Another old letter

This is another old letter but slightly more recent....

I hope this letter finds you well. I’m settling into my Malawi life quite nicely. I’ve been in my home in Msuzi for 2 months now and the time seems to be flying. My home is slowly becoming more comfortable. I now have a wicker love seat and chair of my own. I need to get cushions made for it b/c it gets hard quickly. I also plan to paint walls and doors very soon. I have a wooden bed frame and foam mattress, a wood table w/ 2 chairs that I eat and work at, two sets of shelves for clothes and kitchen items, and a table for my handwashing bucket and water filter. All of this furniture was made in the village without any power tools.

I plan to have an extra bed frame made so I can have guests and that should make my furniture collection complete.

My typical day starts between 5:30 and 6:30. I rarely set an alarm b/c the roosters usually wake me up. I get up and do some exercises then start a fire for breakfast. Some days I have a hot fire within 20 minutes, other days it takes an hour. I never take a good fire for granted. I make breakfast – usually coffee or hot cocoa and oatmeal. Some times I’ll make eggs or French toast if I have bread. While waiting for the fire to get going, I do the dishes from the night before and get my things ready for the day. After breakfast I make sure my cat is outside and then I leave for the health centre or community based organization. I work until noon then go home and have lunch. I don’t start a fire for lunch; I eat leftovers from the night before. After lunch I go to the community based organization or the school. Some days I don’t have anything planned in the afternoon and I spend the time reading and cleaning my house. Around 5pm I start another fire and make tea, then heat bath water, then make dinner. I have to heat bath water b/c I don’t have running water to take a shower. I mix the hot water w/ cold water in a bucket until the temperature is right, then I bathe in a cement room with a drain in my backyard. My dinner is usually vegetables (eggplant, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, peas, green beans, or cabbage, whatever I can find) and rice, lentils, or pasta. I make enough for that night and lunch the next day. I put the leftovers in a bowl with another bowl on top as a lid. This is my routine Monday through Friday. On Saturday’s I spend the day at the community based organization working with a physical therapist to give therapy to handicap children. Sunday’s are usually spent doing laundry and relaxing with my cat, Peppers.

 I occasionally go to the district capital, or boma, to buy vegetables or other supplies I need. I either bike 22kilometres to the paved road and take a mini-bus the rest of the way or I go with a friend in the neighboring village that has a truck. There is no public transport from my village to the paved road but if I don’t want to bike I can pay the equivalent of $2.00 and go on a bike taxi – a bike with a padded rack on the back that you sit on and a man pedals. It’s a nice way to get around if you have the money.

At the health centre I help weigh children or pregnant women, take the blood pressure of pregnant women, help with reports, or anything else they need. I’m not allowed to vaccinate people but I update the health records of those that receive vaccines. The health centre serves about 30,000 people and does so with limited staff and frequently without medications, but they do have electricity. They primarily treat malaria, diarrhea, and pneumonia. They also treat tuberculosis, rabies from dog bites, and an occasional measles outbreak. Two nurse/mid-wives work 24/7 shifts (alternating weeks) and deliver over 100 babies every month. There are frequent delivery emergencies and in these cases the ambulance is called from the district capital (about 30 miles away) and on a good day the ambulance arrives within 3 hours of being called. When a woman delivers at the health centre, she brings her own bucket, plastic sheet, and towels. She walks home the same day she delivers and can take the equivalent of Tylenol for pain if her finances allow.

Malawians do not have an easy life but they rarely complain. They are welcoming and always eager to feed a guest. I enjoy the Malawian lifestyle and I am humbled daily.