New Addition

This picture was taken the other day. This little girl is SO adorable! Many kids are afraid of me and start crying if I look at them but she came up to me and held my hand! So sweet!! I had to take a picture!
The news of the past two weeks is that our household has been increased with a new baby. He cries and plays and eats a lot. He is also quite cuddly and loves to be close to us. Although I’ve seen several small children I would like to bring home (see above) this baby is a kitten – not a child (don’t worry, mom). :) He was born November 6 to Dr. Bateta’s cat and he looks like his momma. When we got him he was already litter box trained although he will eventually be able to go outside too. We have named him “Hobbes” and he is clever and wily just like his namesake of the comic strip. He chases anything that moves and loves to stand ">in between my feet when I’m cooking in the kitchen. This adds up to him being the definition of “under foot” and has gotten kicked, stepped on, and had his tail closed in the refrigerator door multiple times. We have been feeding him the small dried fish that are sold in the market – he can’t get enough of them. They have Whiska’s cat food too so that is a treat for him too. Overall he has become very snuggly and quite good company and entertainment. We are hoping he will be a good mouser and catch whatever is running around in our ceiling.

Other News:

Water Project – last week everything worked out last minute for Wes Lutz to fly down at the end of his trip to Gimbie hospital in Ethiopia and spend a few days looking at our water system and the project in progress. He is an engineer and works in a family business installing pumps and the electrical system going along with it. He and his wife have a passion for missions so we thought he would be invaluable as some leadership and consulting on this project. He was able to provide some good guidance and advice while he was here and he has gone home to discuss with his wife the possibility of coming back for an extended time to oversee the project. We are all just thankful to God for his hand in arranging the circumstances to make the visit work out.

Malamulo Hospital – this is malaria season so our hospital has been overflowing with children and adults both who have been sick. The government put a kink in our process by deciding the Central Medical Supply where we get much of our drugs and IV solutions closed from January 10 to March 5!! Suddenly we had to figure out how to purchase enough stock to keep us from running out before they open again. That put a big strain on our financial situation but thankfully we were able to scrape up the money. A common method is “rob Peter to pay Paul” – not preferable but seems to be our only option. The other big issue happening is the enormous debt for past errors that we owe the Malawi Revenue Authority. They have called a few times threatening to seize our assets but only because it is a hospital they hesitate. We owe about $150,000 USD for past things that happened and they fined us for. The difficulty is that people don’t like to donate money for debts but would rather donate for new projects and something more glamorous. It seems like a 500 lb gorrilla hanging on the back of the hospital that keeps us from getting ahead.

We have a new matron – Mrs. Kamwiyo – and she is such a blessing! She has started an ethics committee, meeting regularly with her staff, managing the housekeeping staff, and setting up training for the nursing staff. It is so nice to have someone capable and energetic in that position.

Other Facilities – this apparently seems to be the season of challenges both financially and personnel. I think because of my position I end up being a “sounding board” for many of the challenges that the leadership are facing. Often I don’t have any ideas or any way to help but I still feel bad for the stress they are facing. Please pray for the personnel at both the SDA clinic in Lilongwe and the SDA hospital in Blantyre. I am finding that greed and materialism knows no boundaries. Those in leadership at those institutions need strength and wisdom to know how to handle the challenges they are facing.

Mission @ Malawi – in November a few people from LLU came over to do a planning trip for the large student group coming over to Malawi in June. I have offered to help coordinate things on this end and be in touch with Emelly who is the main coordinator on that side. The background of this trip is that all 12 of the SDA colleges and universities in the US have decided to fundraise for the Malamulo College of Health Sciences. Their goal is $100,000 and they are close to $20,000 already. As part of this focus they are planning a large mission trip of about 5 people from each school estimating 60 people to come over the end of June for two weeks. The group will then be split into 5 locations around Malawi doing simple maintenance, clinical, and evangelism at each site. As you can imagine this is a huge logistical challenge especially when the person coordinating everything is in California. Hence my offer to help – I’m not sure if I am in over my head with this but hopefully it will work out smoothly.

