The past 2 months have seemed to be quite eventful but I’ve only written about my trip to Kenya. So I guess I need to write a brief update although I don’t really want to just have a “travel log” (maybe it’s too late to avoid that).
After the drama of being evacuated from Kenya I was happy to stay home and not even venture to town right away. I honestly have never been through something like that where I felt so emotionally traumatized. Whether the threat was real or not, I felt like it was real and had to work through the fear and stress that I had. I’m thankful for Cristy who was patient with me and for my family who called me and provided the support I needed though they couldn’t be physically close. I’m thankful to have gotten past those feelings and that I’m safe and not permanently affected.
About a week after getting back from Kenya I came down with malaria. This is momentous for me because it is the first time in 2 ½ years of living in Africa that I’ve succumbed! It is a strange disease and like nothing I had felt before so that was why I decided to go get tested for malaria. Sure enough it was a mild case. I took the treatment that lasts for 3 days and started feeling better by the 4th day. I didn’t have a high fever and mostly just felt drained and tired. My energy was slow to come back though and I didn’t work much at all that week. I then had some severe pain and congestion in my ears the next week but that also cleared up eventually. During this time Cristy was gone mostly so she wasn’t around to take care of me but my neighbors checked on me which was nice.
Thankfully Cristy’s trip to Kenya was uneventful and she had a good time at the continuing education class for missionary doctors in Africa. The most exciting thing was that we had planned a vacation to Victoria Falls after her trip so Cristy flew from Nairobi to Lusaka and met me there. Well it wasn’t just me - Fernando, Blanca, and Lety flew with me from Malawi to Lusaka then Anthony (who lives in Lusaka but worked in Malawi for a short time) met us there as well. We took a bus to Livingstone and spent 4 days there near the falls. Cristy was brave enough to bungie jump while the rest of us cheered her on. We went white water rafting, took a sunset cruise on the upper Zambezi and basically just relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful area. It rained a lot which added to the relaxation factor for me as the rain just makes me want to curl up and read or sleep.
On the way back in the bus Anthony and I got off near Riverside Farm. This is where I was a student missionary 10 YEARS AGO!!! (don’t make any comments about getting old!) Anthony worked there for about 4 years so knows everyone there and it was fun to go back. The main missionary family that I worked with is still there and a few of the Zambians that I knew were around. It was fun to see them and see how the place is doing. I can’t believe that the time has already passed and yes, I do feel old! The place is lovely and doing well so it was a short but sweet visit.
So my opinion is that vacation was exactly what I needed to recover from malaria and the emotional stress from Kenya. I feel back to my normal self and am so happy for that. Malamulo Hospital is doing alright - they survive ok without me (imagine that!?). Mr. Don is back now so I am no longer “interim CEO” which I am grateful for. Wes and Chrislyn are coming back in about 2 weeks and Dr. Fam is back from his holiday. My Mom asked if I felt like things are getting back to normal - I laughed and said I don’t know what “normal” is. But I think as close to normal as we can get is coming.
The hospital is busy this time of year with seeing 100-200 children every day in the out-patient and pediatric departments. Malaria is the main concern but there are also complications that come along with that. We have also been busy with quite sick adults and many surgeries and births. Thankfully due to financial help from the government children are getting treated sooner (with the fee charged to the government) and our mortality rate has dropped significantly in the past 3 months. Now we just need to have the government pay their bill.
Every day brings new challenges and new chances to be thankful. I had two days of meetings last week with the CDC office in Malawi and all of their partners who are receiving PEPFAR funds from the US government. I was representing Loma Linda University as part of a Laboratory Consortium so those meetings were very interesting and beneficial. There is a lot of good work being done related to HIV/AIDS here in Malawi and it was nice to hear from other organizations what their plans are and to network with Malamulo in mind.
This week we have the Executive Secretary of the General Conference of SDA’s, Elder Bediako visiting on Friday morning. The campus is buzzing with activity – weeding, painting, polishing and general spiffy-ing up until the place shines for this church dignitary.
I also feel challenged personally to stay focused and to continue to feel like I am adding value here as well as fulfilling the job I was given. I have gotten the question “so how long are you staying in Malawi?” many times in the past month or so. I don’t have a good answer at this point and right now am just planning to continue here unless something happens or I am directed to go somewhere else. My initial agreement is over in July of this year but it seems as though I will be here longer at this point.
