flat-top mountain. The purpose of the visit was to meet Newton, the Malawi manager (and sole permanent staff) of an NGO called Future Vision. This NGO was just started recently by Dr. Dan HAyhoe, an optometrist at home who also lived in Malawi for years doing other development work. Dan is really the reason I am in Malawi - he introduced Dr. Joe Lee, my preceptor, to the country in 2009 which lead to the opportunity at the hospital in Blantyre. Anyway, Newton is a Malawian with various development education and trained accountant, and he is in charge of the group's main project in a village outside Zomba called Taulo. In fact, it is an "area" really - more like rural Ontario where houses are spread out over multiple KM's of fields. There are something like 400 families in the village. It was highlighted by local officials as a very impoverished area lacking many resources like clean water, access to education and health care, electricity, etc. Thus, Future Vision targeted the village after Newton did an incredible amount of work on the ground, getting a needs assessment and figuring out what exactly the people need/want.
When we arrived in Zomba Newton took us on the 1 hr truck ride to Taulo, where we simply expected to walk around and look at the schoolhouse which was just renovated.... well, I should have known better that such a visit would be more elabaorate than that! (Kendra, remember the school visit our first week in Ghana... dancing and the whole bit?) Well, there was no dancing, but the Chief of Taulo and a whole congregation of volunteers on school committee met us for a formal meeting, where we were all introduced and spoke about the projects, the village, etc. Then we got a guided tour of the projects underway, and the village in general. We spent a number of hours talking with everyone and just walking about. Everyone was welcoming of course, and very interested to show us their way of life - it was a very meaningful day.
We also stayed over night with Newton's family, which was very nice. In the morning I cooked french toast for everyone, which Dan's daughter had showed Ida how to cook earlier this year!
Newton, his wife Ida, his son praise and daughter Shalom and us four.
Me holding little Shalom - had a hard time putting her down, she was so content!
The main project right now is renovating the old school house which was literally falling apart last yaer. It was the only preschool in the area, and even for primary school the kids must walk 7 km each way at least (depending on where they live). Not feasible for the younger ones at all, and many just don't go to school.
So, with mostly villager help and some contracting for carpentry etc, the schoolhouse renovation is complete, and there are 400 children attending the PRESCHOOL alone! (age 3-5). Yes, the two rooms are not enough, so there are plans for another school house, and hopefully a further building for junior primary school (gr 1-4).
The other project is obtaining clean water. The village has no wells (bore holes) and use shallow holes with muddy water which dries up by the end of the dry season. Right now they've started filtering water through cloth and then treating it in water bottles in the sun for 2 days (very smart UV filtration!), but it is only feasible to do this for the children. Everyone else still relies on the dirty water. So, bore holes will be coming soon hopefully.
Showing us how they line up bottles of dirty water to get sunlight for 2 days for UV filtration
And, the most intriguing project from my point of view, is the idea (not yet planned) of starting a simple clinic in the area to focus on childrens health and antenatal/maternity care. Newton and I spoke at length about this, and it seems that this is their next big goal, with help from Govt of Malawi who would provide staff and supplies. It would be really amazing to come back and work at such a clinic - because what these people really need are some version of a family doctor, checking the kids growth, following pregnancies, referring serious problems to Zomba, etc... it would be much more in my comfort zone than the wards of the hospital! Anyway, that is a big 'maybe'... but a nice one to think about. Oh yes, and Kendra, I talked with Newton a lot about social work - he says they are very needed in these projects and are very few in Malawi. He said that any visiting MSW would be a huge asset, to meet with families, determine their needs, discuss problems in the village and come up with solutions, and in general act as a social liason between the people of the vilage and the projects... interesting eh?
Sunset at Taulo
I have been VERY impressed with how Newton and Future Vision have approached the project. After seeing a few different development projects in Ghana and Thailand, I recognized immediately that he is doing a lot of good things. No cash handouts that end up doing nothing. No promises up front, just discussion of what is needed and how exactly Future Vision can help. For example, to start agriculture for the school children's lunches they have provided seed and fertilizer at a discount, and the village donated land to be used. Then they harvest a crop of maize which is enough to both feed the children at school AND buy more seeds next year without any financial help. A sustainable system immediately. And the villagers are so hard working that it works - they want another schoolhouse for the children, so they have already cut out and stacked 150,000 mud bricks ready to be fired. All they need is a contractor to help with constructing a good structure, which Future Vision can help with.
Ok, enough rambling on.... you can tell I enjoyed the weekend. Gave me a glimpse into REAL Malawi (most Malawians live rurally, and don't have power, etc). Very different from the somewhat colonial feel of Blantyre.
Now I'm back at work and still loving it - getting faster and better at all the ward jobs, and starting to recognize what to do for HIV/TB/other rare things we don't see at home. Also getting frustrated with some of the inefficiencies that cost patients their lives occasionally - things just happen slowly because of a lack of staff and resources. But that is part of the reality outside our developed bubble. CAn't believe this is the last week of work, then a long weekend on the way to Lilongwe and the flight home next Tuesday AM. Home in 7.5 days!!
Take care, and will likely give the last update this weekend... xo ryan
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