Life in General - We got to watch the Innaguration this week live on CNN at a hotel in Blantyre. There was a group of Americans getting together and Cristy was invited so Don, Gail, & I tagged along. It was certainly a historical event and for some reason being in a foreign country makes me more interested in those moments and makes me feel patirotic.

Sue and Kelvin and 2 yo Lilee have moved into an apartment in Blantyre near the SDA hospital since he is working full time on their new ICU. This weekend I took them up on their offer of hospitality and am staying with them for a couple of days. I was getting to the point where I needed a break from everything so thought this would be a good opportunity. It has been nice to rest, eat yummy food, and just generally have a change of scenery. I’m continually thankful for good friends.

We are counting down the weeks until Cristy’s parents arrive in March. We mark the weeks – we are at 8 ½ now and we agree weeks are better than months – they change faster. This last week we also finally got our Christmas packages which was fun. My mom had individually wrapped many small gifts along with a variety of other goodies like packets of mayo, candles, soap, note cards, and other fun things. It is nice to feel loved and remembered. I have posted a photo of Cristy working on the ward with some patients. She will be featured on the flyer that the Loma Linda University Auxilary is making for a vespers in March. They are committed to raising $50,000 to help the Operating Rooms here at Malamulo.

Christmas Photos

This was taken Christmas day - Cristy and I at the Sawyers - it was so hot! We aren't sweating we are "glowing"!
Clare Lawrence and Ali Buchanen are both volunteer nurses from the UK. Clare is up in Lilongwe now but came down for Christmas. They are both great to have around!

At the hospital Christmas party - me and Foster Chiwanda, the business manager trying to get into the holiday spirit.

Cristy and Dr. Mwafulirwa (try pronouncing that 10 times fast) greeting the staff at the Christmas party.

Creepy Crawlies

Okay – well what would Africa be if there weren’t a whole bunch of weird bugs? With the rains coming to make everything green it also brings out every imaginable kind of bug. And if you think you’ve seen a big bug – just forget it – they NEVER freeze here so they just continue growing and growing until some are the size of a small dog !! A couple of months ago I had a horned beetle in my room on my curtain. That is probably the largest insect I’ve ever seen. The photo doesn’t do it justice! Cockroaches aren’t really that big of a deal anymore – although very gross still! With the rain the season of flying ants has come. These creatures come up out of the ground at night drawn toward the light and they fly around and eventually lose their wings and die. In the morning the porch (or your kitchen floor) are covered with wings and the bugs have disappeared. The locals like to catch them and fry them to eat with their nsima. Apparently they taste like peanuts!

The other day we saw a praying mantis in our kitchen which was kinda gross but we didn’t do anything about it. The next morning it was eating a fly so we decided to let it stay! We have several geckos that live on the walls and eat all kinds of bugs – mosquitoes, moths, termites, etc. The problem is that the other day I was making my bed and out from under my blanket on the floor was a lizard (this was not a gecko) about 10 inches long – black with a blue-ish tail. Yes it is harmless but I still screamed! It stayed in my room over night then I saw it the next morning. Last I saw it was hiding behind the stove in the kitchen – maybe it has been cooked by now.

Mosquitoes are also a menace here although they aren’t very big there are hordes of them. They carry a nasty strain of malaria which is currently infecting the majority of the children in the surrounding area. We have at least 10 beds in the hallway of the pediatric department with some beds holding more than one patient each! This past week or two the census has been between 60-80 just in peds! Imagine – each child has at least one guardian! We won’t even talk about what that ward smells like!

We were having dinner at Clare & Ali’s house the other day and suddenly Clare saw a scorpion on the floor! Yikes – that is actually scary! She dropped a big shoe on it and just left it till morning. We have plenty of spiders and occasionally they are scary looking too (although Cristy is sure that every spider is out to get her). The flat wall spiders don’t bother me but the big, ugly brown ones are worthy of the DOOM!! (bug killer) We keep a can handy in the kitchen and the bathroom for any bug that might encroach on our personal space.

Today I had a surprise – it was pouring rain and people were just milling around in the entry of the hospital watching the rain (seems to be the thing to do even if they are working inside – to just go out and stand and watch the rain). It had gotten dark inside with the rain so I went to turn on the light. The light switch is in a wooden box on the wall that looked like it was locked. There was something like a pull string on the edge to open the box. So I pulled the string and it was a praying mantis – not a string!!! I shrieked (quietly, mind you) but there was a group of guys standing right next to it that just busted up laughing at me. The bug flew away and was fine, but I was startled! I turned around and they were still giggling so I gave them a hard time and said, “no laughing!” Ewww I can still feel the bug in my fingers – it was kinda cool to the touch and a little squishy. Oh well – glad to be some entertainment!

The other gross thing that comes out in the rain is the snails. They are giant sized here and their shells are more like – well I can’t describe them. They are like slugs with shells and they are “snails on steroids” as Cristy says. They climb up the windows or are in a heap procreating somehow. They are disgusting!

Well before I gross myself out any more I’m going to stop this discussion! Let me just say that my tolerance is being tested AND I am enormously grateful for my mosquito net that keeps all kinds of creepy crawlies out of my bed at night!!!

“Chakha Cha-bueno!!” (Happy New Year!!)

“Can you believe it’s 2009 already?” How many times have you asked that question in the last week? Well for me it’s been several times at least. If you indulge me, I remember when it just turned 2000 and I thought that 2010 seemed SO FAR away and now it is only one year! I am sure everyone feels the same! 2009 has some depressing parts since it is the year that I turn 30 which may or may not be traumatic (I haven’t decided yet). But in general I am excited at the prospect of a New Year, new start, and fresh possibilities. I have found that many people here in Malawi are more excited about the New Year than Christmas. To them, understandably, it is a marker of time and they spend the day celebrating life and the blessings of God that has preserved them for yet another year. This is poignant in this society where death (usually premature) is so prevalent and almost “normal” or expected. Celebrating life is very important when so many friends and family members have already died. Many attend a church service on New Year’s Day and then enjoy a special meal with rice, chicken, and beans (all very special in the villages).

My New Year celebration consisted of a potluck dinner on n. y. eve and then going to bed reading a good book, pretty exciting huh? The week between Christmas and New Year (up to today – Sunday) has really been slow for me at the hospital since many people are gone and businesses were closed. In some ways it was nice because it felt like I got a bit of a break but not a REAL break because most days I at least came to the hospital and/or had people coming to my house with questions.

Wednesday (n.y. eve) Cristy and I went in to Blantyre to pick up Don S and his wife Gayle (aka “Mrs. Don”) from the airport. They are happy to be here and Gayle is experiencing Malawi for the first time. She is a sweet lady and is anxious to get involved at the college where she has some experience in the past. She has taught and been the school counselor in many different settings. It is neat to hear her stories and have a woman’s perspective on mission life. She and Don have been missionaries all over the world for about 30 years. I’m also glad to have Don back to help with the hospital.

Speaking of the hospital – I hesitate to even type this because I don’t want it to be a “fluke” – but December brought many blessings financially to the hospital. We were able to purchase the needed medicines for cash, pay salaries before Christmas, and most of all pay our current payroll tax to the Malawi government. One employee who has worked here for 21 years told me that this was the first time in 5 years that he remembers being paid before Christmas. As to our payroll taxes – yes I realize that this is illegal – but we have not been paying our current monthly tax for at least all of 2008 if not longer. In addition to that we owe several million kwachas in fines, but they were most concerned that we aren’t paying the current tax. All I can to is praise God and give Him the glory!! This seems to be the result of our lay-offs that happened in October so I am hoping that it continues. I am mostly just amazed at God’s grace and mercy – even when we have made so many mistakes and bad decisions, when things are put right He blesses! This does not mean the financial challenges are over – we have A LONG way to go but what is encouraging is to see small improvements.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. The writer of Lamentations says that God’s mercies are new every morning… sort of like a New Year I guess. The past is gone and all that lies before is the unknown and a clean slate. After looking back over 2008 I have to say that I have no idea what will happen in 2009.